Jonathan Ross interviews Blakes 7 actors Gareth Thomas, Michael Keating & Jacqueline Pearce

[@garyhunt764]

It's very sad to say that 4 members of this wonderful TV series are sadly gone Gareth Thomas, Jacqueline Pearce,David Jackson and Paul Darrow but they will never be forgotten as legends never die. Gareth, Jacqueline, David and Paul rest in peace and thank you for a wonderful TV series.

[@staypress]

plus the guy who voiced Zen and orac , plus Travis.

[@cliffhanger953]

One of the rare highlights of my childhood. May the characters live forever in our memories. RIP Gareth and the others already joined together in the science fiction afterlife.

[@Eltonlaleham]

I do say with Blake,s Seven having a female arch-enemy, and female recurring arch-villain Servalan in it made this sci-fi series awesome in billions of ways and B7 will never be forgotten even though it sadly was finished nearly 43 years ago.

[@tungstenkid2271]

I recently bought the DVD boxed set and I'd forgotten just how good the show was when I first watched it 40 years ago..:)...PS and let's not forget the writers such as Nation and Boucher for writng such indepth episodes..:)

[@alltownarentwe3297]

The banter between Blake and Avon,and Avon and Villa was legendary, brilliant series RIP Gareth Thomas

[@Hellserch]

Truly great repartee and this was for kids? They didn’t coddle us kids in the 1970’s: adult could be bastards and they could also be your parents. Great coping mechanism in the mid 1970’s.

[@leighsaunderson9203]

R.I.P Jacqueline :( Met her in a lift at a Sci-Fi con early 90's to my amazement, lovely woman and just as stunning then.

[@MegaBloggs1]

yep long live the dominatrix

[@මලින්දසමරසිංහ]

We miss you all.You all shall always live in our hearts.💓💓💓

[@hanniffydinn6019]

RIP Pearce, you gave us great times in blakes 7

[@flametop93]

Thanks for posting , don't recall seeing this. Impressed with how cool on camera Diane from the fan club is! -- Watching a lot of other sci-fi fans from the time always makes me cringe, 'specially that Russel Harty Show one, interviewing Peter Davison and Colin Baker.

[@Eltonlaleham]

Servalan was the best female arch-villain in sci-fi ever

[@wildone106]

I really loved the dialogue, especially Avon's delivery was spot on and always made me laugh at how badass he is. But generally great back & forth between characters.

[@sandycurrie108]

Awesome series, I have watched the whole thing on DVD. Too bad we never got it in rural Canada ;-( but I was lucky enuf to meet Jacqueline in Africa. She is AWESOME! and a dear dear woman.

[@adriansherlockdamondark.1094]

Paul Darrow, Gareth Thomas, Jacqueline Pearce, gone now to great cosmic battle in the sky. Sad... so much an exciting part of my youth. May they rest in peace.

[@benjaminsidneykidd-bentley3966]

RIP Jacqueline Pierce brilliant Servaline and Chesene (from Dr Who). You will be missed.

[@fidomusic]

Thanks for posting this. I am watching dvds of Blakes 7 and the series hasn't dated. It is still great!

[@ToriaBurrell]

I can't believe Jonathan Ross had to ask Jacqueline Pearce what the name of her character was, having declared himself a "fan"! That was insulting!

[@1emmain]

Gosh, I actually this remember this on TV - it all seems incredibly long ago. What's so strange is that when I saw this show I thought it was ancient history at the time.

[@මලින්දසමරසිංහ]

My favorite is Servelan .I hope that mankind would be able to master the science to travel through the galaxy as she did.But you really have to find a way to warp spacetime for that, since light speed is not enough to cover the vast distance of our galaxy .💓💓💓

[@littleblackpistol]

RIP Jackie. :(

[@andrewhuckle803]

Whether it would be good or not, I think it's a question of when not if Blake's 7 returns. It still has a huge following and there's so much potential. Obviously a totally new cast. But I firmly believe The Liberator will fly again.

[@mauricerodriguez2138]

Rest in peace man, we'll have miss ya...

[@Mysterywhiteboy78]

Jacqueline Pearce what an attractive woman, r.i.p Blake.

[@bpage4132]

Beautiful Actress, but sadly missed.

[@edwardevans8685]

shame it was such a short interview, thanks for posting

[@charliefordfrancis]

I taped this off the TV at the time. Been looking for it for years! Thanks for postificating.

[@wildone106]

such good acting and dialogue!!

[@missingcat9293]

RIP Paul Darrow :(

[@leaderstragg]

Very true, Blake's legacy will live on LONG after he's gone! Maybe that's why Avon was smiling in the last episode, because he figured that these federation troops must think they've won but all they've done is deal with a small group of rebels!

[@dramaticguy]

Yes you're right,I met Paul Darrow once,really nice guy.

[@memoir4you]

I was a member of Horizon the appreciation society back in the early 1990's .Nice bunch of people who ran it like Diane & Nicola etc.

[@THEOUTCASTSCREATIVE]

I think a new version of this show would be well worth it, once the rights have been passed on from the rather difficult individual who owns them at the moment. With a good team of writers and good casting it could be a very strong show, as it was never really up to the standard of F/X that the show required. It would be good to see such a project come to fruition in the right hands.

[@0scartheCat]

Superb 👍

[@paulmurphy42]

Ah, it's ok now. I can hear it now...thanks so much for putting this on!

[@story1951]

I saw that as well. It was when Blakes 7 got Orac the computer and Firefly was when they did the The Train Job.

[@bangtwister]

Thanks for uploading :)

[@brotherfax930]

There I am sitting next to Di.....holding her script....which she really didn't need. Good memories and firm friends here and in the USA. FANDOM is good.

[@kgs42]

Good to see ........ thanks.

[@Adol666]

I remember my Local Public Brodcasticing Station carried alot of BBC programming. Well I was 14 at the time and Friday nights at 10pm was always 2 episodes of Doctor who back to back. One night I settled in for my Doctor who when the B7 opening came on. I was Pissed to say the least i was like wtf I want my Doctor dammit. Well they ended up playing every episode in order and I was instantly hooked. The ending really shocked me also, but it was good. Villa got some courage thier in the end

[@grantgrove6800]

R.I.P. Jacqueline

[@Ranben.]

Jacqueline Pearce's hair looks like Miang's from Xenogears in this interview vid. Which makes the Servalan character that much more powerful and sexy, in a cool sci-fi way!

[@ne-station0314]

Jacqueline Pearce is still an attractive women even as she matures. This was over twenty years ago. I loved to hate Servalan.

[@Hellserch]

Err, you were alone. Most teenage boys I knew would have sold their souls just to be in the same room as her.

[@mrspivvy]

They needed yo have Paul darrow as well.

[@CaminoAir]

I wonder if Gareth Thomas has stayed for the third season how the show would have developed. Would Terry Nation have written the final episode of series three as the show finale? Could the story have been wrapped up in 3 series if Blake had remained? Would something like 'Blake' have been the end a year earlier? Has anyone every written an alternative series three outline? Loosing Blake/Thomas meant a radical shift.

[@GPHEnterprises]

Villa apparered in doctor who in the story the sun makers not sure if Gareth Thomas was in Dr who

[@Super_Mario128]

Gareth Thomas was in Torchwood, although before he died he did a Doctor Who audio story alongside Tom Baker as The Doctor.

[@zenileon]

"On video",bless them!!!!

[@rickybogus]

@zephranna01 The actress who played Dana was a posh PA student who often wouldn't turn up to set on time unless someone went round her place and woke her up to drive her there! Otherwise, I generally agree.

[@harpdevil]

"good shot!" "I was aiming for his head" They say this in Firefly as well! I wonder if it's a reference or just a commonly used gag.

[@martinpickard6043]

It's a common gag. Similar gag in 'The Young Ones' what Rik is hit with a cricket bat in the testicles and says ' ha ha, missed both my legs'

[@klaxoncow]

It is a commonly used gag. But, at the same time, the general similarities between Blake's 7 and Firefly do suggest that Joss Whedon possibly caught a few episodes of "Blake's 7" on PBS when younger, and thought it'd be great to make an American derivative of it. There's got to be some degree of "inspiration" there - even right down to both the Liberator and Serenity having glowing arses. So, it's perhaps a possibility that it was thrown in as a little "reference". Maybe.

[@hookbeak3516]

Well Ross I think you were rude, focused the interview on Blake & near ignored the other two actors. I'm about to order a book about Jacqueline Pearce: From Byfleet to the Bush, this lovely actress certainly had a colourful life.

[@leaderstragg]

Actually, I read somewhere that they planned to give the show at least one more season but something stopped them somehow! In the following season it was going to turn out that they were all just stunned and while a lot of fans may cry foul at that being the easy way out it actually kind of makes sense because how else is the Federation supposed to find out where ORAC is?

[@Trev359]

I don't know where you heard that. I remember at the time the BBC received hundreds of letters from fans asking them to bring it back. There was a couple of months of uncertainty. Then the BBC officially confirmed it was cancelled. As far as I remember the BBC never planned to bring it back.

[@Boss-zo4lw]

Always remember the ending, it fucked me up.

[@sagittaep]

Re sound... It was stuck to me too but it fixed up midstream, so maybe reload a couple of times...

[@deceptivepanther]

@robdotcom71 Newtonian mechanics! That's it, I'm chucking in my job so I can stay home, watch Blake's 7 and play Sci-Fi games. No wait, that's pretty much what I do most of the time anyways...

[@loganidol]

They showed B7 on PBS, but still no US DVD release! The people at 2entertain better get off their lazy asses and grant the rights for such a release for this awesome show!

[@psammiad]

Yikes, this was 24 years ago. Scary.

[@OlagGan]

Actually it's a relatively common reference. I can't remember where I heard it first, but it is used quite frequently.

[@HenryMcGuinnessGuitar]

they kind of left it open about Blake and the others actually dying. I thought Gareth Thomas wanted real blood but the scriptwriters wouldn't have had any trouble getting around that if they'd had a 5th series to write and Thomas wanted back in. Series 4 ending was really quite shockingly traumatic - I'm one of those who thinks series 3 had the best ending..They could have left it there

[@grahamfleming7642]

Loved the hairdryer ray guns,so kinky.bit like servalan

[@deceptivepanther]

@SPeacock Yes, probably is for the best. Designers could include a lot of the original story in the game now. I think the basic premise of Blake and his misfit gang of criminals coupled with the power of the Liberator is genius. FPS/RPG? I'd buy that.

[@r51collins]

I remember seeing a documentary about Blake 7 a couple of years ago and Jacqueline Pearce was asked of what she was proudest and she replied "that I was a masturbatory fantasy for a generation of young men"!!

[@SciFiFangirlsFTW]

YAY MICHEAL KEATING!

[@leaderstragg]

It was also in an episode of Farscape when Dargo throws his sword at a flunkie and hits him in the chest... Guess where he was reallly aiming?

[@Rodimus78]

I don't want a knockoff of the show, I want a sequel. -R78

[@deceptivepanther]

All I'm saying is it's still not too late to give Avon his own show.

[@paulmurphy42]

Any chance you could re-load this? I can't hear anything, there's something wrong with the sound. Thanks for putting it on.

[@Dinlochavo]

I spent the entire 8 minutes and 43 seconds looking at Jacqui's legs.

[@JimTB]

Why does it stop at 2-mins 28-secs ......

[@Itsmeeman1]

Where do you buy toasters that record pictures these days?

[@deceptivepanther]

@SPeacock Oh, yeah, that's a good idea. You could play as Blake if you wanted to be nice and Avon if you wanted to be nasty. Actually since each character sort of had his/her own speciality it's not a bad set up for a game. Maybe if the BBC do their updated version and it isn't terrible. Are they going ahead with that or what?

[@dramaticguy]

If they did a sequel,Jenna could have a son called Blake,though she was said to be dead,we don't know for definate.

[@stephenalanmoore7278]

'Blakes 7' with special effects courtesy of 'Blue Peter' utilising their sticky back plastic, cereal boxes and washing up bottles. Every expense spared.

[@rickyj5547]

Better than Hollywood produced production's i watched every week.

[@robdotcom71]

@deceptivepanther It's not exactly a game... more of a sim... but you should check out Orbiter Space sim. One of the spacecraft available is the Liberator : google: Deep Space Vessel Class 2

[@TungstenKid]

I've got B7 series 3 and 4 on DVD (Britain) if anybody wants to buy or swop them off me cheap?

[@video99couk]

VHS was suck a terrible video format.

[@robdotcom71]

@deceptivepanther One word of warning though..... the learning curve is very very steep... it's literally rocket science. Unlike your average space related video game it ain't just point to the planet, fire up the engines and get there.... Be prepared to start learning about proper orbits,etc,etc. You'll get a good understanding of newtonion mechanics though...

[@sagittaep]

You know, the Federation winning.. it's true and it seems all for nothing. But is that not like real life? Some places on earth are getting better, other get worse and sometimes it looks like all efforts to make this world a better place is for naught. But... The Blakes 7 (and Avon's Angels ;-) ) group have rescued people, planets and organized some resistance. It was therefore not all for naught. Never give up! Next generation will take over (not talking about Star Trek hehehe)

[@deceptivepanther]

@robdotcom71 Thanks man, I'll do that!

[@ToriaBurrell]

@zephranna01 I agree.

[@robdotcom71]

YT user : thesnorklemonkey has a few good videos on orbiter and how to fly in space..

[@tonyduncan9852]

Blake's 7 was far too left-wing for western governments moving steadily to the right. Its cancellation was no mystery to anyone left of centre. Britain is a monarchy, not a socialist republic, and some people *_are_* more equal than others. Freedom and equality might be deemed to be worth fighting for, in the here and now. . .

[@newperve]

What was left-wing about B7? Other than saying corrupt, totalitarian fascism is bad it didn't really go into politics.

[@anonymousreviewer2092]

The BBC is more left wing than any other organisation and the British Government aren't far behind them.

[@Ozymandias1]

Socialist republics tend to end in tyrannies. See the current example of Venezuela.

[@EmmittBrownBTTF1]

If the clone makers got wind of the Federations total disrespect for life, they might do some interest like clone a bunch of Blakes not as tools of the federation like the one that went feral in Weapon but as tools against the Federation, the only wrinkle Gareth can't play the part, and the rest of the cast are too old to play space cowboys, except as perhaps torch passers. The idea that an instrument of the Federation might seed the Federations own redemption from totalitarian fascist rule to revolutionary democratic republic seem a bit of a departure from the theme of the show, but fascists don't simply lay down, they lie in wait, to manipulate, influence and seize control again. Just how they might do that would be left to writers and new cast to flesh out. Themes of the show are no less relevant today than in days of first airing. #VoteServalan

[@thedavecorp]

2-2:10 they beat who?

[@martinpickard6043]

'Coronation Street' - a UK top rated long running television soap opera, based around a working class street in the Manchester suburbs

[@thedavecorp]

@@martinpickard6043 Thank you.

[@jackie62]

No Avon.... no watchin..

[@toxlaximus3297]

All terry nation series end up cult.

[@MrJacMac1968]

@andy smith She is a nerd but a sexy nerdy gal.She would really let loose in the bedroom

[@darkmrfripperton]

She's hot!

[@bicnarok]

Blake was hardly in the series as far as I can remember. Until the end when he and everyone else got killed.

[@Vim-Wolf]

They reversed the joke in alphas.

[@DrWhom]

Rosser is a...

[@caramelrocket]

cool, but Diane is a nerd!

[@persilbran]

that is a dreadful wig Vila is wearing