Avon’s Last Laugh?

Fire up ORAC and break out the funky, funky eyepatch, man: Blake’s 7, a classic British sci-fi show i was hyping here just last month, is now set for its own BSG/Doctor Who-style revamp, albeit by Sky Television, who recently tried and failed to bring back The Prisoner. (Rumors were circulating of a B7 return five years ago, but that particular Liberator never got off the ground.)

At any rate, it’ll be interesting to see if a new Blake’s 7 can find its niche in today’s crowded sci-fi market, particularly given that Farscape and Firefly both borrowed liberally from B7’s original “band on the run” premise, and that the new incarnation of Battlestar has appropriated much of the darkness and misanthropy that lingered around Roj Blake’s crew, three decades ago.

But do I have the right?

And now for something completely different: a Friday night trip on the wayback machine. A few weeks ago, I showed up at a winter gathering wearing the snazzy official Tom Baker scarf my mother made me for Christmas. And, while a few folks correctly identified it (and were suitably impressed –Thanks, mom!), absolutely no one had any clue what I was talking about when I aped this classic moment with the wires from The Genesis of the Daleks (“But do I have the right?“), when the Doctor contemplates his own version of the baby-Hitler conundrum: Is it moral to destroy the genocidal Daleks before they’ve ever been created? Well, admittedly old-school Who is a pretty niche interest here in the States…it’s not exactly “I drink your milkshake!” Still, since everything is on Youtube these days, sure enough, I found this fun fan-made trailer for Genesis online, and thought I’d share it. If you ever watched Tom Baker Who, I’m guessing you’ll probably dig it. If not, it’ll just seem realllly cheesy (although perhaps not as cheesy at first glance as another Brit sci-fi classic (and the Farscape of its day), Blakes’ 7. Blakes‘ credit sequence may not hold up at all in 2008, but the dour finale certainly does.)

By the way, there are plenty more classic Who trailers where that came from, including this one, featuring scenes from every episode. Collectively, they bring back fond memories of staying up into the wee hours as a kid on Saturday nights to catch Who on SCETV (and, roughly half the time, waking up in the middle of Jack Horkheimer, Star Hustler wondering where the hell I was.)

Gallifreyan Comeback.

In the wake of Blake’s 7‘s return, the BBC announces it’s finally bringing back the Doctor (and hopefully the Tardis, the Master, the Daleks, the Cybermen, Davros, K-9, Sarah and Harry, the Brigadier, etc. etc.) No word yet on what form he’ll take for his ninth incarnation.

Avon Lives.

The original blueprint for Farscape, Blake’s 7 returns with a flash-intensive site and news of a possible mini-series. “As was the intention of the late Terry Nation, only Paul Darrow who played the character Avon will reprise his role, acting as a catalyst for a Rebellion Reborn. It is fair to say that all the original characters are dead and there are no plans for their resurrection.” Sure seemed like Avon died in the last episode twenty-two years ago, but I suppose he could’ve had a backup plan.