Media Trip Report – BLAKE’S 7 (series 1)

(Originally posted on facebook May 21, 2024)

TL;dr: DUDE, WTF!

So this watch has been a long time coming, and is all the more enjoyable for the delay. I am shocked (SHOCKED) that this level of science fiction was being made in the 70s AND I NEVER SAW IT.

In another universe, this tightly-written space opera took the world by storm. Created (and written, for this first series) by Dalek creator Terry Nation, B7 is gripping, uncompromising storytelling that’s light-years ahead of what was going on in Doctor Who at the time.

Yeah, I said it. Blake’s 7 in early 1978 is better than Doctor Who in early 1978. And while these are “fightin’ words” for a lot of fans, remember when the shows >actually< aired.

B7 S1 was on screens from January to the end of March; the DW serials at the time were Underworld and The Invasion of Time. Solid outings for the senior sibling, but placeholder storytelling at best.

E1 of the series introduces us to Roj Blake, an everyman protagonist roped into a secret, anti-establishment group just in time for them to get massacred. Predictably, he is arrested as soon as he gets back to his own life, when we the viewers find out Blake was >THE< revolutionary years ago, before he was captured, scapegoated, and implanted with happy thoughts.

All of this happens in the first ten minutes of screen time, and there’s more surprise lefts coming. Over the 13 episodes of the first series, the BBC pulls none of those punches, including many, many murders, attempted rapes, SURPRISE Cults (BRIAN BLESSED), and other high crimes and misdemeanors.

In fact, I’ll posit that The Real Crime ™ is that there are only 52 episodes of this show, and it didn’t see wide release until this century.

This is definitely not children’s sci-fi, and I am HERE FOR IT. Especially in today’s UK fascist police state, the scripts are topical, insightful, and oh so very WHITE. There’s the occasional hint that one or more characters may be Jewish, but for the most part other than the cult of BRIAN BLESSED, religion isn’t mentioned at all…or even necessary. There’s more than enough going on to keep your attention.

Some links in the comments, but there wasn’t a single episode I didn’t like, and it ends with a SURPRISE, that definitely pays off in S2.