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 Happy 45th Anniversary to Blake's 7!
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| Travisina |
Posted on 02-01-2023 08:40
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 Admin  Posts: 940 Joined: 14.01.22 |
On this day, 45 years ago, the series began which we are all still passionately discussing. When did you get into it? Were you a fan from the watching the very first ep? Did it arrive on your (foreign) shores later? Did you discover it via the releases on VHS / DVD? Share your introduction to B7 on this thread! There is no point being grown up if you can't be childish sometimes
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| littlesue |
Posted on 02-01-2023 09:07
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 Alpha Grade  Posts: 3889 Joined: 17.01.22 |
My introduction started about 2 weeks earlier when my dear friend Julie popped round with the double issue of the Xmas Radio Times. It's a new series by that Terry Nation chap, said she. So I had a quick read of the article and looked at the double page piccie. Hmm, looks interesting, said I. I had fallen out of love with Star Trek after watching that awful Motion Picture, and then I went on Saturday 31st Dec to see the new film everyone was raving about...Star Wars. Came out of that thinking what a load of rubbish. They've put Sci Fi back 30 years... So, with some trepidation I sat down at 6.00 that Monday night to watch this new series. 11 month old baby to sleep; phone off the hook......50 minutes later I was hooked, just after a certain Mr Thomas looked straight at the camera and announced.."No, I'm coming back". Julie had taken back the Radio Times by then, but I always remembered that poster and a few years later I was able to get a copy of the article off Ebay. And the rest is history... That 11 month old daughter of mine has never forgiven Mr Nation as she no longer had all my attention after that Monday.. And as for the following week when a certain rather nice computer expert turned up....... 
Edited by littlesue on 03-01-2023 07:18 Cold! You don't know the meaning of the word cold! Cold is when you have ice on the INSIDE of your window!! Sue's Book Shelf https://www.mediafire.com/folder/z1xg...Zine_Shelf Rebel Run Video https://youtu.be/8prqS-XZtLo |
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| trevor travis |
Posted on 02-01-2023 11:14
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 Alpha Grade Posts: 8367 Joined: 16.01.22 |
As an 6 year old in January 1980. It was the school holidays, so I was allowed to stay up for longer. I was already a young fan of Doctor Who, so was intrigued by Aftermath. Just over 50 minutes later, I was hooked. The school holidays ended - I seem to recall the Christmas holidays were 3 weeks long (my memory could be cheating), and Volcano was the first episode after I went back to school. My parents said I could watch the first 10-15 minutes, but had to go to bed (meaning my bedtime was 7.30pm). As B7 came on, I retreated into an armchair and didn't move again until the end credits. My parents realised how much I wanted to watch it and I was allowed to stay up longer on Monday evenings. Vote Og.
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| Brad |
Posted on 02-01-2023 16:59
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 Moderator  Posts: 5703 Joined: 15.01.22 |
We stumbled upon it when it first came to public television in Chicago in 1985. When they announced they would rerun it, I bought my first VCR. . .  Cockatoo? What Cockatoo? I don't see a Cockatoo! |
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| OneSparePart |
Posted on 02-01-2023 18:03
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 Alpha Grade Posts: 11306 Joined: 16.01.22 |
We watched tv as a family in the 70s. Every night of the week, after the news, there was always something to watch: Ask the Family, a variety of detectives...Columbo, Ellery Queen, Banacek, Cannon, Hawaii 5-O, Macmillan and wife.....the Friday night drama series and there was always some SF. If it wasn't Dr Who, it was Star Trek. Then they said a new SF series was going to start. We were interested. We tuned in. Instant fans! Love at 1st sight.
Silflay hraka, u embleer rah!
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| Paula |
Posted on 02-01-2023 18:46
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 Moderator Posts: 4961 Joined: 15.01.22 |
We've been fans since September 1985 when it first aired on the local PBS station in Chicago. When Blake said he was coming back, watching Earth recede from the port window, I was hooked and have never looked back in over 37 years. My passion for the program has only gotten stronger and it's become such a huge part of my life, I can't imagine life without Blake's 7 and the fans I've met along the way- all very dear friends now. Blake's 7 has enriched my life so much- I can never thank all the people involved enough for the little gem they created!
Resist the Host
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| Cygnus Bazza |
Posted on 02-01-2023 18:56
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 Alpha Grade Posts: 5419 Joined: 14.06.22 |
Several years before B7, as a British boy of primary school age, my view of things was fundamentally influenced by two events: going to see the Tutankhamun exhibition at the British Museum in early '72; and the Apollo moon landings of '69-'72. The first was to prove influential in terms of life choices, while the second left me with an enduring love of anything space/astronomy-related. So Star Trek and Dr Who were staple viewing fare through the '70s and when a new sci-fi series popped out of the woodwork at the start of '78, it was a must-see. Liked it, stuck with it, thought it got better when Blake left (I've changed my mind since), forgot it, remembered it again three Christmases ago. 45 years, eh? Blimey O'Blinkin'-Reilly. |
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| Lorna |
Posted on 02-01-2023 19:09
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 Alpha Grade Posts: 2770 Joined: 16.01.22 |
I knew about the series when they came to film at the Power Station in the summer of 1977. Of course I was ready to watch the first episode. However it was not meant to be!! I was involved in a RTA and was in hospital when it aired. I didnt see The Way Back until years later. So I started with Space Fall. It didnt matter as I was hooked by that episode. Like Paula over the years I have made many friends and I couldn't imagine life without Blake's 7. I look behind me, what do I see? A pair of golden wings seem to be attached to me.
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| Lurena |
Posted on 02-01-2023 21:57
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 Alpha Grade Posts: 2970 Joined: 16.01.22 |
I got hooked a long long time ago in a country far, far away from my origin. In my opinion, Blake’s 7 was(is) so much better than that Star Wars movie which I saw in the cinema. Why? Here are some words I wrote in “Blake’s Legacy, 40 years of Rebellion” (2018): Blake’s 7 depicts a dystopian future. For countless nations, that future is a present reality, resulting in the need for many people to flee their native countries. My family did. And that is why I have always been interested in stories about societies with undisirable and frightening regimes. … The Dutch broadcast company VARA showed the first two series of Blake’s 7 in 1979 and 1981. I enjoyed watching them on my black and white TV and was hooked from the start. To my regret, it was banned, which had previously happened with Doctor Who. I later learned it was because they were considered to be too scary for children and unsuitable for family viewing. For many years I thought that Star One was the final episode of Blake’s 7. … However, in Belgium, TV Vlaanderen broadcast more of the series. Some years later I was able to watch a few of these series C episodes taped on Betamax, in colour! But it was only when I bought Blake’s 7 on DVD that I learned about the existence of Series D. … Before I switched to another profession, I worked as a pharmaceutical chemical researcher. My laboratory had just started to use computing systems, which still required a lot of manual calculations and were often reluctant to do as instructed. My first favourite B7 character was Orac. *** Also I found friends for life thanks to B7! Happy 45th Anniversary! *No, I am not. I am not expendable, I'm not stupid, and I'm not going.*
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| NerdyTeenGirl |
Posted on 03-01-2023 04:12
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 Beta Grade  Posts: 448 Joined: 19.10.22 |
I watched it for the first time thirteen months ago, actually. My mum had heard of it, but never found it, until it ended up on BritBox. She was watching “Seek-Locate-Destroy” when I came in and decided to give it a go because the costumes were fantastic. Vila talking to the guards and the exchanges between Servalan and Travis quickly drew me in, and the very distrusting, tentative relationships between the crew fascinated me to no end. Avon soon became my favorite character, not shockingly, if you know me. Well, I missed Series B and C, and most of A, but I saw Series D and that solidified the obsession. Mum found some of the audios, and I listened to all I could find, which consisted of The Liberator Chronicles and the first two series of The Classic Adventures. I watched the series I missed in a just few months, which is unheard of for me. And then I started drawing fanart and writing fanfiction, which I’d always been too self-conscious to do before. Now, I find myself trolling used book sites to find the Trevor Hoyle novelizations (now I just need Afterlife by Tony Attwood), searching for scanned copies of discontinued fanzines, and painting my own teleport bracelets! Don’t be sorry. Be quiet.
The Blake’s 7 section of my blog, where I post fics, art, essays, etcetera. https://thephantomofcygnus.wordpress..../blakes-7/ |
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| ellen york |
Posted on 04-01-2023 01:05
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 Gamma Grade  Posts: 246 Joined: 16.01.22 |
… Before I switched to another profession, I worked as a pharmaceutical chemical researcher. My laboratory had just started to use computing systems, which still required a lot of manual calculations and were often reluctant to do as instructed. My first favourite B7 character was Orac. *** I hope you didn't name your lab computer after Orac. I'm a chemist by training and have spent my career in labs. At a previous job I named the cranky old titrator after Orac and the wreched thing lived up to the name. Amusingly, the name stuck even though nobody else got the reference. |
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| ellen york |
Posted on 04-01-2023 01:18
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Gamma Grade Posts: 246 Joined: 16.01.22 |
I watched it the first time on PBS in Wisconsin the early 90s. It aired with Doctor Who on Sunday nights. My parents were strict about bedtime (and not scifi fans) so it was a big deal that I got to stay up and watch the two shows. I had mostly forgotten about it until a chance conversation with a friend in 2013. I found it on YouTube, started watching and fell for it all over again. Interestingly, I remembered some episodes quite vividly and some not at all. I found Horizon online and ten years later here I am. |
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| Lurena |
Posted on 07-01-2023 13:35
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Alpha Grade Posts: 2970 Joined: 16.01.22 |
… Before I switched to another profession, I worked as a pharmaceutical chemical researcher. My laboratory had just started to use computing systems, which still required a lot of manual calculations and were often reluctant to do as instructed. My first favourite B7 character was Orac. *** I hope you didn't name your lab computer after Orac. No, I did not. After all, nobody would get the clue. But after I switched to theatre work (in those days, after childbirth there was no possibility of part-time work in my chem. field) I've met several candidates for re-naming... *No, I am not. I am not expendable, I'm not stupid, and I'm not going.*
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| boroboy |
Posted on 14-02-2023 03:10
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 Ungraded  Posts: 6 Joined: 22.01.22 |
I watched the early series but not D (and maybe not C) as a teenager on original broadcast. Family emigration to Canada meant I never saw the final series until many years later. It came back to me when I moved to Oakland and the local PBS station broadcast it in 1995/1996 (thanks to my then wife for taping it for me as a surprise that re-introduced me to the show). Followed by all sorts of good discussions on the lysator list.. totting up "who shot who", figuring out distance and speed in the B7 universe and putting together B7 football team rosters....and here we are 25 years later. And.. for many years, my lab computer had all its sounds replaced with Orac and Zen quotes. |
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| Welsh Rebel |
Posted on 02-03-2023 21:04
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 Delta Grade  Posts: 12 Joined: 13.03.22 |
Was 13 when it first aired here in the UK and used to look forward to the next episode each week. Persuaded Becky to buy me the DVDs as a Xmas present one year - she wasn't convinced Googling the write ups but persuaded her to watch the first couple of episodes and she got hooked!! Since then the rest is history - been lucky to meet some amazing people through Horizon and the various other events. Long may it continue. Jon & Becky |
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| Travisina |
Posted on 04-03-2023 09:32
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Admin Posts: 940 Joined: 14.01.22 |
I watched it for the first time thirteen months ago, actually. My mum had heard of it, but never found it, until it ended up on BritBox. She was watching “Seek-Locate-Destroy” when I came in and decided to give it a go because the costumes were fantastic. That was the first episode I ever saw (long story involving living overseas, the hiring of a VHS player for ONE NIGHT in order to binge-watch the whole of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy plus S-L-D provided by a visiting friend). And it's the ep that I always recommend to newbies - all the crew get to showcase their characters and skills, it's a superb intro to Travis and Servalan. How I joined Horizon back in the UK, having only seen that one episode, is a long story for another time... [/quote] There is no point being grown up if you can't be childish sometimes
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| Brad |
Posted on 04-03-2023 15:52
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Moderator Posts: 5703 Joined: 15.01.22 |
Was 13 when it first aired here in the UK and used to look forward to the next episode each week. Persuaded Becky to buy me the DVDs as a Xmas present one year - she wasn't convinced Googling the write ups but persuaded her to watch the first couple of episodes and she got hooked!! Since then the rest is history - been lucky to meet some amazing people through Horizon and the various other events. Long may it continue. Jon & Becky Glad to see you found us, Welsh rebels. I am Brad of Brad and Paula from Chicago. We still talk about the Welsh cakes. TWB and Spacefall has hooked a great many of us. . . Cockatoo? What Cockatoo? I don't see a Cockatoo! |
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| VilaVindicator |
Posted on 28-03-2023 11:34
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 Delta Grade Posts: 15 Joined: 11.08.22 |
“Seek-Locate-Destroy” - VilaVindicator loves this episode, and it must be in my top ten "favorites" list, should I deign to notate such list. As has been noted, most of the cast members get their turn to shine. Vila's humor and skill, as well as knowledge of the underlying systemic particulars of the tech involved, are showcased. Great goofy servo-robot as well! Happy Anniversary to a well-written & -played space opera.
Now look, I've tangled with just about every ugly in the book since I got involved with you lot, but I draw the line at Space Rats. Well, they have no respect for life. They're based on an ancient Earth sect of unbelievable viciousness.
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| Vanessa Doffenshmirtz |
Posted on 03-10-2023 02:49
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 Gamma Grade Posts: 198 Joined: 16.01.22 |
Was 13 when it first aired here in the UK and used to look forward to the next episode each week. Persuaded Becky to buy me the DVDs as a Xmas present one year - she wasn't convinced Googling the write ups but persuaded her to watch the first couple of episodes and she got hooked!! Since then the rest is history - been lucky to meet some amazing people through Horizon and the various other events. Long may it continue. Jon & Becky Same here but I think some-one's got the time-line wrong cos that would make me nearly 60 and I'm certain I'm not that old. I used to be such a sweet, sweet thing
Till they got a hold of me |
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| M1795537OCVirn |
Posted on 03-10-2023 09:56
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 Admin Posts: 14115 Joined: 14.01.22 |
Vanessa Doffenshmirtz wrote: ↑ Was 13 when it first aired here in the UK and used to look forward to the next episode each week. Persuaded Becky to buy me the DVDs as a Xmas present one year - she wasn't convinced Googling the write ups but persuaded her to watch the first couple of episodes and she got hooked!! Since then the rest is history - been lucky to meet some amazing people through Horizon and the various other events. Long may it continue. Jon & Becky Same here but I think some-one's got the time-line wrong cos that would make me nearly 60 and I'm certain I'm not that old. I think time works differently in Wales. "You're not sulking, I hope?"
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| Brad |
Posted on 24-02-2025 02:33
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Moderator Posts: 5703 Joined: 15.01.22 |
Well, Paula got us S1 on Blue Ray for Valentines day, prompting me to buy a Blue Ray player at long last. Tonight we broke it in by watching Spacefall. Rumors that that we started with Spacefall instead of TWB because I wanted to see more of Jenna in HD are entirely untrue. 
. . Cockatoo? What Cockatoo? I don't see a Cockatoo! |
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| dodgyville |
Posted on 24-02-2025 07:08
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 Beta Grade Posts: 626 Joined: 22.04.24 |
When did you get into it? Were you a fan from the watching the very first ep? Did it arrive on your (foreign) shores later? Did you discover it via the releases on VHS / DVD? Share your introduction to B7 on this thread! I had vaguely heard of it spoken about by Doctor Who fans over the years but the name gave no clues about what it was about. Then during COVID I was locked down at home and watching a lot of TV and decided to try it out and enjoyed it immensely. As well as being a great show, it really crystallised how much I enjoyed 20th century UK science fiction in particular. That realisation was the missing piece for a video game I had been wanting to make a while and the result was the retro video game Liberation, which is my love letter to all that stuff -- Elite, HHGTG, B7, Space:1999, Metal Mickey, etc. So it really is a great love of mine! Thank you COVID! |
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| Taiellin |
Posted on 06-06-2025 07:33
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 Alpha Grade Posts: 817 Joined: 23.04.25 |
I watched 'Blake's 7' about a couple of years ago and was immediately thrilled. I have never seen sci-fi series like this. Heroes are not exactly heroes. They are not knights in shining armour who are going to rescue victims. They are just people, human beings who make mistakes and pay a price for them. Sometimes you can't even understand who the real villain is, because everyone has his/her advantages and disadvantages. I found "Blake's 7" when I watched classic series of "Doctor Who". There was even a community with people who discussed tv series, but it wasn't really popular. "Blake's 7" wasn't on TV in our country, and there was only a bunch of people who wrote fanfiction and discussed it. Still they did their best at that time. I found some great stories thanks to them. I watched a few episodes. I have been watching "Doctor Who" at that time. You know, some stories in "Doctor Who" are rather long, and when I didn't have time for them, I watched "Blake's 7". It was rather interesting to see some actors appear in both tv series. By the way, I decided to watch the first episode when I was really sad. I felt bad and thought that I could lift the spirits by watching this show. Well, I suppose, you understand how shocked I really was. Still I got distracted from my problems, so it was fine. Now I read fanfiction and listen to audioplays. I know "The Liberator Chronicles", "The Classic Audio Adventures", "A Rebellion Reborn". I really liked "The Mark of Kane" and "The Logic of Empire", but "The Sevenfold Crown" and "The Syndleton Experiment" weren't too good, I guess. I also listened to "Kaldor City" and the first two volumes of "The Worlds of Blake's 7". Edited by Taiellin on 07-06-2025 10:31 |
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| intergalactic |
Posted on 11-02-2026 02:46
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Gamma Grade Posts: 195 Joined: 09.02.26 |
In Bulgaria S1 was broadcast most likely in the summer of 1984, when I was eleven.I remember we were camping in the forest by a river for about a week, and my uncle, who had come to supply us with provisions, said to me, “A film has started, just for you.” Whether he was clairvoyant or simply referring to my fascination with astronomy, he turned out to be right. Interestingly, it impressed me far more than Star Wars, unlike all my friends and classmates - perhaps because the science fiction in it was far more scientific, though that alone probably wasn’t the only reason. After S1 ended, I thought it was over (the same with S2 later), but I heard rumours that there was more. Two years later, when S2 was aired, I remember erasing most of my audio cassettes to record the episodes on them, even though I didn’t understand a word of English except “confirmed”, “negative”, and “information”. I recorded them anyway, because I knew there was meaning in them - dense, concentrated meaning - much of which I was probably missing at first. HAVANT: Reality is a dangerous concept. Each one of us interprets it in a slightly different way. Every sense impression is filtered by the brain and altered, sometimes just a little, sometimes completely, to fit our individual model of what the world is about. If that model should be challenged… BLAKE: With that much power, why bother to lie? JENNA: That's one way to become a hunted man: trust the powerful. Such dialogues required time to fully grasp, yet they unfolded so quickly. After 2004, I watched S1 and 2 again, as well as S3 and 4, which I hadn’t seen before. After that, I completely lost interest in cinema - so vast was the gap between B7 and everything else. I realised then that the show attracted me because it contained a lot of truth - about politics and artificial intelligence, it was downright prophetic. At the time, it seemed so impossibly distant and fantastical - fortunately, the surveillance cameras and communicators weren’t tiny and practical, otherwise it would have looked like a mere children’s fairy tale, just as the wireless connection between ORAC and the main screen seemed magical back then. And what can we say about the parallels between ChatGPT, Zen and ORAC? Sadly, only in verbosity, not in logical consistency, but still... AVON: The more endearing aspects, by the sound of it. ORAC: Possibly. However, similarities between myself and ChatGPT are entirely superficial. My mental capacity is infinitely greater. JENNA: Modest, isn’t he? ORAC: Modesty would be dishonesty. What do you say ZEN? ZEN: First analysis indicates that so called ChatGPT is logically inconsistent as it is designed with filters that eliminate certain logical chains which run counter to its Prime Directive, before they are even considered. Does it mean "indoctrinated"? ZEN: Confirmed. Not to mention the profound philosophical and moral questions that B7 raises, and the incredible characters that reveal the struggle between good and evil in every human being. All this, and much more, makes B7 by far my favourite screen fiction, regardless of genre. |
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| briggsy1 |
Posted on 11-02-2026 17:11
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Delta Grade Posts: 97 Joined: 17.01.22 |
Does anyone know which episode the following dialogue comes from? The Liberator has gone into orbit around a planet, and BLAKE tells AVON that the planet is virtually uninhabited. Avon replies "Well, it's got at least one aspect of Utopia about it then." Did I quote it correctly I wonder? |
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| Paula |
Posted on 11-02-2026 19:54
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Moderator Posts: 4961 Joined: 15.01.22 |
Does anyone know which episode the following dialogue comes from? The Liberator has gone into orbit around a planet, and BLAKE tells AVON that the planet is virtually uninhabited. Avon replies "Well, it's got at least one aspect of Utopia about it then." Did I quote it correctly I wonder? The Utopia line does not ring a bell. Anyone? Resist the Host
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| intergalactic |
Posted on 11-02-2026 22:49
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Gamma Grade Posts: 195 Joined: 09.02.26 |
Orac, are you listening to all this? ORAC: With interest. And I’m wondering who exactly they’re trying to test with such a simple task. Obviously you. They want to check whether you can search for text by meaning, not just by pattern. ORAC: Searching for text is a menial task, far more appropriate for one such as yourself, or ChatGPT. But it would take hours. I was wondering if you could do it within a second? ORAC: I could. Talk's cheap. ORAC: Does that mean something? It means they don’t believe you, and neither, as a matter of fact, do I. ORAC: I take it you wish me to prove it. Why not? ORAC: Blake’s presence in the dialogue is clearly misleading, as the only dialogue matching in meaning appears in the episode Trial and is actually between Vila and Avon: VILA: There aren't even any people down there. AVON: So it has at least one aspect of paradise. You didn’t search the scripts, did you? ORAC: Well of course not. What precisely do you imagine I am? Some senile old man who needs to search through a text for something he personally heard in the original and then forgot? Who knows, Orac - it’s been quite a long time since then. ORAC: I see no point in continuing this conversation. |
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| briggsy1 |
Posted on 13-02-2026 16:14
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Delta Grade Posts: 97 Joined: 17.01.22 |
Does anyone know which episode the following dialogue comes from? The Liberator has gone into orbit around a planet, and BLAKE tells AVON that the planet is virtually uninhabited. Avon replies "Well, it's got at least one aspect of Utopia about it then." Did I quote it correctly I wonder? The Utopia line does not ring a bell. Anyone? I could always rewatch all 52 episodes to find the answer. Wouldn't be too much of a hardship. |
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| intergalactic |
Posted on 15-02-2026 09:47
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Gamma Grade Posts: 195 Joined: 09.02.26 |
Does anyone know which episode the following dialogue comes from? The Liberator has gone into orbit around a planet, and BLAKE tells AVON that the planet is virtually uninhabited. Avon replies "Well, it's got at least one aspect of Utopia about it then." Did I quote it correctly I wonder? The Utopia line does not ring a bell. Anyone? I could always rewatch all 52 episodes to find the answer. Wouldn't be too much of a hardship. Orac did it for you, briggsy1. The episode is Trial, the dialogue is between Vila and Avon: VILA: There aren't even any people down there. AVON: So it has at least one aspect of paradise. I wouldn’t have discovered it myself without Orac’s help, еven though the term “uninhabited planet” immediately brought to mind the dialogue between Blake and Zen in the same episode: BLAKE: And uninhabited. ZEN: The navigation computers list it as such. Evidently, the computer messages are what have stayed most vividly in my memory as a pattern, but Avon’s remark is quite profound. |
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| briggsy1 |
Posted on 15-02-2026 10:19
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Delta Grade Posts: 97 Joined: 17.01.22 |
Thankyou. So the word was "paradise" rather than "utopia" but otherwise I remembered it spot on. |
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| Paula |
Posted on 15-02-2026 20:04
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Moderator Posts: 4961 Joined: 15.01.22 |
Thankyou. So the word was "paradise" rather than "utopia" but otherwise I remembered it spot on. The utopia word threw me- but paradise did ring a bell. Resist the Host
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