55 Fun Facts About Blake's 7

Who created Blake's 7?

Terry Nation wrote all thirteen episodes of the first series himself, just three in each of the next two, and none at all of the fourth.

Blake's 7's creator had earlier invented which Doctor Who monsters?

The Daleks made their inventor's name in the 1960s, and he later sold the BBC a bleaker space saga that ran to 52 episodes over four series.

Which actor played Roj Blake?

Gareth Thomas played Blake for the first two series, returning as a guest for the finale, in which he asked that Blake be killed unambiguously.

Blake's 7 was pitched to the BBC as which war film 'in space'?

The show was sold to the BBC as 'The Dirty Dozen in space': a band of convicts and outlaws waging a guerrilla war on the Federation.

What is the alien spacecraft that Blake, Jenna and Avon commandeer in the second episode?

Liberator is the name Zen, the ship's computer, drew from Jenna's thoughts after the abandoned alien vessel scanned her mind.

Blake is arrested, brainwashed and sentenced to deportation to which prison planet?

Blake was sentenced to the prison planet Cygnus Alpha, which gives the third episode its title; there a religious cult led by Vargas rules the convicts.

In Blake's 7, Kerr Avon was deported for which crime?

Fraud put Avon on the prison ship: he tried to embezzle a fortune from the Federation banking system, then turned the same computer skills to helping Blake's mutiny.

Which of the rebels is the only character to appear in all 52 episodes?

Vila, the cowardly thief, is in all 52: the show's creator wanted him written out in series two, but an audience poll showed viewers loved him, so another regular died instead.

Who played Kerr Avon?

Paul Darrow played Avon for all four series and relished the Western-style one-liners that script editor Chris Boucher wrote into the part.

In Blake's 7, the telepath Cally comes from which planet?

Cally is a telepath from the planet Auron; Blake meets her in 'Time Squad' while attacking a Federation communications base on Saurian Major.

Olag Gan has been fitted with an electronic 'limiter' implant that prevents him from doing what?

Gan's limiter implant makes killing impossible for him; the Federation fitted it after he killed the security guard who had murdered his woman.

Which Blake's 7 regular was killed off in series two to show that no one was safe?

Gan is crushed by falling rubble in 'Pressure Point' after Travis throws a grenade during the raid on the empty control centre; the writers wanted to show the crew could die.

Who played Servalan, the Supreme Commander who becomes Federation President?

Jacqueline Pearce was brought in for a single episode, but she made Servalan so compelling that the character stayed for all four series as the show's main villain.

In Blake's 7, the deposed President Servalan hides under which alias?

As Commissioner Sleer, Servalan rebuilds her power from series four onward, running a pacification programme to win planets back for the Federation and murdering anyone who recognises her.

Space Commander Travis lost his left eye and left arm to Blake; what does his prosthetic arm conceal?

Travis's artificial left arm conceals a weapon, the lazeron destroyer, which he fires from his gloved hand.

Who played Travis in series one of Blake's 7, before Brian Croucher took over?

Stephen Greif left after series one and put forward Brian Croucher to replace him, so Travis came back with a new face chosen by the old one.

Orac, the supercomputer captured at the end of series one, can talk to any computer containing which component?

Orac can communicate with any computer built around a Tariel cell, a component used throughout the Federation, which lets it read and override their data.

Who built Orac?

Ensor, a reclusive genius on the planet Aristo, built Orac; he dies in the episode 'Orac' when the power cells of his artificial heart run out.

Which actor voiced Zen, Orac (from series two) and later Slave?

Peter Tuddenham was already voicing Zen when he took over Orac, which had first spoken in the voice of Derek Farr, the guest actor who played its inventor on screen.

Slave, the computer aboard Scorpio, has what sort of personality?

Slave is cringing and obsequious, forever apologising and calling the crew 'Master'; its grovelling manner is the opposite of Orac's arrogance.

Dayna Mellanby wants revenge on Servalan for what?

Dayna Mellanby swore revenge on Servalan for murdering her father, Hal Mellanby, in the series three opener 'Aftermath'.

Del Tarrant, who joins in series three, trained as what with the Federation before turning to crime?

Tarrant trained as a pilot with the Federation and rose to space captain before deserting to become a mercenary and smuggler; he flies the ship from series three onward.

Soolin, who joins in series four, is unmatched at what?

Drawing a gun quickly was a skill Soolin learned for revenge: her family was murdered when she was a child, so she trained as a gunfighter and hunted down the killers.

Before being cast as Soolin, Glynis Barber had appeared in Blake's 7 series one playing what?

Glynis Barber played a Mutoid, one of Travis's blood-dependent crew, in the 1978 episode 'Project Avalon', three years before returning as Soolin.

Blake finds Earth's control facility empty, so what is the Federation's real computer control called?

Star One is the Federation's real computer control centre, relocated in secret far from Earth; the room Blake fought his way into in 'Pressure Point' had long been empty.

In Blake's 7's series two finale, invaders attack the Federation from which galaxy?

The invaders come from the Andromeda galaxy; Jenna broadcasts a warning and the Federation fleet arrives to fight the Andromedan armada in the intergalactic war.

Avon's former lover Anna Grant turns out to have been a Federation agent operating under what name?

Bartolomew, Central Security's top agent, is who Anna Grant really was: in 'Rumours of Death' she draws a gun on Avon as he turns away, and he shoots her dead.

How is the rebels' ship finally destroyed at the end of Blake's 7's third series?

Corrosive particles eat its hull after Avon takes the ship through a cloud of them, and it breaks apart just as Servalan, who has finally seized it, tries to leave.

In Blake's 7's series three finale, Servalan maroons the rebels on an artificial planet named what?

Terminal is an artificial planet built as a vast experiment; Servalan lures the crew there with a faked Blake, strands them and seizes their ship.

Who is killed by Servalan's booby traps at the very start of series four?

Cally dies when Servalan's booby-trapped underground base explodes in the series four opener 'Rescue'; Jan Chappell had chosen not to return.

In Blake's 7, who owned the ship Scorpio before the rebels took it in series four?

Dorian, a salvage operator, owned Scorpio and rescued the stranded crew only to offer them to the life-draining creature in his cellar; he aged and died when it was killed.

In Blake's 7's fourth series, the rebels operate from a base on which planet?

From series four the crew operate from an underground base on the planet Xenon; it is wrecked in 'Warlord' when Zukan betrays them and sets off explosives.

In the final episode, why does Avon shoot Blake?

Avon shoots Blake because he suspects him of betraying the group: Blake had posed as a bounty hunter to test recruits, Tarrant cries 'he sold us', and Blake's reply seems to confirm it.

In the last scene of Blake's 7, surrounded by Federation guards, what does Avon do?

Surrounded by troopers, Avon stands over Blake's body, raises his gun and smiles; the credits roll over a volley of gunshots, so the screen never shows what happens to him.

The final episode of Blake's 7 first aired four days before which holiday?

Christmas was four days off when 'Blake' went out on 21 December 1981, and nine million viewers watched the rebels shot down one by one.

Who composed the Blake's 7 theme music?

Dudley Simpson composed the theme and scored all but two episodes; one exception, 'Gambit', was scored by Elizabeth Parker of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop.

Why does the Blake's 7 episode 'Duel' use only library music?

A director's grudge against the composer is the reported cause: Douglas Camfield never hired the show's composer again after a row in their Doctor Who days, so 'Duel' was tracked with library music.

Which famous show caves were used as a filming location for Blake's 7?

Wookey Hole in Somerset supplied the cave interiors for 'Project Avalon'; with money tight, alien planets were more often a quarry, such as Betchworth in Surrey.

Which actor played Olag Gan?

David Jackson played Gan as the crew's gentle giant: the muscle of the group, yet also a voice of conscience within it.

Blake's 7 often drew around ten million viewers despite airing opposite which ITV soap?

Coronation Street ran against it on ITV and Star Wars reached British cinemas within a week of its launch, yet the cheaply made space opera still pulled in around ten million viewers.

Which novel did critic Robert Hanks invoke when contrasting Blake's 7 with Star Trek?

Robert Hanks contrasted Star Trek's optimism with Blake's 7's bleak Federation, invoking Nineteen Eighty-Four's vision of the future as a boot stamping on a human face.

How does Blake get rid of Vargas, the cult leader who boards his ship?

Blake teleports him into space: Vargas had come aboard with the escaping prisoners and demanded the ship for his cult.

In the 1998 BBC Radio 4 revival The Sevenfold Crown, which two roles were recast?

Dayna and Soolin were recast, voiced by Angela Bruce and Paula Wilcox; former Doctor Who producer Barry Letts wrote the play.

In B7 Productions' 2006 audio adventures, which actor played Avon?

Colin Salmon voiced Avon in B7 Productions' audio adventures, alongside Derek Riddell as Blake, in 36 five-minute episodes later compiled into three feature-length releases.

Which UK broadcaster commissioned two scripts for a Blake's 7 revival in 2008, then dropped it in 2010?

Sky1 commissioned two scripts for a revival in 2008 but shelved the project in 2010; a Syfy remake announced in 2012 also never materialised.

The 2004 comedy short 'Blake's Junction 7' depicted the crew taking a break where?

Blake's Junction 7 stranded the crew at a motorway service area, Newport Pagnell, with Martin Freeman and Mackenzie Crook in the cast.

The actor who played Avon shared a flat at RADA with Ian McShane and which other future star?

Avon's actor shared a flat with John Hurt and Ian McShane while all three were students at RADA, before any of them had found fame.

In which series two episode of Blake's 7 do the rebels meet the System, builders of their ship?

'Redemption' opens series two with the crew captured by the System, the computer-ruled civilisation that built their ship and wants it back.

Which actor played the cowardly but high-IQ thief Vila Restal?

Michael Keating played Vila; in 'Orbit' Avon stalks the terrified thief, meaning to throw him off their overloaded shuttle so it can reach escape velocity.

Who played the smuggler-turned-pilot Jenna Stannis in the first two series?

Sally Knyvette played Jenna for the first two series, then left at the same time as Blake's actor, so the show carried on without its title character.

What is the name of the Federation prison ship on which Blake first meets Avon?

The London was carrying Blake and the other convicts into exile when its commander sent Blake, Avon and Jenna to board a drifting alien ship, which became their own.

Which BBC One controller ordered the surprise on-air announcement of a fourth series in 1980?

Bill Cotton, then Controller of BBC1, enjoyed the series three finale so much that he had a fourth series announced over its closing credits, surprising even the production team.

To which planet does Orac trace Blake in the final episode?

Orac traces Blake to Gauda Prime, where he has been posing as a bounty hunter; the misunderstanding on arrival ends the series in a bloodbath.

Which novelist wrote the first Blake's 7 book, adapting the opening episodes?

Trevor Hoyle novelised the first four episodes, wrote two more tie-in books, and also crossed over to the show itself, scripting the series three episode 'Ultraworld'.

Which publisher launched a monthly Blake's 7 magazine with a comic strip in October 1981?

Marvel UK launched Blake's 7 Monthly in October 1981, as the final series was airing, so the magazine outlived the show it covered, reaching 25 issues with its two specials.