I’m Blakes 7 Crazy!
I ran a letterzine for a while for some of the smartest fans I knew and some of the best artists. Great fun. Small, private circulation. I’ve made about a hundred B7 music videos and both Blake (Gareth Thomas) and Avon (Paul Darrow) have been up to my hotel room to watch them with their entourages, as well as Terry Nation, who created B7. I still have an autographed pix from him where he wrote that he was still watching my videos. I used to correspond with Darrow. He was the biggest B7 fan, himself. Deeply involved with his fans.
First episode is the pits. Boring as heck. That’s, in part, because Avon isn’t in it. The entire show is the relationship between Blake and Avon. It’s Shakespearean tragedy. Very British. For two years you watch the crew fighting the corrupt federation (our Star Trek emblem turned sideways). Avon spends the whole 2 years seeming to fight Blake and wanting to take over the ship. Only he never does.
Making music videos, I had the sound off. What you SEE, versus what the script SAYS, are polar opposites. Blake, the compassionate freedom fighter, walks past suffering without even glancing at them. Avon, the self-centered narcissist, is the one whose hand reaches out almost unconsciously. Vila, the coward, is the one who forces Avon to come out of his almost suicidal states and fight back.
But the actors have no awareness of this at all. Like many shows, they look back at what the character studies say and ignore, or don’t understand, how they actually played the character. Same thing happened in Get Smart.
Then in the second half, Blake is lost. This is when Avon was supposed to be in his element, having charge of the crew. But actually he’s totally lost until he turns it into the major passion of his life - searching for Blake.
Now understand, this is built around plots that are sometimes totally absurd. There are GREAT B7 plots and there are ones that make you want to sink into the sofa and not come out until you hear the ending music.
The end knocks your socks off. That’s where it completely fulfills Shakespearean tragedy.
Blakes 7 - Comedy Tonight - Funny Thing Happened
https://youtu.be/WA5OaVFePbU
Blakes 7 - One Night in Bangkok - Chess
https://youtu.be/zaCeiP08E2k
Blakes 7 - Crimson and Crystal (Sarcophagus episode) - Julia Ecklar
https://youtu.be/wgoRcZwYorw
Blakes 7 - Mungojerry (Avon and Vila) - Cats
https://youtu.be/8N9xo2wIw_s
Blakes 7 - We Belong (Avon & Blake) - Pat Benetar
https://youtu.be/e_LMFgZyHV4
Blakes 7 - Unicorn Song (Happiness) - Peter, Paul & Mary
https://youtu.be/CNi9RIoT_Cg
:)