Headlines
Blake’s Seven Reboot Is Coming With Doctor Who Director Attached
Avon Calling Again
So a reboot of cult BBC sci-fi show Blake’s 7 is currently in development. Here’s a few details courtesy of our friends at Radio Times and Deadline who originally broke the story…
Doctor Who and The Last of Us director Peter Hoar has opened a “genre-based” production company, Multitude Productions, and has acquired the IP for the iconic ’70s and ’80s sci-fi hit along with exec Matthew Bouch and producer Jason Haigh-Ellery, Deadline has confirmed.
The website adds that Bouch would “love it to go to the BBC”, where the show originally aired from 1978 to 1981, depicting political dissident Roj Blake (Gareth Thomas) and his untrustworthy rebels amid their battle with the totalitarian Terran Federation.
Hoar informed Deadline: “The Blake’s 7 story is legendary because they were given a ‘softly softly’ slot that was intended for police drama with a budget intended for one big set and a few location shoots.
“At the time it felt like it meant something. Those shows got into my veins. I could tell they didn’t have money but I was able to compartmentalise and enjoy the ride knowing that the sets wobbled.”
Bouch added: “We’re driven by our passions but also seeing that there is a gap in the market in the UK – particularly with the well-publicised dropping off of Doctor Who – for genre-based British IP.”
Multitude is also working on TV adaptations of Luke Rhinehart’s The Search for the Dice Man, Patrick Carman’s Skeleton Creek, and an adaptation of a currently unnamed “well-known video game and a sci-fi series”.
Created by Doctor Who legend Terry Nation (inventor of the Daleks), Blake’s 7 quickly became a hit.
In 1978, producer David Maloney told Radio Times: “We’ve got something Star Wars doesn’t have – time to develop our plot, characters and action. They’ve got two hours we’ve got 12.”
Hoar has now compared Blake’s 7 to beloved Star Wars spin-off Andor, arguing that it succeeded not because of its budget, but “because of the integrity, wit and sophistication.” We shall keep people posted as this story develops.
Read the Deadline story here
