Customer Reviews

Blake's 7: The Inside Story

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I'm only sorry I couldn't have found this book sooner. I just recently discovered Blake's 7 and this guide really "hit the spot" as far as my curiosity was concerned. It gives you a lot of insight into why things were a certain way or how they really wanted to do something but didn't have the funding. It was also a pretty easy read. They didn't get into a whole lot dull detail and there were enough little interesting facts and stories to keep it interesting. If you are a true Blake's 7 fan, you'll definatly want to add this to your library.

This book is an excellent look at how Blake's 7 was made. This BBC sci-fi show was made on a very small budget and the book relays insightful and often humourous stories on how all the cast and crew managed with flimsy props, wobbly sets and muddy locations. Sheelagh Wells, who was a make up artist on the programme, gives the reader many little stories and incidents that happened. The photos are wonderful, both in colour and black and white and many candid shots. There are also many sketches, diagrams and such of the sets, the ships, etc. For anyone who is a fan of Blake's 7 or science fiction this book is it.

After excellent behind-the-scenes books such as "Star Trek Memories" and "Patrick Stewart, the Unauthorized Biography," this book was a big disappointment. Overall, the book delivered little more than a few interesting items of trivia. The "funny" anecdotes weren't funny--I guess you had to be there. I still don't feel like I know what really happened behind the scenes. The departures of Gareth Thomas, Sally Knyvette and Stephen Grief are made to sound like no big deal. What really happened? Perhaps their departures were really as nonchalant as the book suggests. If so, I guess there wasn't as much behind the scenes as I thought there was. Unfortunately, after reading the book I still feel like I don't know. The authors are apparently good friends with former cast members, so there is very little in the way of "investigative" reporting. Still, as a Blake's 7 fan, I did find a number of items somewhat interesting and I am glad to have the book in my library. It just was much less than I was hoping for and expecting.