Customer Reviews

A History and Critical Analysis of Blake's 7, the 1978-1981 British Television Space Adventure

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Having read other excellent titles by John Kenneth Muir on the series Space:1999 and Doctor Who, I was thrilled to discover he had the courage to take on Blake's 7 as well. Blake always seemed to me to be an odd hybrid of Saturday morning action adventure and dystopian fairy tale. Its dark vision of an oppressive empire, ironically named the 'Federation', contrasted with the cheap sets, the expressive acting of Jacqueline Pearce, and the poorly choreographed fight scenes. Still, Blake's 7 has always been a guilty pleasure, and a joy to watch. Muir takes us on a comprehensive journey through the series history. The book offers details such as back stage gossip, struggles with the budget, explains the frequent cast changes, and includes a detailed analysis of each episode. Muir's writing style is both engaging and amusing. I loved this book, despite the simple cover art. It's a must for any Blake's 7 fan, and well worth the cover price.

John Kenneth Muir's text on the British TV series Blake's 7 is an enthusiastically written and well researched one. Given Muir's writing pedigree, which includes similar analyses of programs such as Dr Who, Space 1999 and Battlestar Galactica, plus his examinations of the films of directors such as Wes Craven and John Carpenter, it is evident his knowledge of the sci-fi/horror genres is exhaustive and admirable. As opposed to previously books which offered little or no in depth analysis, Muir's book looks at each episode with a critical eye. This is not new, however: various Internet sites have forums and reviews of episodes in which fans offer their opinions. However it is comforting to be able to read a list of them in the old fashioned form of a book (the Luddite in me!). His analyses are very well written. Thankfully they skim over the plot descriptions (anyone reading this book would know the plots backwards anyhow), and offer many interesting points. I can't say I agree with all of his conclusions, but that is the wonderful thing we call democracy. If everyone agreed on everything, what a boring place it would be! Muir savages some episodes I hold in high regard; however I respect his opinions and uphold his reasoning, as I would anybody's. Apart from the episodes, Muir writes some very interesting essays - the "anti-Star Trek" one is, in my opinion, the best. The examination of the sci-fi story arc and the shorter piece on sexual machinations among the crew also hold the interest. Putting Blake's 7 into a historical context, relating it to sci-fi programs of its day and also more recent programs such as Babylon 5, is also well done, maintaining that Blake's 7 has not had its day and is still relevant in today's deconstructions of the genre. Although this book is excellent, there is one major irritating fault - the book seems to have not been proof read at all, with glaring mistakes. For example, his examination of the season B episode "Weapon" refers to Fen as Coser's companion, when she was Rashel. The cast list to "Traitor" (Season D) credits David Quilter as "The General" and not "The Tracer", while the essay on sex, naturally discussing the controversial gender themed episode "Power", constantly refers to it as "Rescue". There are countless others. This criticism may come across as nitpicking, but for an author of Muir's calibre, especially given his insights and knowledge of the program, along with his other writing efforts, they are unforgivable oversights. They may have been simple typographic errors, but Muir, of all people, should have noticed them before publication. However, this should not detract from the book's excellent writing and interesting observations. For a fan of Blake's 7, it is very worthwhile and engaging, able to be read and re-read.

Ever since watching the Blake's 7 television series on late night PBS stations in the 1980s, I've wanted someone to publish a book like this. Mr. Muir has created an objective and detailed analysis of the series, its creator, characters, scripts, symbolism, and influence. The author is not an agent of the BBC, he is a student of the science fiction genre with a lot of knowledge and research behind him. As a result, the text is very fresh and honest, free from institutional bias or propaganda, giving the book (if you'll pardon the expression) an almost "liberated" feel.

Included in the text are background on the series origins and history, a discription of Nation's intent to mix aspects of "The Dirty Dozen" and "Robin Hood" into the series, critical reviews on each of the 52 episodes, an excellent analysis of the Blake's 7 story arc, an examination of the shows place in science fiction history, and several essays on the characters of Blake and Avon and their relationship with each other. The commentary on the series finale is also the most complete and inspired analysis of the meaning of that episode that it has ever been my good fortune to come accross.

This is fantastic reading, and I found myself literally sitting up in my chair saying "Holy smoke, I've never noticed that before." The book sent me scrambling for my episode tapes to view the show again in a different light. There are so many layers to this show, and this book gave me a lot to think about.

I got this book because I love Blake's 7, have for years. I was quite interested in reading a professional opinion on the show.
Muir does an excellent job discussing the history of the show, citing some behind the scene stories of how things came about. He also does an excellent job of focusing on Terry Nation, his ideas of the future, and his take on social issues such as slavery, prejudice, tyranny, and genetics (to name just a few). But, unfortunatly, the analysis begins to fade after the discussion of series 2, and drops more into plot summaries and discussion of guest stars and their characters.

This book seems more devoted to Terry Nation and his stories, and after Nation left the show (after series 2), Muir has very liitle critical discussion left.

Also, the book is lacking in images, having only 9 images (b&w), none of them from the actual series (I am uncertain if he was unable to get the rights to publish photos. If he could not, then this is excusable).

However, having pointed out the books flaws, the first sections is well worth the read.

John Kenneth Muir always does a fantastic job: he tracks down seemingly everything in print regarding his subject (old Starlogs, encyclopedia articles, short entries in other books, actor interviews), then synthesizes it all into exhaustively comprehensive, readable, wonderful books that deepen your enjoyment of the subject.

With both this book and Muir's Exploring Space 1999: An Episode Guide and Complete History of the Mid-1970s Science Fiction Television Series I came away feeling like I had learned everything I'd ever want to know on the subject, and I find my enjoyment at rewatching old episodes is greatly enhanced. Muir goes far beyond excellent episode summaries to include essays on how the series was created, fair and highly readable reviews, production details, anecdotes on the actors shooting certain scenes, etc., etc.... it feels like nothing is left out.

I was hesitant to purchase this book because of the slightly high price tag, but I'm overwhelmingly pleased. It lightens my heart to know there are people like Muir in the world, who are ready to go so far beyond the minimal effort required to craft these excellent books which are obviously labors of love. Good on you, Mr. Muir!

Having read John Kenneth Muir's excellent previous book,'Exploring Space:1999', I was excited to discover this new title. Blake's 7 is a fascinating, unique show, half camp, half horror. It must be the only series in television history to kill off all of its major characters in the last episode! Muir does a fantastic job in his analysis of the series. The book is comprehensive, and well written. Muir explores the shows history, with insightful quotes from most of the major principles involved. I particularly enjoyed the fact that he included frank comments from the series actresses, about sexism on the show. This is a must read for an Blake fan!

This is a worthy addition to my Blake's 7 collection. It's very informative and well written. It's also obviously a labor of love. They don't come much better than this. A+

I bought this John Muir book on Blake's 7 when it first appeared on Amazon.com and felt it was a waste of my forty dollars. I have been in B7 now for approximately 11 years and for a while collected everything that there was to collect. Now I am more selective. One reason I dislike this book is that it told me nothing new of importance that I did not already know. If you own Blake's 7: The Inside Story by S. Wells and her husband, The B7 Programme Guide (revised) by Attwood, and all the various comics, magazines, and poster books put out by Marvel (a total of 34 items), you have a good idea of Blake's 7. And not one of these items cost [$$$] apiece.

Now if you know absolutely nothing about B7 and have nothing else collected, then this book might be worthwhile. But for my money, I'd still say that you should buy Blake's 7: The Inside Story instead if you want a book about Blake's 7. And this book comes with plenty of interesting photos. The Muir book has no photos.

This Muir book is padded with a lot of trivia from other TV series that Muir has researched and written about. Frankly, I did not care which props that B7 recycled from other shows, for instance.

In many cases, the information was just a plot retelling of the 52 episodes with trivia added that I didn't care about.

If I had written this review when I first bought the book, it would be more detailed. But my memory has faded.

I really do not recommend this book. If you want to buy it, then I recommend you try to find it used and pay no more than [$$$] for it. Or better yet, borrow it from someone and reimburse them the postage. It truly is not worth the [$$$] that it costs new with postage, in my opinion.