60 Fun Facts About Blake's 7

Who created Blake's 7, having previously invented the Daleks for Doctor Who?

Nation also wrote every episode of the first series himself, and reportedly began running out of ideas before it was finished.

How many episodes of Blake's 7 were made in total?

Four series of thirteen; the BBC had planned to stop after three, then unexpectedly ordered a fourth.

Which actor played Roj Blake?

Thomas left after series two, returning only for guest appearances and the finale, in which he insisted Blake be killed definitively.

The show was pitched to the BBC as which 1967 war film 'in space'?

Robin Hood was the other big influence: Travis and Servalan stand in for Guy of Gisbourne and the Sheriff of Nottingham.

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

The ship's name is simply the word Jenna was thinking when it probed her mind.

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

The third episode takes its title from the planet, where a religious cult rules the convicts.

Kerr Avon once tried to steal how much from the Federation banking system?

He appears in 51 of the 52 episodes, missing only the opener, 'The Way Back'.

Which crew member is the only character to appear in every single episode of Blake's 7?

Michael Keating's cowardly thief and lock-picker outlasted every other regular, human or computer.

Who played Kerr Avon?

Darrow, a Western enthusiast, delighted in the cowboy-film lines script editor Chris Boucher slipped into Avon's dialogue.

Cally, the crew's telepath, comes from which planet?

Blake meets her while attacking a communications station on Saurian Major, and she becomes the group's moral conscience.

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

Gan was chosen to die in series two because he was under-used and the least popular character.

Which regular character was killed off in series two, to prove the crew were not invincible?

He is crushed by falling rubble after Travis throws a grenade during the raid on the empty Federation control centre.

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

Pearce had earlier starred in the Hammer horrors The Plague of the Zombies and The Reptile.

After she is deposed as President, Servalan hides under which alias?

As Sleer she runs a pacification programme using the drug Pylene-50 to win territory back for the Federation.

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

Travis was played by two actors: Stephen Greif in series one and Brian Croucher in series two.

Who played Travis in the first series before Brian Croucher took over the role?

Travis is eventually court-martialled for killing civilians and grows ever more obsessed with killing Blake.

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

Orac was built by an inventor named Ensor, who dies when the power cells of his artificial heart run out.

Who built Orac?

Orac's first prediction on board Liberator is that the ship will be destroyed in the near future.

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

Derek Farr voiced Orac only in its first appearance; Tuddenham took over from series two.

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

By contrast Orac dislikes work it thinks is unnecessary and has delusions of grandeur.

Dayna Mellanby wants revenge on Servalan for what?

Josette Simon's weapons expert joined in series three alongside Steven Pacey's Del Tarrant.

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

He is ruthless and charming, regularly challenges Avon's leadership and bullies Vila.

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

Glynis Barber had already appeared in series one as a Mutoid in 'Project Avalon'.

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

Barber later found wider fame as Harriet Makepeace in Dempsey and Makepeace.

Blake raids the Federation's computer control facility on Earth and finds an empty room. What is the real one called?

Star One also controls a defensive barrier holding back invaders from the Andromeda galaxy.

In the series two finale, invaders infiltrate Star One from which galaxy?

Jenna calls for Federation help, and Servalan, having staged a coup, sends the battle fleets.

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

Anna tries to shoot Avon in the back; he kills her, then frees Servalan.

How is the crew's ship finally destroyed at the end of series three?

The ship explodes as Servalan leaves, and she is presumed dead while teleporting away.

In the series three finale the crew are marooned by Servalan on an artificial planet named what?

BBC One controller Bill Cotton enjoyed 'Terminal' so much that he ordered a fourth series to be announced as the credits rolled.

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

Jan Chappell had decided not to return, and Glynis Barber's Soolin took her place.

Who owned the ship Scorpio before the crew commandeered it in series four?

Dorian planned to drain the crew's life-force and take Orac, but Vila foiled him.

In series four the crew operate from a base on which planet?

The base is wrecked when alliance member Zukan betrays them to Servalan and sets off explosives.

In series four, Servalan under her new alias pacifies planets with which drug?

The crew get hold of an antidote formula, but it cannot reverse the drug's effects on those already dosed.

In the final episode, why does Avon shoot Blake?

Blake had been posing as a bounty hunter to test recruits, and Tarrant's accusation plus a miscommunication seals his fate.

In the last scene of the series, surrounded by Federation guards, what does Avon do?

Only Blake's death was contractual; the others were shot in ways that would have allowed a fifth series.

On what date was the final episode, 'Blake', first broadcast?

The first episode had gone out on 2 January 1978, so the series ran almost exactly four years.

Who composed the Blake's 7 theme music?

He also scored every episode except two: 'Duel', whose director refused to work with him, and 'Gambit'.

Why does the series one episode 'Duel' use library music rather than the show's regular scoring?

The 'special sound' effects throughout the series came from the BBC Radiophonic Workshop.

Blake's 7 was made on a famously low budget. Which caves in Somerset stood in for an alien mine?

Interior spaceship scenes were taped at BBC Television Centre, and alien planets were often Betchworth Quarry.

Which children's programme showed viewers how to make a Blake's 7 teleport bracelet from household objects in 1978?

Janet Ellis repeated the trick with a Scorpio bracelet in 1983.

Roughly how many viewers did Blake's 7 average in the UK?

Some first-series episodes topped ten million.

In which real-world year is Blake's 7 loosely set, according to publicity material?

The 'second calendar' dating never appears on screen.

Which novel's boot-stamping-on-a-face vision did critic Robert Hanks cite when contrasting Blake's 7 with Star Trek?

The Federation's brainwashing and show trials in 'The Way Back' were modelled on Soviet treatment of dissidents.

Script editor Chris Boucher based the rebels' motives on which Latin American revolutionary?

Boucher wrote nine episodes himself and later created the police drama Star Cops.

The final episode was inspired by Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and which other 1969 Western?

The Magnificent Seven was another key influence on the whole series.

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

The play was written by former Doctor Who producer Barry Letts.

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

Ben Aaronovitch, Marc Platt and James Swallow wrote the 36 five-minute episodes.

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

A US remake for Syfy directed by Martin Campbell was announced in 2012 and also never materialised.

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

Peter Tuddenham, the voice of Zen and Orac, appeared in it too.

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

Darrow later bought the rights and tried to make a follow-up, A Rebellion Reborn, set 25 years after the finale.

The actor who played Blake was close friends with which Doctor Who star and hoped for a crossover?

Thomas returned to the role of Blake in Big Finish's Liberator Chronicles audio dramas from 2012.

Corgi Toys produced a die-cast model of the crew's ship in 1978. How long was it?

Only a handful of the 27 merchandise items proposed by 1977 were ever actually made.

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

Keating stayed for all four series, and his Vila is the only character to appear in every episode.

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

Knyvette left after series two along with Gareth Thomas, which forced the show to carry on without its title character.

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

Its commander sends the expendable Blake, Avon and Jenna to board a derelict alien craft, which becomes the crew's ship.

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

Cotton had enjoyed the series three finale so much that he telephoned the presentation department himself, though nobody had expected a recommission.

Who took over as producer for the fourth series when David Maloney was unavailable?

Lorrimer brought in the ship Scorpio, its computer Slave and the gunfighter Soolin for the final run.

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

Blake is posing as a bounty hunter there, and the misunderstanding that follows ends the series in a bloodbath.

Which novelist co-wrote the first Blake's 7 book, published in 1978, with the show's creator?

The book novelised the first four episodes and was retitled Blake's 7 – Their First Adventure in the US; Hoyle wrote two more.

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

The magazine featured a strip drawn by Ian Kennedy alongside text stories and features, arriving just as the final series went out.