1981 . I was 11. My heroes gunned down. I was truly stunned. Today there'd be counselling services for kids. For me, my mother said " right, theyre dead,. Now turn off the television and do your homework!"
@alexarbuthnott5503 the concept of shows ending was brand new for me. I remember hearing that Blake would return and I was so excited. Then Avon shoots him again and again, and my brain just goes numb. Then they all got shot. And this was kids TV in 1981!!
I'm 55 next week, but I remember watching this as it went out, and now I'm 13 again. Persuaded my parents to ignore Corrie that week... Then this happens... I'm left slack jawed, frozen, immobile. For me, the haunting memory is the alarm wailing in the background like a WW2 air raid siren. Vila is blown away. Tarrant, Soolin and Dayna shot down. Avon stands astride the bloody corpse of Blake and smiles... Gunshots over the silent credits. I don't think I ever recovered.
Avon shoot out the lights and Vila just dropped at the first gunshots...they recovered Orac and went on again...5th season precis script...the BBC wouldn't pay for it
@@derekmcmanus8615 I was so hoping for that to happen! So many rumors of a reboot over the years! Heaven knows Darrow was all for it! He always seemed to be ready, cntributing to radio shows that extended the series and all! Terry Nation should be quite proud of himself! A show w/ almost no budget which entertained me to no end well into my 60's & 40+ years since the finale! scifiblogs3.blogspot.com/2011/01/blakes-7-w-more-dr-who-comments.html
A more traditional ending with them all surviving and going off into the sunset together would never have had the same impact. I remember seeing this for the first time when I was a kid near 30 years ago and I still remember it now. It was the first time I had ever seen an ending where the bad guys just win absolutely and gun the heroes down. Surely the heroes always win in the end right? It blew me away. To this day the only other example I can think of is Mortal Kombat conquest.
I felt that ending for days. I was late to the show, due to age, but my father thoroughly enjoyed it (he introduced be to Tom Baker and Jon Pertwee) and I came on board through him. I've re-watched the entire series, but the moments that stick with me are still the ones I saw as a kid, things like 700kg of nitroglycerine, the cave-in of the base and the panic when they encounter the cooling gas while trying to dig out and, of course, then ending. No other tv show has managed to create such a final finale. After all that time, all that effort, all those victories against the Federation, Blake's 7 come literally to naught. Wow. Just, wow. Everybody dies and the arc of the universe bends towards totalitarianist injustice. Exactly as the very first episode (which I watched 11 or 12 years later on VHS) predicted.
Once a year on vacation aitake the whole serie wherever i am abroad and watch it again. Became a tradition. Even after all those tears i keep enjoying it.
By Season 4 it couldn't get more dark! They were literally just mercenaries trying to make a buck! If not for the Star Drive on Scorpio & the assistance of ORAC, they would have been caught & killed ages before the real finale! scifiblogs3.blogspot.com/2011/01/blakes-7-w-more-dr-who-comments.html
I was 16 in 1981 and an absolute Sci-Fi freak. But for some reason I never saw this show until some repeat episodes in 1982. I have no idea why I didn't notice it as I watched a lot of TV and there were only three channels.
He was a great actor, one of the best TV actors ever. He could convey so much emotion in that dark, saturnine face. The way he is numb and speechless as his comrades are killed, one by one. The pain as he looks down into Blake's dead eyes. And the smile as he accepts death. All without a word. With barely a flicker.
Happy memories of a simpler time in my life, and possibly the greatest anti-hero of UK tv sci-fi. The Judas, Avon! A brilliant character, played brilliantly. RIP PD.
I dont know if i would call him Judas, the funny thing with Avon is he was the last to start believing in Blake while also being the last defender of his legacy, he never really betrayed him.
Didn't watch B7 when it first aired but decided to give it a go and ended up tuning in for this episode (so the very last episode was my very first). At 10 years old it had a huge impact on me and the final scene was played over and over in my head until years later I managed to catch the show on UK Gold and then bought the dvds. I would love to see it remastered and issued on blu-ray with optional updated effects.
The ending was tragic. The way they were all killed so easily was so wrong. Every season ended like they weren't going to do another because the BBC couldn't commit. Such a shame. Loved the original cast. Iconic ship.
@@madquest8 I get the mistake he made. Over confidence in an indestructible ship is easy. He was desperate to rescue Blake and thought time was short. But yes, the writers n producers destroyed the show.
@@darrenbee4955 I remember that ending to this very day. I think they just ran out of ideas TBH. The writers should have gone down The Magnificent Seven route and have the characters die more meaningful deaths. At least have them die defending something they believe in!
I didn't realize Avon (Paul Darrow) is Mr. White in James Bond Die Another Day. He was so dominant in Blake's 7 that it was strange he didn't seem to get more good roles.
I think it's a pity that Paul Darrow's most notable acting part is Avon In Blakes 7, as you could tell he was a good actor and played the part very well despite a weak script and low budget. Like a good many actors and actresses in Britain, the career opportunities are limited. Acting roles in television that fully utilise someone with any real talent are few and far between. Blakes 7 itself could have been made a lot better, and with its following, certainly merited a film production. But like a lot of British television shows that shows that have any real potential, it was shackled by a meagre budget allocation and a lack of interest and ambition amongst television executives outside of their own salaries, which still continues to this day.
@@matthewhollingshead8618 I didn't think so! I was about to think I lost my mind! lol! scifiblogs3.blogspot.com/2011/01/blakes-7-w-more-dr-who-comments.html
I was blown out of the water. How could the universes smartest guy get killed. After a good think....and a few weeks, I came to the same conclusion. Fire one shot and drop, the idiots will keep firing to the last man.......the just pick him off.
love that downbeat siren sound in the background - really adds to the bleakness of the ending. Nowadays it would have to be mad CGI explosions everywhere and blaring sound effects, with maybe music trying to set the mood. But just having that low pitched siren sound works perfectly
The ending perfectly matched the bleak start in the first episode, I missed seeing one last meeting with Servalan, but somehow it fitted the series. A truly unforgettable ending.
@@Howyaduing They had already overused her! She wasn't even the President, but seemed to have so much power wandering around the galaxy trying to fool & catch Avon & his crew! She was there to thwart every money making venture w/ Gold & Feldon Crystals! Drawing Avon in w/ psycho technology in "Terminal" was probably the most ridiculous! scifiblogs3.blogspot.com/2011/01/blakes-7-w-more-dr-who-comments.html
Dont forget,chris boucher wrote this as an end of series cliffhanger, expecting it would be resolved in the next series,which never came,so as far as im concerned,they survived. Probably all stunned.
So, Gareth Thomas had it written into his appearance after series B that Blake had to be killed off so he appears in the finale of both series C & D and was certainly killed in series D. The rest were to be either killed or stunned according to whether they were coming back for series E or not so they had no visible wounds as is standard when shot by Federation standard issue guns. As it happened only Avon and Vila would have returned with Dayna, Soolin and Tarrant all being killed. Obviously series E was never made and the programme was left with its suitably downbeat ending. 5 people with a superior ship didn’t stand a chance, when they lost the Liberator they didn’t have a snowball’s chance in hell. It is fitting that they were dispatched so easily by some unimportant faceless Federation Troopers on an equally unimportant back world planet. The insignificance of their deaths fitting the hopelessness of their cause. Fitting and brilliant the ending is superb.
I taped it originally in '85-86 when in Chgo on PBS! I didn't realize they ran it again in the late 80's! I was preparing to move to California so caught up w/ other things I guess! scifiblogs3.blogspot.com/2011/01/blakes-7-w-more-dr-who-comments.html
Nice work on the visual effects, and the video portion looks like film, too. I wish they would do that to all the 70's and 80's BBC shows. They're well done, the video inside/film outside has only been my one complaint about them, mostly because it makes HD remastering much more difficult (I know some of this was due to budget and the complexity of exterior video, and shooting all film was pricey). Cheers.
It was finally the end for Blakes 7. This is what they had been fleeing from the very first episode. They had been clinging on to life and hope for so, so long, but really this was inevitable and I think deep down they had always known it.
Shocking at the time. But seems inevitable now as it followed the Magnificent 7 , The Wild Bunch etc with downbeat ending and heroes being vanquished..
I was 21 at that time. Shocked by this end. Still the best BBC production I've ever seen. Paul Darrow was at that time someone who makes me looking crosseyed.
I always wondered if it had been better if Servalan had walked in the last 10 seconds, just behind Avon so he couldn't see her. That would have made it darker still.
7pm on Mondays in the UK. It took me 12 weeks to negotiate being able to see it as it overlapped with my mother's favourite soap. No VCRs or second tellies back then.
Hmm, As I recall the original ending was Avon raises his weapon, grins, fade to black and then we hear about 20 different shots going off for 15 seconds or so. Was Avon unkill able? We will never know.
No. The whole point of Avon's gun was that it fired BULLETS - hence Blake's blood splattered corpse. And the less said about half the damn picture missing, the better! And the guy who shot Tarrant completely misses him with your new effect! Sorry. Massive thumbs DOWN from me.
I heard Gareth Thomas wanted finality! He wanted the blood and gore to make sure they'd never bring him back! There was still a chance w/ cloning again of course, but he wanted OUT! IDK why he hated his part so much! Tom Baker was a lot like that until he saw how ICONIC he was at being Doctor Who! His main success was DW IMO! All other parts looked ridivulous to me! scifiblogs3.blogspot.com/2011/01/blakes-7-w-more-dr-who-comments.html
@@CathyKitson I'd have agreed a year ago, but the tide is at last turning back; soon we'll have some sanity back in media (still doesn't mean they won't fuck it up, I agree, seeing how Disney is the DUMBEST example of such massachism as losing money with trash).
@@markpaterson2053 Yes, but you still couldn't have Avon. He MADE the series. Without him, it would be nothing. The sheer force of his character drove the action, even the humour. And no-one, absolutely no-one could play him except Paul Darrow. Now he's sadly passed away I'm afraid Blakes 7 is dead.
@@CathyKitson The old cast were too old anyway, have been for several decades; I'd find a new Avon. If Alan Rickman hadn't died, but even he was too late and too old. The challenge would be in finding a new Avon, plus a new Servalan; the rest of the cast is open choice, and Blake himself, well it was universally understood that he's not why people watched the show (I remember at school some kids didn't even know which one was Blake, he was so uninteresting).
@@markpaterson2053 Maybe there is something in what you say. But it would take someone remarkable to replace Darrow. One in a million. Perhaps Rickman could have had a go. He had a similar enigmatic vibe to his character. A similar magnetism and ambiguity. You never really knew with Avon. He was a villain, yes, but he was much more complex than that. He was a villain who was capable of good, capable of redemption. Apart from Blake, I can't remember him killing anyone except in self-defence. He never, or rarely lied. He saved his crew on several occasions, even at the risk of his own life. None of these actions are the actions of a psychopath. He spent his entire time telling anyone who was prepared to listen how evil he was - almost as if he was trying to convince himself - but his actions often belied this. I was only 11 when this came out and I didn't understand most of what was going on but I felt this terrible fascination with Avon. I LIKED Blake better but I was ATTRACTED to Avon. What a powerful character he was! And Darrow was one of the most brilliant TV actors there had ever been. If you wanted to reboot this series, the casting director would have one hell of a job replacing him. You could replace the others, even Blake, probably, although again Servelan is almost irreplacable. Servelan and Avon were somewhat alike, although she was much, much more evil. Extreme intelligence, beautiful diction and so, so English!!.
If only they'd release a proper HD version in widescreen, with just a bit of colour correction and some new effects, and the show would get the popularity it deserves!
It is more the fact they all died so easily and quickly. No epic shootout, shoot one bad guy and then die. And Avon killing Blake because he thought he’d betrayed him…
We know, even in the 26th Century (if that’s the time) Everybody still uses bullets. I would like a upgrade with the “Hand Guns” System weapons. The BBC always thought a flash light spark is always effective!
I loved that Paul got to shoot his wife in this scene. Than his character Avon shot his only real friend Blake than to top it off see his entire crew massacred in front of him
Despite them seemingly getting killed, a new series could easily have been written by having them waking up in a prison cell being gloated over by Servalan telling them the Fed guards guns were set to fire non-lethal stun shots, and that Blake was wearing body armour.
The FX might be nice, but that doesn't justify the wide-screen cropping. You're cutting out so many important things. New FX do not make up for removing those visual cues.
The story of a failed rebellion which started with such pluck and hope and ended in desperation and despare, I know its not the ending that they planned, but I have to say, nothing like this ever ended in quite such a hardcore way.
We had a fun time with Threads a few years later too. Back to those fantasies - Now it's gone the other way with non of the cash cows ever being allowed to be truly killed off, even when they are killed off!!!
I do remember when I first saw this many years ago being shocked that everyone died but also being kind of disappointed that it was a kind of one kill scenario, each of the heroes only kills one enemy and that is not how it should have ended, should have been way more enemies taken down for each hero killed. To this day that rankles me but the ending with Avon stood over Blakes body and smiling is epic, especially the gunshots after the picture freezes, which this new edit missed out sadly
It's really interesting you say that because over the years I'd convinced myself that was what *had* happened! I was seven when I first saw the final episode - my absolute favourite show (the last thing I was allowed to stay up to watch with my mam before I had to go to bed!) - and, like so many people posting here, I was shocked and deeply affected by the closing shootout. Over time, as the show faded into childhood legend, my memory of it was that the crew held out much longer and the shootout was *far* more extensive - Vere Lorrimer and Mary Ridge had somehow gone full Sam Peckinpah and The Wild Bunch in my mind - and the Seven took out many more troopers before being gradually worn down. Then twelve years later I got to see the episode again when it was released on video in the 1990s and was genuinely taken aback how much my memory had amplified the shootout and how few kills Tarrant and Soolin in particular managed to get - still an exceptional ending and those closing moments as the troopers close in round Avon, the last exchange of glances between Avon and Blake's corpse, the lighting, the sound design, the jump cuts in on Avon and Paul Darrow's performance, all combine to create something utterly thrilling and epic as you say - genuinely transformative for me in terms of informing my later tastes in drama, literature and outlook on life - but there's an alternate version somewhere in my dreams and memory where there are lots more troopers piled up on the floor of that tracking room!
One of the best scifi shows ever. There was the chance of a sequel but it seems the fans didn't want it. Neither did they want it remade ( fair enough). And before you ask, yes, the sequel had some original cast, the "Liberator", Orac, the lot. If you watch the end closely and you KNOW the story, a continuation and expansion of the B7 universe is right there in plain sight.
Surrounding someone in a circle while wielding weapons always seemed like a invitation for friendly fire to me. More realistic would be approaching from two directions 90 degrees apart, so there would be little danger of shooting friendly forces if everyone opened up.
BTW I learnt from a B7 fan site that the young 23-yr-old Paul Darrow had a small non-speaking uncredited part as one of the B-52 crewmen in 'Dr. Strangelove' (1964). PS- at the start of the above vid, the woman he shot was his real-life wife Janet Lees-Price..:)
Having seen Equilibrium and watched the Gun Kata I like to think Avon stood there, did the calculation and then took them all down They helped by shooting each othet a bit as would be inevitable in that circle
I remember seeing this series broadcast in America the same time that Star Trek TNG was airing . . . and thinking that BLAKE'S 7 was the better TV show, despite its next-to-nothing shoestring budget. Imagine what a big-budget Remastered version of this show could be like, as they did with Star Trek TOS! Maybe some BLAKE'S 7 fans who are talented at CGI could do, with a little time on their hands . . .
I like the 2.4:1 ratio but why crop footage that was shot for 4:3? You get worse framing. Wilma & Housemates will be in 2.4:1 but it will be framed for that.
Oh when Avon is starting to wry smile and his rifle is buzzling ( new special effects )mean Avon is preparing to shoot or to fire to the soldier when he is surrounded by the corrupted federation solders
1981 . I was 11. My heroes gunned down. I was truly stunned. Today there'd be counselling services for kids. For me, my mother said " right, theyre dead,. Now turn off the television and do your homework!"
So true.
I remember when, every time you watched a kids show that featured the RSPCA, they euthanised a dog.
I was 10. I was so upset, and from that day onwards, I never assumed that the good guys would always win.
Tough Love.
The story I heard was that in the next season most of them, particularly Avon, survived. Unfortunately the show was axed so that's where it finished.
@alexarbuthnott5503 the concept of shows ending was brand new for me. I remember hearing that Blake would return and I was so excited. Then Avon shoots him again and again, and my brain just goes numb.
Then they all got shot. And this was kids TV in 1981!!
"Therapist: why are you calling me at 9.30pm - did you watch the ending to Blake again?"
"Me: yes"
Therapist: "so did I" !
I'm 55 next week, but I remember watching this as it went out, and now I'm 13 again.
Persuaded my parents to ignore Corrie that week...
Then this happens...
I'm left slack jawed, frozen, immobile.
For me, the haunting memory is the alarm wailing in the background like a WW2 air raid siren.
Vila is blown away.
Tarrant, Soolin and Dayna shot down.
Avon stands astride the bloody corpse of Blake and smiles...
Gunshots over the silent credits.
I don't think I ever recovered.
Your a weak man then
Avon shoot out the lights and Vila just dropped at the first gunshots...they recovered Orac and went on again...5th season precis script...the BBC wouldn't pay for it
@@derekmcmanus8615 I was so hoping for that to happen! So many rumors of a reboot over the years! Heaven knows Darrow was all for it! He always seemed to be ready, cntributing to radio shows that extended the series and all! Terry Nation should be quite proud of himself! A show w/ almost no budget which entertained me to no end well into my 60's & 40+ years since the finale! scifiblogs3.blogspot.com/2011/01/blakes-7-w-more-dr-who-comments.html
yes same as me and same age now
right on the mark for me also ,event he same age
This is what happens when Blake doesn't do all the Loyalty missions
A more traditional ending with them all surviving and going off into the sunset together would never have had the same impact. I remember seeing this for the first time when I was a kid near 30 years ago and I still remember it now. It was the first time I had ever seen an ending where the bad guys just win absolutely and gun the heroes down.
Surely the heroes always win in the end right? It blew me away. To this day the only other example I can think of is Mortal Kombat conquest.
I was thinking the same thing. I Remember seeing this with my dad and couldn’t believe the ending. An amazing series!
I felt that ending for days. I was late to the show, due to age, but my father thoroughly enjoyed it (he introduced be to Tom Baker and Jon Pertwee) and I came on board through him. I've re-watched the entire series, but the moments that stick with me are still the ones I saw as a kid, things like 700kg of nitroglycerine, the cave-in of the base and the panic when they encounter the cooling gas while trying to dig out and, of course, then ending. No other tv show has managed to create such a final finale. After all that time, all that effort, all those victories against the Federation, Blake's 7 come literally to naught. Wow. Just, wow. Everybody dies and the arc of the universe bends towards totalitarianist injustice. Exactly as the very first episode (which I watched 11 or 12 years later on VHS) predicted.
Definitely agree. The deaths of major characters throughout really raised the stakes.
"Everybody dies and the bad guys win" is a very underused ending
Blake's did it so well
Once a year on vacation aitake the whole serie wherever i am abroad and watch it again. Became a tradition. Even after all those tears i keep enjoying it.
A timeless classic. Paul Darrow is superb.
What an ending! All these years later , and I still remember that smile at the end. Brilliant!
RIP Paul Darrow. You were amazing, You were my first childhood crush. ❤❤❤
he was so smooth. A true anti-hero.
He was good in an episode of Hammer House of Horror TV series.
Blake's Seven was dark, that's for sure.
At the same time it was extremely camp.
It was a brilliant combination.
By Season 4 it couldn't get more dark! They were literally just mercenaries trying to make a buck! If not for the Star Drive on Scorpio & the assistance of ORAC, they would have been caught & killed ages before the real finale! scifiblogs3.blogspot.com/2011/01/blakes-7-w-more-dr-who-comments.html
Those costumes! And Servelan with high heels and haute couture dresses. America could not have done it, only the Brits.
Nicely done, but the real special effect is Paul Darrow/Avon. That moment he says “-me?” Still sends chills ❤
If William Shakespeare had written sci-fi.........this would be it
I was 16 in 1981 and an absolute Sci-Fi freak. But for some reason I never saw this show until some repeat episodes in 1982. I have no idea why I didn't notice it as I watched a lot of TV and there were only three channels.
Same.
He was a great actor, one of the best TV actors ever. He could convey so much emotion in that dark, saturnine face. The way he is numb and speechless as his comrades are killed, one by one. The pain as he looks down into Blake's dead eyes. And the smile as he accepts death. All without a word. With barely a flicker.
One of the best shows ever. And an amazing ending too!
I can get this out of my mind even to this day 2023 I was eating when this happened I lost my appetite that day😢😭
2023
It's 2022. Guess you were frazzled again from watching this
BEST UK SCI-FI SHOW EVER 🙌🙌👩🏼🧑🏻🔥🔥🇬🇧🇬🇧😁😁💋💋😎♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️
They don’t end series like this anymore. Traumatised my ‘ickle heart when was shown
I still get verklempt just thinking about this finale! IT was quite memorable! scifiblogs3.blogspot.com/2011/01/blakes-7-w-more-dr-who-comments.html
Happy memories of a simpler time in my life, and possibly the greatest anti-hero of UK tv sci-fi. The Judas, Avon! A brilliant character, played brilliantly. RIP PD.
I dont know if i would call him Judas, the funny thing with Avon is he was the last to start believing in Blake while also being the last defender of his legacy, he never really betrayed him.
Didn't watch B7 when it first aired but decided to give it a go and ended up tuning in for this episode (so the very last episode was my very first). At 10 years old it had a huge impact on me and the final scene was played over and over in my head until years later I managed to catch the show on UK Gold and then bought the dvds. I would love to see it remastered and issued on blu-ray with optional updated effects.
The ending was tragic. The way they were all killed so easily was so wrong. Every season ended like they weren't going to do another because the BBC couldn't commit. Such a shame. Loved the original cast. Iconic ship.
You're referring to the Liberator of course. The Scorpio was rubbish. lol
It was all downhill after they lost the Liberator, which was also Avon's fault LOL
@@madquest8 I get the mistake he made. Over confidence in an indestructible ship is easy. He was desperate to rescue Blake and thought time was short. But yes, the writers n producers destroyed the show.
@@stompieandsuzie yep
@@darrenbee4955 I remember that ending to this very day. I think they just ran out of ideas TBH. The writers should have gone down The Magnificent Seven route and have the characters die more meaningful deaths. At least have them die defending something they believe in!
I cried at the end of this scene when I was a young lad. Had a lump in my throat watching it today.
SAME! - scifiblogs3.blogspot.com/2011/01/blakes-7-w-more-dr-who-comments.html -
I didn't realize Avon (Paul Darrow) is Mr. White in James Bond Die Another Day. He was so dominant in Blake's 7 that it was strange he didn't seem to get more good roles.
What they called 'type-casting', you spend so long in one part then they said that nobody would see you as anything else.
I think it's a pity that Paul Darrow's most notable acting part is Avon In Blakes 7, as you could tell he was a good actor and played the part very well despite a weak script and low budget. Like a good many actors and actresses in Britain, the career opportunities are limited. Acting roles in television that fully utilise someone with any real talent are few and far between. Blakes 7 itself could have been made a lot better, and with its following, certainly merited a film production. But like a lot of British television shows that shows that have any real potential, it was shackled by a meagre budget allocation and a lack of interest and ambition amongst television executives outside of their own salaries, which still continues to this day.
While Paul Darrow was indeed in Die Another Day his character was 'doctor'. Mr. White was a different character/actor in Casino Royale.
@@matthewhollingshead8618 I didn't think so! I was about to think I lost my mind! lol! scifiblogs3.blogspot.com/2011/01/blakes-7-w-more-dr-who-comments.html
He's not Mr White. He's the voice of a doctor in a scene analysing Bond's vital signs. His face isn't seen.
Come on we all know Federation soldier intelligence, Avon would have ducked last minute and they would have all killed each other in that circle,
I was blown out of the water. How could the universes smartest guy get killed. After a good think....and a few weeks, I came to the same conclusion. Fire one shot and drop, the idiots will keep firing to the last man.......the just pick him off.
Like Doctor Who all 13 Doctors defeating Daleks by disappearing Gallifrey. Awful.
Lol😂
love that downbeat siren sound in the background - really adds to the bleakness of the ending. Nowadays it would have to be mad CGI explosions everywhere and blaring sound effects, with maybe music trying to set the mood. But just having that low pitched siren sound works perfectly
The ending perfectly matched the bleak start in the first episode, I missed seeing one last meeting with Servalan, but somehow it fitted the series. A truly unforgettable ending.
Can you imagine if Servalan came walking in and told Avon “I’m sorry, but really what els were you expecting?”
@@Howyaduing They had already overused her! She wasn't even the President, but seemed to have so much power wandering around the galaxy trying to fool & catch Avon & his crew! She was there to thwart every money making venture w/ Gold & Feldon Crystals! Drawing Avon in w/ psycho technology in "Terminal" was probably the most ridiculous! scifiblogs3.blogspot.com/2011/01/blakes-7-w-more-dr-who-comments.html
I agree. My thought is that Avon et al. were too insignificant for Servalan even to make an appearance. The result is more brutal that way
@@Howyaduing It was cheesy enough under other circumstances she'd show up out of the blue! Space is huge, but Servalan's reach was ridiculous! ;-)
Dont forget,chris boucher wrote this as an end of series cliffhanger, expecting it would be resolved in the next series,which never came,so as far as im concerned,they survived. Probably all stunned.
Just a flesh wound.
I remember watching this. I was shook for a while before I could get up and turn the TV off
I really, REALLY hated how Blake's 7 ended!
What a great show. Work took me away back then and I never got to see the last years. So thanks. Now i want to see the rest. :)
A fantastic sequence anyway, but nicely improved by new effects. Well done.
So, Gareth Thomas had it written into his appearance after series B that Blake had to be killed off so he appears in the finale of both series C & D and was certainly killed in series D. The rest were to be either killed or stunned according to whether they were coming back for series E or not so they had no visible wounds as is standard when shot by Federation standard issue guns. As it happened only Avon and Vila would have returned with Dayna, Soolin and Tarrant all being killed. Obviously series E was never made and the programme was left with its suitably downbeat ending. 5 people with a superior ship didn’t stand a chance, when they lost the Liberator they didn’t have a snowball’s chance in hell. It is fitting that they were dispatched so easily by some unimportant faceless Federation Troopers on an equally unimportant back world planet. The insignificance of their deaths fitting the hopelessness of their cause. Fitting and brilliant the ending is superb.
just an observcation , but id only crop to 1.85.1 or 16.9 rather than go full on wide screen.....
I’m 49 and never had seen this before but after watching this, I want more!!
Alas, there was no more! This was the end.
In the late eighties they ran this on a Chicago PBS station... My friends couldn't imagine why I had to be home at 11 p.m. every night.
I taped it originally in '85-86 when in Chgo on PBS! I didn't realize they ran it again in the late 80's! I was preparing to move to California so caught up w/ other things I guess! scifiblogs3.blogspot.com/2011/01/blakes-7-w-more-dr-who-comments.html
I love that the ship's alarm is a kickass Moog bassline.
A lot of the lasers where wide of the mark when the character was shot.
You noticed? lol! scifiblogs3.blogspot.com/2011/01/blakes-7-w-more-dr-who-comments.html
Actually he ducks at the last minute and the federation troopers shoot themselves.
That's how I always interpreted it😁
I remember watching this as a kid, and being stunned, it still hits hard. I plan on rewatching the series again , its a classic. So dark.
Such a fantastically dark show for the time... it traumatised me (but I loved it).
When TV shows meant something.
More young people should see shows like this.
Life isn't a superhero movie.
Blake's 7 was pretty bleak after seeing Star Wars back then. I only wish Blake and Avon went out like Butch and Sundance.
Nice work on the visual effects, and the video portion looks like film, too. I wish they would do that to all the 70's and 80's BBC shows. They're well done, the video inside/film outside has only been my one complaint about them, mostly because it makes HD remastering much more difficult (I know some of this was due to budget and the complexity of exterior video, and shooting all film was pricey). Cheers.
3:15 the most chilling part in this scene. The way the camera pans around the room as more soldiers appear is just haunting.
It was finally the end for Blakes 7. This is what they had been fleeing from the very first episode. They had been clinging on to life and hope for so, so long, but really this was inevitable and I think deep down they had always known it.
This was how I finished all my 1000 word essays at school.
I feel a lot of Blake's 7 influenced the recent show "Andor". It had that wonderful British realism to it.
Rogue One as well.
Shocking at the time. But seems inevitable now as it followed the Magnificent 7 , The Wild Bunch etc with downbeat ending and heroes being vanquished..
Fantastic ending, you went with them episode after episode building hope then....
My god, this was so powerful the time. This kind of thing simply did not happen.
I was 21 at that time. Shocked by this end. Still the best BBC production I've ever seen. Paul Darrow was at that time someone who makes me looking crosseyed.
Powerful and unexpected ending to a classic Sci fi series which echoes the haunting climax ✨💫🚀
I always wondered if it had been better if Servalan had walked in the last 10 seconds, just behind Avon so he couldn't see her. That would have made it darker still.
Sunday nights i in the late 1970's on channel 13 here in new york city i stayed up late to watch this show.
7pm on Mondays in the UK. It took me 12 weeks to negotiate being able to see it as it overlapped with my mother's favourite soap. No VCRs or second tellies back then.
Hmm, As I recall the original ending was Avon raises his weapon, grins, fade to black and then we hear about 20 different shots going off for 15 seconds or so. Was Avon unkill able? We will never know.
The best theory I ever heard was that he shot the lights then hit the floor and the federation troops shot each other in the confusion
@@Jack_Rivet I can go with that ending! lol
After all the years when federation troopers couldn’t shoot straight they suddenly do
No. The whole point of Avon's gun was that it fired BULLETS - hence Blake's blood splattered corpse.
And the less said about half the damn picture missing, the better!
And the guy who shot Tarrant completely misses him with your new effect!
Sorry. Massive thumbs DOWN from me.
I heard Gareth Thomas wanted finality! He wanted the blood and gore to make sure they'd never bring him back! There was still a chance w/ cloning again of course, but he wanted OUT! IDK why he hated his part so much! Tom Baker was a lot like that until he saw how ICONIC he was at being Doctor Who! His main success was DW IMO! All other parts looked ridivulous to me! scifiblogs3.blogspot.com/2011/01/blakes-7-w-more-dr-who-comments.html
Doesn't even need any fx, the story treatment is so good; they could bring this show back easily.
But they would not have Avon. Nor Blake. Nor Servelan or Vila. It could never be the same. They could never bring it back.
@@CathyKitson I'd have agreed a year ago, but the tide is at last turning back; soon we'll have some sanity back in media (still doesn't mean they won't fuck it up, I agree, seeing how Disney is the DUMBEST example of such massachism as losing money with trash).
@@markpaterson2053 Yes, but you still couldn't have Avon. He MADE the series. Without him, it would be nothing. The sheer force of his character drove the action, even the humour. And no-one, absolutely no-one could play him except Paul Darrow. Now he's sadly passed away I'm afraid Blakes 7 is dead.
@@CathyKitson The old cast were too old anyway, have been for several decades; I'd find a new Avon. If Alan Rickman hadn't died, but even he was too late and too old. The challenge would be in finding a new Avon, plus a new Servalan; the rest of the cast is open choice, and Blake himself, well it was universally understood that he's not why people watched the show (I remember at school some kids didn't even know which one was Blake, he was so uninteresting).
@@markpaterson2053 Maybe there is something in what you say. But it would take someone remarkable to replace Darrow. One in a million. Perhaps Rickman could have had a go. He had a similar enigmatic vibe to his character. A similar magnetism and ambiguity. You never really knew with Avon. He was a villain, yes, but he was much more complex than that. He was a villain who was capable of good, capable of redemption. Apart from Blake, I can't remember him killing anyone except in self-defence. He never, or rarely lied. He saved his crew on several occasions, even at the risk of his own life. None of these actions are the actions of a psychopath. He spent his entire time telling anyone who was prepared to listen how evil he was - almost as if he was trying to convince himself - but his actions often belied this. I was only 11 when this came out and I didn't understand most of what was going on but I felt this terrible fascination with Avon. I LIKED Blake better but I was ATTRACTED to Avon. What a powerful character he was! And Darrow was one of the most brilliant TV actors there had ever been. If you wanted to reboot this series, the casting director would have one hell of a job replacing him. You could replace the others, even Blake, probably, although again Servelan is almost irreplacable. Servelan and Avon were somewhat alike, although she was much, much more evil. Extreme intelligence, beautiful diction and so, so English!!.
Great job! Wow i wish B7, esp this episode, was in widescreen!! Nice spfx additions too 👍🏽
If only they'd release a proper HD version in widescreen, with just a bit of colour correction and some new effects, and the show would get the popularity it deserves!
It is more the fact they all died so easily and quickly. No epic shootout, shoot one bad guy and then die.
And Avon killing Blake because he thought he’d betrayed him…
We know, even in the 26th Century (if that’s the time)
Everybody still uses bullets.
I would like a upgrade with the “Hand Guns” System weapons.
The BBC always thought a flash light spark is always effective!
I loved that Paul got to shoot his wife in this scene. Than his character Avon shot his only real friend Blake than to top it off see his entire crew massacred in front of him
Despite them seemingly getting killed, a new series could easily have been written by having them waking up in a prison cell being gloated over by Servalan telling them the Fed guards guns were set to fire non-lethal stun shots, and that Blake was wearing body armour.
The FX might be nice, but that doesn't justify the wide-screen cropping. You're cutting out so many important things. New FX do not make up for removing those visual cues.
Still one of the best endings ever
The story of a failed rebellion which started with such pluck and hope and ended in desperation and despare, I know its not the ending that they planned, but I have to say, nothing like this ever ended in quite such a hardcore way.
We had a fun time with Threads a few years later too. Back to those fantasies - Now it's gone the other way with non of the cash cows ever being allowed to be truly killed off, even when they are killed off!!!
We wouldn't see anything like this until Rogue One years later.
"Remember seeing this on Public access tv channel 7.......Didn't understand it that well back then? Do a lilttle more now!"
I do remember when I first saw this many years ago being shocked that everyone died but also being kind of disappointed that it was a kind of one kill scenario, each of the heroes only kills one enemy and that is not how it should have ended, should have been way more enemies taken down for each hero killed. To this day that rankles me but the ending with Avon stood over Blakes body and smiling is epic, especially the gunshots after the picture freezes, which this new edit missed out sadly
I remember Avon laughing before the credits start. Did that actually happen or is it the Mandela affect all these years taking hold?
It's really interesting you say that because over the years I'd convinced myself that was what *had* happened! I was seven when I first saw the final episode - my absolute favourite show (the last thing I was allowed to stay up to watch with my mam before I had to go to bed!) - and, like so many people posting here, I was shocked and deeply affected by the closing shootout. Over time, as the show faded into childhood legend, my memory of it was that the crew held out much longer and the shootout was *far* more extensive - Vere Lorrimer and Mary Ridge had somehow gone full Sam Peckinpah and The Wild Bunch in my mind - and the Seven took out many more troopers before being gradually worn down. Then twelve years later I got to see the episode again when it was released on video in the 1990s and was genuinely taken aback how much my memory had amplified the shootout and how few kills Tarrant and Soolin in particular managed to get - still an exceptional ending and those closing moments as the troopers close in round Avon, the last exchange of glances between Avon and Blake's corpse, the lighting, the sound design, the jump cuts in on Avon and Paul Darrow's performance, all combine to create something utterly thrilling and epic as you say - genuinely transformative for me in terms of informing my later tastes in drama, literature and outlook on life - but there's an alternate version somewhere in my dreams and memory where there are lots more troopers piled up on the floor of that tracking room!
Loved that show, Avon was the main man.
I met him back in 1991 - he was auditioning some people for a show and was using space in an office I was working in. Lovely guy.
i love it how she gave a little whimper after Avon shot her...
This aired on December 21st 1981 at 7.20pm so the ending would have been about 8.10.Happy Christmas week kids,love from the BBC! ( I was 10 !)
One of the best scifi shows ever. There was the chance of a sequel but it seems the fans didn't want it. Neither did they want it remade ( fair enough). And before you ask, yes, the sequel had some original cast, the "Liberator", Orac, the lot. If you watch the end closely and you KNOW the story, a continuation and expansion of the B7 universe is right there in plain sight.
I think I would die if I can't watch this program.
impossible ending, will never forget it
Surrounding someone in a circle while wielding weapons always seemed like a invitation for friendly fire to me. More realistic would be approaching from two directions 90 degrees apart, so there would be little danger of shooting friendly forces if everyone opened up.
Great job well done
Ace - I think I've only ever seen this once and that was when it was broadcast
Avon's choice was understandable to die as a free man or be subject to a lifetime of torture and slavery by Servalan in the Federation.
BTW I learnt from a B7 fan site that the young 23-yr-old Paul Darrow had a small non-speaking uncredited part as one of the B-52 crewmen in 'Dr. Strangelove' (1964).
PS- at the start of the above vid, the woman he shot was his real-life wife Janet Lees-Price..:)
Brilliant brilliant ❤️❤️❤️
Thay can continue the series with new characters as Oack is still hidden before they all died excellent series ❤❤❤❤
After the film "Serenity" was released, I saw an online post where someone stated that he thought it was going to have a "Blake's 7 ending". 😟
FYI The guns were not laser weapons.
Having seen Equilibrium and watched the Gun Kata I like to think Avon stood there, did the calculation and then took them all down
They helped by shooting each othet a bit as would be inevitable in that circle
Never see him actually die tho.
This was the "Red Wedding" of its day!
Very nice ...
How about doing all 52 EPs with today's tec
I wish this clip had the fade to black and all those shots being fired.
it was the BBC that killed Blake
I remember seeing this series broadcast in America the same time that Star Trek TNG was airing . . . and thinking that BLAKE'S 7 was the better TV show, despite its next-to-nothing shoestring budget. Imagine what a big-budget Remastered version of this show could be like, as they did with Star Trek TOS! Maybe some BLAKE'S 7 fans who are talented at CGI could do, with a little time on their hands . . .
I have the whole DvD set but it won't hurt to put it back on tv
Why the 2:39:1 aspect ratio? It's cropping heads and the framing doesn't work.
I wonder why Avon is the only the crew not show to die on screen?
I like the 2.4:1 ratio but why crop footage that was shot for 4:3? You get worse framing. Wilma & Housemates will be in 2.4:1 but it will be framed for that.
Half of Tarrant's head was cut off.
It's as if George R R Martin took this story to heart.
I believe in an audiobook Avon and Villa survive and recruit more people to fight the Federation
Where are their heads and tops of heads?
Avon and Villa made it according to one of the aftermarket novels by the makers… still, heck of a scene.
Oh when Avon is starting to wry smile and his rifle is buzzling ( new special effects )mean Avon is preparing to shoot or to fire to the soldier when he is surrounded by the corrupted federation solders
Why do I feel Han Solo and the Kessel Run affected this universe Time flow to make them all so slow ?
Letterbox doesn't work when the shots are designed for 4x3.
Sorry, but the new FX do not outweigh the choice to butcher the original 4:3 cropping.
and thats what Starfleet looks like outside of the propaganda we get fed!!!