Customer Reviews

Blakes 7 - Series 1 [Region 2 Import- Non USA Format]

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

If only it was available in the US on DVD!!! Sadly, it is not, forcing me to acquire the PAL version and play it on my computer. However, it is SO worth it. Here's why:
1. Great writing. The beginning story arc ('The Way Back' to 'Cygnus Alpha' is great. 'Mission to Destiny', 'Duel' and 'Seek-Locate-Destroy' are great as well.)
2. Paul Darrow - He rocks as Avon and the best written character of the series.
3. The Liberator - Ah, what a ship!
4. Terry Nation - Creator of the Daleks, he created and set the tone for what would follow. This is not kid's stuff.
5. Steven Grief as Travis. The best is still the original. Watch his brief monologue at the end of 'Seek-Locate-Destroy' and then watch what Brian Croucher does, well, anytime in Series B. Case closed.

Blake's 7 is a study in how to write, direct on a limited budget, and get quality acting. I cannot see how, if you like SciFi, you CANNOT afford to miss this series. It is one of the pinnacles of British TV along with:
-Doctor Who
-The Day of the Triffids
-Survivors

I can't say enough about this series. It is so good I bought all the VHS tapes (getting worn out now)!! Superb TV and just, well, just fantastic!!!

This is top notch Sci-Fi made by the creator of the Daleks: Terry Nation. You may order it from Amazon UK but need a PAL dvd player. The story line is that of a band of rebels fighting an evil and corrupt Earth based Federation. Sort of like the one in Star Trek's mirror universe. The stories are hard hitting and no holds barred. However the show relies on great plots, and good acting instead of violence and special effects. I strongly recommend it.

1978. After the success of Star Wars the B.B.C. finally realized there was money to be made in Science Fiction.
With the success Terry Nation had achieved with the Daleks in Doctor Who the B.B.C. trusted Mr Nation with almost anything, just before this show he had come up with "Survivors".
(A too pessimistic view of a future Earth for my liking.)
All four seasons are made up of thirteen episodes, in the first two seasons the Liberator crew are lead by Rog Blake and as such are quite noble and, "freedom fighterish" but once Blake leaves after season two the crew under Avon lose their nobility and become recidivists.
The first episode of Blakes 7 has certain similarities to "1984" and "The Prisoner" and as such is gripping entertainment, after that it developes a life and course of it's own.
It's obvious that Terry Nation plagiarised some ideas from Star Trek, but if you are going to copy then it makes sense to copy from the best!
~~~~
Human crew members season one, Blake, Avon, Vila, Gan, Jenna, Cally.
Non human member, Zen the ship's computer.
Season one stories are:-
"The Way Back", Blake is framed and sentenced to the prison planet Cygnus Alpha.
"Space Fall", Blake organises a take over of the prison ship. The Liberator makes it's first appearance.
"Cygnus Alpha", Blake makes changes on Cygnus, and start's to get his crew.
"Time Squad", Cally makes her appearance.
"The Web", The Liberator get's caught in a web, the crew get caught up with genetic experiments. My favourite story from this season.*
"Seek-Locate-Destroy", Blake want's to get a message decoder, and nothing will stop him.*
"Mission to Destiny", an Agatha Christie in space type story.
"Duel", Blakes 7 version of Star Trek's "Arena".*
"Project Avalon", Blake wants to meet up with a resistance leader.*
"Breakdown", Gan start's to go crazy.*
"Bounty", one of the season's low point's. Talky and pointless.
"Deliverance", The Liberator crew assist the survivor of a spaceship crash.*
"Orac", Blake meet's the "Box of tricks" for the first time.*
(*Personal favourites, with good strong storylines.)

Heard about this show from other people much after the series finished, so my curiosity was piqued. I never saw the original airing, and I don't remember this show being advertised on any network, so it must of had a small following in the US. Be that as it may, it is enjoyable. The show is typical BBC, good storyline to make up for a smaller budget. Many of the special effects are cheesy and dated, but that is to be expected from these kind of shows. The characters and their interaction are more realistic; bickering, clash of egos, questionable morality. This show was created for a more mature audience, and that's a good thing after years of 60's cow eyed optimism. Avon character is particularly intriguing, always wondering when he'll switch over to the stronger side.
These are region 2 disks which are playable on laptops once you reselect the region code. With the exception of playing around with the interlacing, the disks played normaly. Not sure about buying additional seasons if they continue releasing them in region 2 only. Tried to lend the disks to friends, but none of them want to mess with the region coding.

As an American Blakes 7 fan I've had to go through a trial-and-error process regarding the Blakes 7 Region 2 DVD sets. Here are some things to watch out for. Most (possibly all) DVD-Rom drives will allow you to switch the region setting up to five times. By changing the DVD Region setting to United Kingdom, I was able to watch these Region 2 DVDs on my computer.* You also have the option of buying a region free DVD player, which you can get for less than $100.

Be sure to ask the seller if you'll be getting a 4-disk or 5-disk set. The Amazon photo isn't necessarily what the seller will send you. The 5-Disk sets are much better and include commentaries and special features. You'll know you have the 5-disk set when it's packaged in a cardboard casing with just the Blakes 7 logo on the front cover.

The 4-disk "international" sets are designed for non-English speaking countries. They don't include any commentaries or special features - just the episodes with optional subtitles in a foreign language and a cheaply redesigned main menu to incorporate that language. These sets are in plastic casings and have the logo plus three production photos on the front cover. Be wary of sellers who mention foreign subtitles, because the subtitles on the 5-disk sets are only in English.

Blakes 7 has been called the anti-Star Trek. It's a smartly written, grim science fiction show with ambiguous morals and sarcastic dialogue set in a bleak dystopian future. The look and special effects are reminiscent of 1970s Doctor Who, but the writing puts it more in league with shows like the Prisoner. The first season was written entirely by it's creator, Terry Nation (famed for having created the Daleks for Doctor Who). After that, episodes were written by various authors. Script editor Chris Boucher wrote many of them, with occasional episodes written by Robert Holmes just after his stint as script editor for Doctor Who.

By the end of the second series enough actors had left the show to make for an uneven series three. When Blakes 7 was unexpectedly renewed for a fourth season, several changes resulted in a run of very dark episodes, culminating in a terrific grand finale. Kudos to the team that designed the DVD sets. The animated menus reflect a great respect for the show. The special features are abundant with both old and recent interviews with the actors, particularly the season four set, which includes a lengthy interview with actor Paul Darrow who played Avon throughout the series.

*PC users- in the computer menu, right click on the drive, select properties, then hardware>properties>DVD Region

The brainchild of Terry Nation, Blakes 7 remains one of Britain's most popular Sci-Fi series. U.S audiences may be familiar with Doctor Who, which is brilliant, but the grim universe Nation conceived for Blakes 7 is a far more gritty adult affair.

A motley collection of individuals ply their way through the galaxy trying to overthrow the oppressive totalitarian regime of the Terran Federation. Roj Blake is a political agitator falsely accused of sex crimes and sent to Cygnus Alpha a remote penal colony. He escapes in a futuristic ship and is joined by Kerr Avon, a computer genius, Jenna Stanis, a smuggler and pilot, Vila Restal, a thief and self-confessed coward, Olag Gan a usually gentle giant and later Calley, a native of Auron who is capable of reading thoughts and feelings.

The ship, the Liberator, the fastest and most powerful in the galaxy affords the crew protection from the ruthless Federation. They are hounded by the power hungry Supreme Commander Servalan and her crony, Space Commander Travis, who will stop at nothing to avenge the wounds he received from Blake.

What makes the series so great is the fantastic dialogue and exceptional acting. The concept for the show is well done and makes up for the primitive BBC 1970's special effects. The crew not only fight the Federation, but also have to overcome inter-personal conflicts, especially between Blake and Avon. Blake may be a conscientious character with an axe to grind against the Federation, but Avon provides the pragmatic and less emtional counter-part.

Avon remains my all time favorite anti-hero. He's the Dirty Harry of the Sci-Fi world. Dark, brooding an intelligent(Avon means "dark waters"), Avon's quips throughout the series are a highlight of the character conflicts. "I look upon self interest as my great strength." "I've never understood why it should be necessary to become irrational in order to prove that your care, or indeed why it should be necessary to prove it at all."

I recently bought the series from Amazon and can't wait for it to arrive. I grew up watching it in the late 70's in New Zealand where it quickly became a cult fav'. I got reacquainted with the series as a teen in the late 80's and on payTV in the 90's once again. I have to say this is my all time favourite sci-fi show and as you can tell I've memorized screeds of dialogue and other nerdy facts about it. My dream is still to pen some fan-fiction, ideas I've been kicking around for years are slowly coming to fruition.... If you can cope with the special effects, this will not disappoint if you enjoy sci-fi.

I remembered Blakes 7 from the 1980's, watching this great new British SF show with characters that had issues with each other, that weren't always in agreement, and that didn't blindly follow the leader. I remember watching them on video tapes that had been copied from a British TV screen onto an NTSC video camera and then mailed to America where a growing group of fans could enjoy the blue washed-out video. Plus I was probably watching a 3rd generation tape.

So I didn't always pick up what was going on in the scene, and I don't think I saw all the episodes. But I do remember a fascinating show that I always wanted to watch 'for real'. When I saw that Blakes 7 was available on DVD I eagerly awaited the region 1 version, but it didn't come out. Once I had a region 2 player I ordered the 1st season.

I was not disappointed. While the visual special effects are typical BBC SF effects of the time, (the old VCR video might actually be better, all things considered) the writing and the characters hold up over time. Possibly over the intervening 30 years I have become a bit jaded, or my expectations are higher, but the female characters seem a bit weaker than I remember. At least in the first season, Servalan is not quite as vicious as I remember. Maybe she improves in the following seasons.

I look forward to the 2nd season.