Darth Simpson
Dark Lord of Springfield
- Joined
- Feb 12, 2004
- Messages
- 91
I was not aware that Mr Nation had planned on bringing it back himself. Just found this on the official site.
Terry’s concept for a TV Movie/Mini-Series with a view to develop into another series of Blake’s 7, was as follows;
• The basic storyline was that the Federation, while still seeming all-powerful, would be rotting from within (cf, collapse of the Soviet Empire). Out of the past comes yesterday’s man. But all our yesterdays are viewed with nostalgic affection. So, through no fault or will of his own the sole survivor of the original Blake’s 7 becomes the catalyst for the creation of its successor. Terry likened this to Napoleon emerging from Elba and fighting his last hundred days. He was always going to lose, but he’d put up one hell of a fight. Glorious defiance is very appealing.
• Avon, imprisoned for 25-years, has in the minds of the average citizen essentially ‘disappeared’. The Federation’s propaganda machine has gone to great lengths to ensure that Blake and his compatriots are remembered simply as outlaws and certainly not hailed as martyrs. Information suppression plus the amount of physical time passed makes Avon a forgotten man. That said there is of course an underground network of dissidents for whom he represents the voice and potency of resistance and in many ways Avon will become the unwitting figurehead to their movement a reluctant El Cid.
• The new seven are like a wind, divine or not. Sometimes welcome, sometimes not, the wind is never static, it always moves on.
• Whereas, the mores and values of the TV audience of the time tempered Terry’s vision of ‘The Dirty Dozen in Space’ playing more like ‘Robin Hood in Space’ the new series must be grittier, more believable, and possess an almost epic and mythic feel to it that will raise it above the ‘SF bubblegum’ that often predominates our screens.
A good analogy for the series going forward would be West Wing meets The Dirty Dozen where the gloves are off and the rules of engagement ill-defined and thereby the outcome of any conflict either in battle, emotionally or politically, unpredictable!