Very funny. Quite a bit of Bri-Nylon too. They could have repelled those ships with static electricity alone. I love B7 fashion. The future was tabards, basically.
I was a child when this series was shown on our television (Bulgaria). Maybe around 1985. I'm still a big sci-fi fan, and for me back then, that was the greatest series. Of course, I was somewhere around 12. Amazing memories rise up in me now...
@@hgoodrich6116 Guessing you haven't seen the upscaled classic Dr Who's out on Bluray then? DVD is lower quality than the PAL masters and then there's the limited bitrate to contend with resulting in artefacting of the picture. Bluray, as a storage medium, allows for much higher bitrates and therefore better picture quality than DVD and that's before we even get into upscaling. I've been upscaling my B7 DVD to 720i and there's a noticible improvement in clarity. Now imagine what can be done with the 625 line, 2" PAL master source and pro equipment.
@@hgoodrich6116 So was Dr Who but they still manage to release definitive Blu-ray sets of that series. I would snap up a Blu-ray B7 set in an instant. C'mon Beeb!
Yeah, it's only after Orac "jailbreaks" him in this adventure that Zen gets the stick out of his butt and stops being so passive-aggressive. Up till then he was like like if HAL 2000 was played by Carol Beer from Little Britain. "Computer says no." Peter Tuddenham says he voiced him like a stuffy bureaucrat.
I love that early on, they decided the force wall required Avon to jump out of his seat and circle all the way around to the lounge console instead. And that he needed to loudly shout 'Activated!' when using it too.
The special effects budget for season 1 was ….. £50! For the whole season! Not sure how much it was for season 2 but incredible how they managed to produce this series for such a small amount of money. My favourite sci-fi as a kid, even better than Space1999 or Dr Who. What a great time to be a kid.
The Liberator is a heavy cruiser.. the smaller ships are similarly armed but perhaps faster. I'd classify these as Destroyers. And belonging to the Liberator's home system.
The Liberator was a exploration ship not a heavy cruiser weapon systems were just for self defence it tells you in one of the episodes relating to this one
Question is, have they ever actually seen the Liberator from the outside? They've probably never been in its proximity in space since they were on the prisoner transport.
@@tomatedesign1976 Didn't Orac used to project things on the display screen thing? (the thing that looked like the light show in a late 70s provincial UK disco; in my experience they tended to be called either "Napoleon's" or "Le Jardin")
@@tomatedesign1976 Episode 10 Breakdown - Blake sees the Liberator through a window of Station XK-72. Episode 13 Orac - Orac predicts the future and shows the crew the Liberator exploding on the view screen. Episode 4 Time Squad - Blake and Jenna probably saw the Liberator from viewport of the Space pod they beamed across to. These episodes all come before Episode 14 Redemption.
@@jeffstone2136 Or the dimensions of a "spatial" (or, for that matter, why a civilisation that had mastered faster than light travel and teleportation, was still so heavily reliant on the clipboard, the Trimphone, Slinger pens, the CRT display and control panels featuring the same sort of illuminated coloured buttons that feature in ward nursing stations in the 1970s)
This scene actually demonstrates that the show's special effects could be at least credible if people worked at it. And even if that part of it's still shaky, at least the cast are genuinely acting like this is a real moment of tension and peril.
Ah the old "Liberator" wobble factor...I was watching this the other night...you can see the bare minimum of special effects used back then...but it adds to the story and the series...that's why it's so good just like the earlier Doctor Who's from the same time period. And you can't help but get dragged back into the death stares between Avon and Blake...we all know who the better leader was!. Avon's wardrobe was much better!.
This episode had a few holes in it. An intelligent crew could see the pursuit ships were a similar design to Liberator so may be from the same people. Plus surely Zen would instantly recognise something coming from the same civilisation as he was produced from and make that suggestion or observation.
Agree about the first - it is totally obvious that the pusuing ships are built by the same people who built Liberator, the design is virtually identical. The second though is explained, the System ships had already subverted Zen (as the builders, they would have all the necesary access codes). This is shown even more a bit further on as Liberator's defense and weapons systems are deactivated and Zen ceases to respond to the crew.
No thanks. The stories stand the test of time, even if the effects don't. I'd rather have the gritty reality of Blake's 7 than the Holywood plasticity of Star Trek.
@@grimupnorth I mean, you could do both. But, I grant you, if you gave this to Hollywood then they wouldn't, and it would probably be a travesty. So let's not do that. But, in some ideal timeline, it could be rebooted - with effects and a budget - yet retain its spirit, character-driven narratives and excellent scripting. It's just that we don't live in that timeline. (Also, one could argue that, to some degree, Joss Whedon's "Firefly" is the modern American version of Blake's 7. Captain Mal is a man of honour in a den of thieves, as is Blake. They live and fight on the fringes of a fascist totalitarian Federation / Alliance. Blake's 7 is "Robin Hood in Space" - UK history - while Firefly is "Cowboys in Space" - American history. The Liberator and Serenity both have glowing arses. Well, it's not a carbon copy, but I feel Whedon took much "inspiration" from Blake's 7 here and there. And Firefly was the best sci-fi show ever cancelled. To be so damned good from the first episode, when traditionally the first season of everything always sucks - because actors are developing characters, writers are learning the rules of their universe, etc. - makes it such a pity that we never got Season 8, where it matured into the best bloody show on TV. I'm also thinking that when I first heard they were going to reboot Battlestar Galactica - and Starbuck was going to be a chick this time - then I thought "oh no, they're going to ruin it". But, actually, that pilot episode was amongst the darkest, most tense TV ever made. It turned out to be awesome (although it could have done with a better ending). So it's not impossible or out of the question, I feel. But I share your Avon-like cynicism that it's at all likely.)
@@klaxoncow I agree with almost everything you say - but I would add that the Babylon 5 sequel 'Crusade' is even closer to Blake's 7 than Firefly. And it was also cancelled just about as fast!
Blake's 7 was shot on video (unlike Trek, which was shot on film); thus not possible to go to high-res. Could redo the Fx shots, though. Problem is that it makes for a disjointed viewing experience. And new effects may not be all that much better if they don't have money.
remember they werent trained spacecraft crew but petty criminals, an engineer, a computer expert and a guerrilla fighter, but they eventually twigged it
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Liberators speed was slowed down somewhat by the large amount of heavy leather clothing on the flight deck
And don’t forget the 2 large egos of Blake and Avon
12% of life support goes to filtering out hair spray
@@user-jt5vm3mi1w Out there, fighting ultimate evil; you're going to want something with hold.
Very funny. Quite a bit of Bri-Nylon too. They could have repelled those ships with static electricity alone. I love B7 fashion. The future was tabards, basically.
@@user-jt5vm3mi1w That is so true. If the neutron blasters ever did give out the crew could have always fallen back on a defensive use of Elnet.
I was a child when this series was shown on our television (Bulgaria). Maybe around 1985. I'm still a big sci-fi fan, and for me back then, that was the greatest series. Of course, I was somewhere around 12. Amazing memories rise up in me now...
Watching Blake’s 7 clips on YT while I’ve the boxed set right in front of me. 😮
I have a boxed set before me. But I no longer own a dvd player. So it’s necessary.
So the aliens that built the Liberator tracked her down and knew how to disable her defenses.
It's about time we got a bluray release of these like they're doing with Dr Who.
Shot on video. Would not stand up.
@@hgoodrich6116 Guessing you haven't seen the upscaled classic Dr Who's out on Bluray then?
DVD is lower quality than the PAL masters and then there's the limited bitrate to contend with resulting in artefacting of the picture.
Bluray, as a storage medium, allows for much higher bitrates and therefore better picture quality than DVD and that's before we even get into upscaling.
I've been upscaling my B7 DVD to 720i and there's a noticible improvement in clarity.
Now imagine what can be done with the 625 line, 2" PAL master source and pro equipment.
@@hgoodrich6116 So was Dr Who but they still manage to release definitive Blu-ray sets of that series. I would snap up a Blu-ray B7 set in an instant. C'mon Beeb!
Zen is a very naughty computer. He knew exactly what those ships were… :)
Yeah, it's only after Orac "jailbreaks" him in this adventure that Zen gets the stick out of his butt and stops being so passive-aggressive. Up till then he was like like if HAL 2000 was played by Carol Beer from Little Britain. "Computer says no." Peter Tuddenham says he voiced him like a stuffy bureaucrat.
I remember this sci-fi , brilliant
I absolutely loved Blake 7. I particularly loved this episode- redemption.
I Love Blake s Seven 7
I love that early on, they decided the force wall required Avon to jump out of his seat and circle all the way around to the lounge console instead. And that he needed to loudly shout 'Activated!' when using it too.
The special effects budget for season 1 was ….. £50! For the whole season! Not sure how much it was for season 2 but incredible how they managed to produce this series for such a small amount of money. My favourite sci-fi as a kid, even better than Space1999 or Dr Who. What a great time to be a kid.
The Liberator is a heavy cruiser.. the smaller ships are similarly armed but perhaps faster. I'd classify these as Destroyers. And belonging to the Liberator's home system.
The Liberator was a exploration ship not a heavy cruiser weapon systems were just for self defence it tells you in one of the episodes relating to this one
Avon would fit perfectly into modern SciFi
Still remember that episode.
"They must be Federation ships" [Look exactly the same as the nacelles on the Liberator]
Question is, have they ever actually seen the Liberator from the outside? They've probably never been in its proximity in space since they were on the prisoner transport.
I noticed that myself
@@tomatedesign1976 Didn't Orac used to project things on the display screen thing? (the thing that looked like the light show in a late 70s provincial UK disco; in my experience they tended to be called either "Napoleon's" or "Le Jardin")
@@tomatedesign1976 Episode 10 Breakdown - Blake sees the Liberator through a window of Station XK-72.
Episode 13 Orac - Orac predicts the future and shows the crew the Liberator exploding on the view screen.
Episode 4 Time Squad - Blake and Jenna probably saw the Liberator from viewport of the Space pod they beamed across to.
These episodes all come before Episode 14 Redemption.
@@cthulhuscot3940 Good work!
Standard by 12... that's fast.
They never told us just how fast Standard actually was.
@@jeffstone2136 Noted. Any ship that can keep up with the Liberator, that's fast.
And just how fast would that be in the baffling, alternate, Time Distort speed system used by The Federation?
@@jeffstone2136 Or the dimensions of a "spatial" (or, for that matter, why a civilisation that had mastered faster than light travel and teleportation, was still so heavily reliant on the clipboard, the Trimphone, Slinger pens, the CRT display and control panels featuring the same sort of illuminated coloured buttons that feature in ward nursing stations in the 1970s)
Probably the best units of Scifi measure, tell you literally everything and nothing all at once.
We’d like our deep space vehicle back please if that’s ok with you? Great episode.
Great episode.
The identity of those pursuing ships is odvious - - 🚀 There Fairly Liquid Bottles.. From the Fairly Liquid Alliance...
As a 29 year old, this show is very much a head of its time. Completely plausible
This scene actually demonstrates that the show's special effects could be at least credible if people worked at it. And even if that part of it's still shaky, at least the cast are genuinely acting like this is a real moment of tension and peril.
Absolutely - all of the cast had such conviction that you feel the tension & get caught-up in it; some great acting from everyone!
Best Sci fi of 70s.
Still good now.
Some one bring it back.
Weren't they the ships from where Liberator was created? Clever as the design of the end bits are the same so keeping consistent
Yes, they are system pursuit ships. The "Liberator" is System DSV2. DSV1, its sister ship is seen towards the end of the episode.
"That information is not available."
Oohh..I know, it's the Norweb foundation!
Doesn’t take a genius to identify them as the same design origin as Liberator
They should remaster this like they did with the Star Trek Blu Rays- with enhanced CGI effects and cleaned up print.
Ah the old "Liberator" wobble factor...I was watching this the other night...you can see the bare minimum of special effects used back then...but it adds to the story and the series...that's why it's so good just like the earlier Doctor Who's from the same time period.
And you can't help but get dragged back into the death stares between Avon and Blake...we all know who the better leader was!. Avon's wardrobe was much better!.
Crikey!
This episode had a few holes in it. An intelligent crew could see the pursuit ships were a similar design to Liberator so may be from the same people. Plus surely Zen would instantly recognise something coming from the same civilisation as he was produced from and make that suggestion or observation.
Agree about the first - it is totally obvious that the pusuing ships are built by the same people who built Liberator, the design is virtually identical. The second though is explained, the System ships had already subverted Zen (as the builders, they would have all the necesary access codes). This is shown even more a bit further on as Liberator's defense and weapons systems are deactivated and Zen ceases to respond to the crew.
Who are they? Remember the shape of Liberator nacelles and look at them Blake, it might give you an idea.😁
How did they know the blaster range of the attacking ships .. lol
when you ship is made a lot of empty plasticfrom leftover pieces of Ravel kid models you can go really fast
omg
I don’t remember that episode
it's the opening episode of the second series.
This series needs a Star Trek style remaster with uprated resolution and new CG effects BADLY.
No thanks. The stories stand the test of time, even if the effects don't. I'd rather have the gritty reality of Blake's 7 than the Holywood plasticity of Star Trek.
@@grimupnorth I mean, you could do both.
But, I grant you, if you gave this to Hollywood then they wouldn't, and it would probably be a travesty. So let's not do that.
But, in some ideal timeline, it could be rebooted - with effects and a budget - yet retain its spirit, character-driven narratives and excellent scripting. It's just that we don't live in that timeline.
(Also, one could argue that, to some degree, Joss Whedon's "Firefly" is the modern American version of Blake's 7.
Captain Mal is a man of honour in a den of thieves, as is Blake. They live and fight on the fringes of a fascist totalitarian Federation / Alliance. Blake's 7 is "Robin Hood in Space" - UK history - while Firefly is "Cowboys in Space" - American history. The Liberator and Serenity both have glowing arses.
Well, it's not a carbon copy, but I feel Whedon took much "inspiration" from Blake's 7 here and there.
And Firefly was the best sci-fi show ever cancelled. To be so damned good from the first episode, when traditionally the first season of everything always sucks - because actors are developing characters, writers are learning the rules of their universe, etc. - makes it such a pity that we never got Season 8, where it matured into the best bloody show on TV.
I'm also thinking that when I first heard they were going to reboot Battlestar Galactica - and Starbuck was going to be a chick this time - then I thought "oh no, they're going to ruin it". But, actually, that pilot episode was amongst the darkest, most tense TV ever made. It turned out to be awesome (although it could have done with a better ending).
So it's not impossible or out of the question, I feel. But I share your Avon-like cynicism that it's at all likely.)
@@klaxoncow I will bow to your superior knowledge. I would not argue with someone who has such a fervour for sci-fi - the ONLY fiction that matters.
@@klaxoncow I agree with almost everything you say - but I would add that the Babylon 5 sequel 'Crusade' is even closer to Blake's 7 than Firefly. And it was also cancelled just about as fast!
Blake's 7 was shot on video (unlike Trek, which was shot on film); thus not possible to go to high-res. Could redo the Fx shots, though. Problem is that it makes for a disjointed viewing experience. And new effects may not be all that much better if they don't have money.
Who are they? The guys that built the Liberator. Duh!
remember they werent trained spacecraft crew but petty criminals, an engineer, a computer expert and a guerrilla fighter, but they eventually twigged it
they couldn't see the ships just a radar return
@@andreww2098 they showed the ships on Zen's screen, they could see them.