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I gave up on Who midway through the last series. I last gave up on it within the first couple of episodes of Sylvester McCoy, returned to it with the Paul McGann telefilm then watched most eps when it was revived.
I wouldn't like a new B7 to be like Who is now, personally.
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B7 was a fantastic series and my favorite pure British TV series (i.e. nothing tailored for American audiences). The show worked best when it was dealing with the larger plans to topple the Federation, such as the search for Star One and Control. Also when dealing with past issues, such as Avon's revenge against those who caused his incarceration and the "death" of his girlfriend.
A new series would be interesting to see, but I'd hate to see too much changed. The series was able to balance the annihilistic qualities with moments of great character interaction and humor. One hopes a new series could capture that as well.
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Posted: |
Nov 30, 2009 - 4:27 PM
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By: |
johnjohnson
(Member)
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LAST YEAR, it was announced that a remake of the cult British sci-fi series Blake's 7 was being developed by Sky1 and B7 Productions.
So what's happened since then? Giving an update on the project, B7's Andrew Mark Sewell told Sci Fi Now: "We still have a development deal with Sky. Unfortunately things take time. We're just on the next draft of scripts.
"Everyone's still very excited about it... It's unsure, at the moment, whether it's going to be a miniseries or a full series. We're still discussing the best option."
Sewell promised the new show is "going to be very modern and very bold" and added: "It's very much about introducing a show to an audience that's not necessarily heard about it.
"It's got to rub shoulders with the likes of Heroes and Lost and so forth. This will be a big show and that's why it's taken much longer to make sure we get it right... Sky want to get it right. There's a lot of talent investing a great deal of effort to deliver a really strong show.
"It's exciting times. We've just produced what we call a mood-trailer, to let the execs see - to give them a sense of the kind of attitude of the show. That's had a strong response."
Sewell revealed that originally, broadcasters wanted a sequel to the original series, which was the brainchild of Daleks creator Terry Nation and aired between 1978 and 1981. That idea was ruled out due to the 30-year time lapse.
Despite being a remake, Sewell feels the show will remain true to what it has always been. He said: "It's still, at its core, The Dirty Dozen in space."
http://blogs.coventrytelegraph.net/thegeekfiles/2009/11/blakes-7-remake-will-be-very-m.html
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Why should it 'rub shoulders' with Heroes and Lost? I watched three eps of Lost and one season and one ep of the second of Heroes and by then I had a gutful of all this low brow television masquerading as quality drama.
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Posted: |
Aug 11, 2010 - 12:12 PM
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By: |
johnjohnson
(Member)
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Sky1 has cancelled plans to bring back cult science fiction series Blake's 7.
The BSkyB-owned pay-TV channel announced plans for a remake of the series, which was created by Terry Nation and ran on BBC1 between 1978 and 1981, in 2008 at a time when reinventions were all the rage. Battlestar Galactica, Russell T Davies's reimagining of Doctor Who and Bionic Woman had all made comebacks of varying success.
"Following the development process we have decided not to produce Blake's 7. However, Sky continues to invest heavily in original drama and it remains at the heart of our plans," said a spokeswoman for Sky1. "We have just announced an extended run for the second series of Chris Ryan's Strike Back and we'll soon be unveiling a new long-running series for prime time."
At the time of the Blake's 7 announcement in 2008, the Sky1 head of drama, Elaine Pyke, said: "The time is ripe for a revival of a show that represents the best traditions of the genre, not to mention one of the best-loved and most successful dramas of all time."
Blake's 7 was announced when former Sky1 controller Richard Woolfe was running the channel. Under his successor, Stuart Murphy, Sky1 is shifting its programming focus.
Last week Sky signed a £150m deal for exclusive UK rights to all new HBO shows and the US cable channel's entire back catalogue.
Murphy also unveiled a slate of comedy commissions including Stella, produced by and starring Gavin & Stacey's Ruth Jones.
Sky1 has also ended discussions about a spy show with Gillian Anderson, which was reportedly talked about as a £1m-per-episode project, although this had not never got past the development stage.
"Putting a project into development by no means guarantees a commission but our ratio of projects that do make it to the screen is very strong indeed at one in four," said the spokeswoman. "Development is an essential part of commissioning. However, we never prolong this process unnecessarily and we always return to programme-makers with a prompt decision."
A spokesman for B7 Productions, the company developing the Blake's 7 revival, said: "Sky's deciding to not proceed with the planned TV revival of Blake's 7 is obviously disappointing, but the development process has resulted in the dynamic reinvention of this 'branded' series ... There is a huge opportunity for investment in a TV series that is fully developed, has genuine global appeal and has exciting 360-degree exploitation opportunities.
"With much praised scripts from lead writers Richard Kurti and Bev Doyle (Going Postal) and 60% of the finance already in place, by anyone's standard we have pulled together a compelling package. We are confident that this reboot of Blake's 7 has the creative and commercial credentials that will enable us to find a partner with the vision to recognise the strength and enduring appeal of the show and the opportunity it represents to produce a bold new drama series with significant international appeal."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2010/aug/04/blakes-7-sky1
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Cmon guys, leave Blake's 7 as it was! I even still think Doctor Who should not have been revived and the same with non-Shatner Trek! But that's just me... 
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Posted: |
Aug 28, 2012 - 8:16 PM
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By: |
johnjohnson
(Member)
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Since the end of "Battlestar Galactica," Syfy has been looking for a way to recapture the critical acclaim it received for that remake, but just couldn't seem to find the right franchise to make it work.
But now the cable channel has a major prospect in its scope, and it was one even back in the late 1970s was unafraid to kill off main characters and try something completely different.
Syfy is set to do a remake of "Blake's 7," a so-called "Dirty Dozen in space" that Terry Nation developed for BBC in 1978. Nation is the creator of the Daleks in "Doctor Who," and created a handful of science-fiction series on his own before his death in 1997.
Joe Pokaski has scripted the potential backdoor pilot, with Martin Campbell in line to direct, according to Deadline.com. Pokaski, who currently works as a supervising producer and writer for "CSI" on CBS, earned some genre street cred as a writer and supervising producer for NBC's "Heroes," scripting 10 episodes of the series. He got his start in 2006 with another of Tim Kring's series, "Crossing Jordan."
Campbell is a television director-turned-film director responsible for hits such as "GoldenEye," "Green Lantern" and "Casino Royale." He most recently directed the pilot for "Last Resort," a new ABC series from "The Shield" creator Shawn Ryan.
In its original run, "Blake's 7" lasted four seasons and 52 episodes, and was based on a team led by Roj Blake, a political dissident who uses a ship to fight a group known as the Federation, which has taken control of Earth and its colonies. The number refers to the people who man the crew, a crew that changed more often than not through Nation's liberal use of character deaths. That kind of work, uncommon for television at the time (and for decades after), meant that anyone could be axed at any time.
While the series may not be popular to younger and American audiences, it was an inspiration for a lot of dysfunctional science-fiction in later years, including "Farscape," "Andromeda," "Firefly" and even the remake of "Battlestar Galactica."
But what would a new "Blake's 7" entail? According to some reports, Syfy may try and take a darker path like it successfully did with "Battlestar Galactica," and try to create a new flagship program. Syfy is pinning a lot on its upcoming new series "Defiance," which is complemented with a massively multiplayer online game, but has not been able to prove it can create successful modern versions of sci-fi classics since "Battlestar."
The pilot is being producer by Georgeville Television, which recently sold "Crossbones" to NBC as a mid-season replacement. The shingle is a new one led by Leon Clarance (who provides financing to Reliance Entertainment) and Marc Rosen.
The revival has been more than a dozen years in the making. Producer Andrew Mark Sewell acquired the "Blake's 7" rights from the Nation estate in 2000 with the idea of creating a continuation. After a few starts and stops, Britain's Sky1 (which co-financed the first season of Syfy's "Battlestar Galactica") ordered two 60-minute scripts as a potential pilot for a new series in 2008. However, the scripts were never produced, and Sky1 officially pulled the plug in 2010.
Sewell recently sold the rights to Georgeville.
No timetable has been set, but it's likely a pilot could film early next year and be available to air as a Syfy December miniseries at the end of 2013, geared to start as a potential series in 2014.
http://airlockalpha.com/node/9340/is-syfy-planning-a-darker-blakes-7.html
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