Blakes 7 (TV series)

Blake's 7
The logo used for the first three series of Blake's 7
Created by	Terry Nation
Starring	Gareth Thomas Michael Keating Sally Knyvette Paul Darrow David Jackson Peter Tuddenham Jan Chappell Jacqueline Pearce Stephen Greif Brian Croucher Josette Simon Steven Pacey Glynis Barber
Theme music composer	Dudley Simpson
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language(s)	English
No. of series	4
No. of episodes	52 (list of episodes)
Production
Producer(s)	David Maloney (series 1-3) Vere Lorrimer (series 4)
Camera setup	Multi-camera
Running time	50 minutes
Release
Original network	BBC1
Picture format	625 line (576i) PAL 4:3
Audio format	monaural
Original release	2 January 1978 – 21 December 1981
External links
Website	blakes7.com

Blake's 7 is a British science fiction television series produced by the BBC. Four 13-episode series were broadcast on BBC1 between 1978 and 1981. It was created by Terry Nation, who also created the Daleks for the television series Doctor Who. The script editor was Chris Boucher. The main character, at least initially, was Roj Blake, played by Gareth Thomas. The series was inspired by various fictional media, including Robin Hood, Star Trek, Passage to Marseille, The Dirty Dozen, Brave New World and classic Western stories, as well as real-world political conflicts in South America and Israel.

Blake's 7 was popular from its first broadcast, watched by approximately 10 million in the UK and shown in 25 other countries. Although many tropes of space opera are present, such as spaceships, robots, galactic empires and aliens, its budget was inadequate for its interstellar theme. Critical responses have been varied; some reviewers praised the series for its dystopian themes, strong characterisation, ambiguous morality and pessimistic tone, as well as displaying an "enormous sense of fun", but others have criticised its production values, dialogue and perceived lack of originality, with broadcaster and critic Clive James describing it as "classically awful".