A History & Critical Analysis of Blake's 7 (McFarland, 1999)
"Complete with commentaries on all 52 episodes, Mr. Muir's book, like the distant universe it describes, glows brightly." - R.J. FYNE, FILM AND HISTORY.
"Muir's tying together of themes and threads within the series is a great strength of the book."
-ANN BASART: "DEEPLY SILLY SPACE SERIES OR HEROIC POEM?"
John Kenneth Muir's Retro TV Files
Battlestar Galactica
Doctor Who
The Fantastic Journey
Land of the Lost
Logan's Run
Space Academy
Space 1999
UFO
Alien 3
By the time Blake's 7 reached American shores in 1986, many genre fans in the States were starting to express a sort of ennui with the oft-rerun Star Trek. Trek's original 79 episodes had been broadcast to death, and more disturbingly, no new series had yet arrived to further the genre with provocative ideals and philosophies. In 1986, it very much seemed that the best days of sci-fi television were 20 years past or even 25 years past...But then Blake's 7 came along, working its way into the hearts and minds of genre fanatics through PBS outlets, and American fans had the chance to view a series that seemed similar to Star Trek in some ways, but was a twisted reflection of Gene Roddenberry's vision in others. As a result, Blake's 7 became known far and wide as the "anti-Star Trek." Although that tag does not necessarily do justice to Blake's 7, as it defines the series' quality in relation to the more established NBC genre series, it is not an all together inappropriate moniker for a British series that often seemed to take delight in overturning the utopian dreams of Roddenberry's landmark show.
First and foremost, Star Trek was (and remains today) a utopian vision of the future. Scientific and technological breakthroughs have created the world of the twenty-third century where there is no hunger, no poverty, no insanity (as per "Whom Gods Destroy"), and where there is total racial and interspecies harmony in a galactic Federation. The Federation and its pseudo-military arm, Starfleet, exist to enrich the lives of its citizens and allow humans, Vulcans, Andorians, Tellerites and the like to better understand one another. Diversity is honored, as represented by the Vulcan IDIC philosophy (Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combination.)
Contrast Star Trek's utopia with Blake's 7 futuristic dystopia. Scientific and technological breakthroughs have created the world of Blake's future, where people are kept metaphorically asleep through dangerous drugs such as Pylene 50. The Federation and its military storm troopers exist to suppress freedom, bringing hundreds of worlds into submission. Diversity is not a matter to be honored, but a matter of quotas. As Avon reports in "Traitor," there was a "stock equalization" law which stated all races had to be represented in colonial ventures. So in Star Trek, diversity is a matter of choice and honor, and in Blake's 7 it is a matter of forced legislation. Furthermore, as various episodes of Star Trek and its offspring make clear, slavery is not to be tolerated. In Blake's 7, the opposite is true. The Federation enslaves a race of emotionless drones called Mutoids. The rights of Mutoids are never considered and, they, in effect, service the master human race. They are sent into deadly situations ("The Harvest of Kairos") and denied the necessities of life ("Duel.")
In the world of Star Trek, self-determination is the greatest liberty. The Federation does not interfere in the growth of developing worlds. A rule called the Prime Directive (or General Order Number One) prohibits such interference. Federation policy in Blake's 7 is a dark mirror of the non-interference directive. The Federation subjugates worlds to plunder their natural resources and also conquers worlds that are of strategic value, while at the same time attempting to subvert the sovereignty of worlds that can still stand up to its might ("Horizon.") When worlds will not bend to its will, the Federation responds in force, often wiping out all life on the planet in question. Where Captain Kirk's Federation recognizes the inalienable right of all living creatures to determine their own affiliations and freedoms, Servalan's Federation ruthlessly tramples such rights.
Although the background worlds of Star Trek and Blake's 7 are polar opposites, the two shows share common ground. Both series are about the adventures of a crew aboard a fabulously advanced starship. Both shows make use of a matter transmission device (the transporter on Trek and the teleporter on Blake's 7) and both series examine the emotion versus logic argument. On Star Trek, the battle is fought between Kirk (and sometimes McCoy) and Spock. On Blake, the battle is between Blake and Avon. Yet even these similarities dissipate under close investigation of the details.
In Star Trek, the Enterprise is one of many such ships patrolling the galaxy, particularly the Alpha Quadrant. It is on a mission to "explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life forms and new civilization." The Liberator on Blake's 7 has been stolen from an advanced alien race and is not part of a fleet. Its primary job is not to contact new life and pioneer new worlds, but to run like Hell from the forces of the corrupt Federation. Though both shows include a highly competent crew, the people of Star Trek are graduates of a military academy and the men and women of the Liberator are convicted criminals. In Star Trek then, hope for the future lays with the best-trained soldiers of cosmic government. In Blake's 7, hope for the future rests with criminals resisting a cosmic government.
It would be easy to state that Star Trek is optimistic and Blake's 7 pessimistic in this discussion of opposites, but that is not necessarily the case. Both series are optimistic, but in wholly different ways. Star Trek states that man is a noble creature who can tame the stars with his science, his persistence, his wisdom. Blake's 7 states that mankind, even suppressed by the most totalitarian regime imaginable, will continue to struggle for his freedom... (continued) - by John Kenneth Muir (c) 1999
Table of Contents
Part I: Origins and History
Terry Nation - The Creator
"The Dirty Dozen" in Space
Lift Off!
Four Years in Space
Cancellation
American Resurrection
Part II: The Series
Critical reception
Season Overview, Series A (1978)
A Note About the Opening Montage
Cast and Credits
The Episodes
Season Overview, Series B (1979)
Cast and Credits
The Episodes
Season Overview, Series C (1980)
Cast and Credits
The Epiosdes
Season Overview, Series D (1981)
Fourth Season Opening-Ending Montage
Cast and Credits
Episodes
Part III: Blake's Millions
Fan Clubs and the Internet
Videos, Comics and Books
Part IV: Essays
The Jurassic Arc: Science Fiction Television's First Video Novel
A Futuristic Robin Hood Myth
The Anti-"Star Trek"
Sex on the Liberator
A Note on Special Effects and Cinematogrpahy
Part V: Epilogue: A Dream Worth Having...
Appendix: Genre Conventions in Blake's 7
Notes
Bibliography
Videography
Index