Blake's 7 (TV Series) Blake (1981) User Reviews

Possibly the Most Famous Ending to a Series Ever?

[tony-howe · 10/10 · 26 January 2007]

Blake's 7 was great. It was great for a number of reasons. The scripts sparkled with life. The dialogue was sharp. The stories were well thought out (with a couple of exceptions I admit). The characters were three dimensional people. Importantly, little was black and white - there were no "goodies and baddies" here. The "goodies" shot people in the back and caused the deaths of civilians during their crusade against the Federation. The chief "baddie" was a super-cool sexy female who could weep for her dead children whilst almost simultaneously coldly executing an innocent officer (hats off to Jaqueline Pearce - she was excellent).

However, nothing quite captured the public's imagination quite like the way Blake's 7 ended. After 4 years of drama - 52 episodes worth of our slightly unhinged anti-heroes struggling against the evil system - we watched in disbelief as they were surrounded by Federation troops, and gunned down without mercy. As an 11 year-old at the time, this was shocking stuff. It's still shocking today. Have other series' ever dared kill off their main cast to end the series? I know it wasn't 100% intended, but what a way to go.

So who cares if the walls wobbled a bit, and some of the models looked like washing-up liquid bottles on string (they probably were), and some of the acting could be a bit rough round the edges? Blake's 7 still resonates, is still talked about, and still has relevance. As a series, it was great as I said, but thanks to this final episode, the series will remain one of the iconic moments of British TV drama.

The Rest Of The Episode Isn't All That Great But You Will Never forget That Ending

[Theo Robertson · 8/10 · 31 March 2013]

With their base on Xenon now known to the Federation the crew of The Scorpio leave the planet for the last time . Avon reveals they need a leader for their alliance and that the only man who can bind that alliance is Roj Blake so departs to the Planet Of Gauda Prima to find him

This is the legendary final episode of a legendary television show . Anyone who has followed the series will never forget it down to THAT ending . But as well regarded as this episode is it's pretty obvious the reason it is so well remembered is because of the ending that permanently killed the show off . Its high regard would probably lessen greatly if the production team had carried on with a fifth series and it was revealed that most of the characters had survived the final shoot out

The problem with Boucher's script is how contrived everything is in order to make it to the final scene . Avon reveals he knew Blake was on Guada Prima but didn't reveal this because he thought his alliance with Zukon and co was going to be a success . Blake pretends tro be a bounty hunter to find new recruits and keeps up the pretence with Tarrant only for Tarrant escape and say Blake has betrayed them all while Deva warns Blake that this cover story will cause trouble while Blake replies along the lines of " Well Deva I'm going to have to explain my plan to you again even though you know it but this time there's eight million viewers watching us at home and this is the episode that writes me out permanently even though the BBC might make a fifth series so I have to make it look like I'm a traitor "

Apart from the ridiculously contrived story structure there's a couple of other flaws with the story . Sasha Mitchell as Arlen is really quite dreadful and reads her lines like someone reading a menu from a very insipid restaurant . Many of the model effects are even by BLAKES 7 standards at the time very poor and anyone watching this in 2013 will instantly believe the show's cheap and cheerless reputation for budget is well earned But... all this will be quickly forgotten as the final scene plays out as Avon blows a hole in Blake , an effect that looks like in belongs in a Sam Peckinpah film . In fact the sequence seems Peckinpah inspired as respectively Dayna , Vila , Soolin and Tarrant are shot down in slow motion leaving Avon surrounded by Federation troopers as he stands alongside the supine dead body of Blake

Rumours are that the BBC are interested in resurrecting the show but one knows it'd be a mistake to even consider this . One reason is down to the fact that Tery Nation and original producer David Maloney are both dead as is series four producer Vere Lorimar . Likewise script editor Chris Boucher has been retired from television for many years and one can't see how the show could work without these men . It'd be impossible to top the final episode and hopefully the show will remain in the past . Mind you I also said the same about DOCTOR WHO and see how that worked out

The explosive final answers a lot of questions.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 9/10 · 7 September 2022]

Avon takes The Scorpio to the inhospitable planet of Gauda Prime, his mission to search for their former, engimatic figurehead.

I shall do my best to write a spoiler free review for this, as I see that every one contains spoilers, it's hard not to give much away, but here goes..

This episode has an average score of 8.7, it is clearly loved by fans, for me it's excellent, but I think there are better episodes.

The story itself is pretty good, the success here lies in the revelations, and the shocks, no other show to my knowledge did what they did at the end of this one, it makes it very unique in TV history. I love that we get Closure, even need on Jenna.

It is a wonderful production, it looks awesome, I get the impression that a few episodes suffered budget cuts for this one, it feels an epic, it certainly looks like one.

My one criticism here, Servalan popped up in the most random episodes, sometimes unnecessarily, she should have been here for this, to not feature Pearce in the finale, unforgivable.

It's a real shame it ended here, maybe it was time, but at least it signed off in style.

9/10.

Brilliant ending to a great series

[alainenglish · 9/10 · 17 March 2007]

A much-anticipated finale to the popular British show, "Blake" was a Shakespearean ending that lasted long in the mind. If truth be told, though there were some great episodes in the interim, this is the only other episode in the entire series that stands out along with the first two: The Way Back and Space Fall, which opened Season One.

Here the themes and the characters stay very true to what was established there, with the general mood of the episode being one of betrayal and despair.

Having failed in his bid to create a union of warlords to defeat the Federation, Avon (Paul Darrow) takes the Scorpio crew to Gauda Prime to find Blake (Gareth Thomas). But Blake has now become a bounty hunter and appears to have sold out to the Federation...

I was thrown by the ending initially, as I had misread a magazine article about the final episode and which left me with the idea that Avon had intended to murder Blake. As it happens, he didn't, and the latter's tragic murder is the result of a fatal misunderstanding.

Some solid acting by both Darrow and Thomas, along with the rest of the cast, create a great atmosphere. This is combined with some great studio work, with grey sets appropriately lit in red, and eerie location work in the forests of Gauda Prime.

The slow-motion ending, which lingers over the deaths of each individual crew member, is wonderfully effective. The fact they go down bloodlessly does not diminish this (Gareth Thomas only asked for a gory death for Blake to establish with absolute certainty that the character was finished). And the final shot with Avon smiling as the Federation troopers surround him, refusing to go down quietly as gunshots echo over the closing credits, is an indelible image.

With modern times more cynical than ever, "Blake's 7" is definitely due a timely remake. It is unlikely, though, that such an endeavour would ever live up to this.

Cruel, magnificent and spellbinding.

[Brettto · 10/10 · 26 July 2009]

'Have you betrayed us? Have you betrayed me?' Avon stands over his friend moments after killing him, facing certain death. His comrades strewn lifelessly about him and flanked by armed Federation guards, he looks sadly down at his fallen prey. In a final act of remembrance to Blake he smiles defiantly. A single shot followed by a barrage of gunfire echoes behind as the dark curtain of stars falls for the last time and the credits roll. Ironies and role reversals abound in 'Blake'- surely it is the arch intelligencer Avon who is ever the ruthless trickster through all four seasons of freedom fighting? (his icy words to a traumatised Villa at the close of 'Orbit' - 'as you always say Villa, you know you are safe with me'. Yet it's the stout, idealist Blake of all people who has turned embittered double bluffer, trusting no one at face value. As Deva prophetically warns, 'These stupid games you insist on playing, Blake, will get someone killed one day.' Blake has gone native, a bounty hunter using money and baited escapes as tests to sift the greedy from the pure. But trying to prune out the bad apples from such a twisted orchard would surely exhaust anyone. Even Orac couldn't trace a clear line though the forest of traps and disguises, legacy of Servilan. A battle scarred and weary Blake admits he simply, 'cannot tell anymore…' who to trust. And inevitably Blake's valiant dream flounders in the mire. Meeting Blake after years apart, Avon faces his dark night of the soul, beseeching his former ally. His judgement paralysed by doubt, buckling under the threat of the double cross. Shocked to see Blake's once noble visage disfigured, perhaps spying Blake's knife Avon has but one reflex. Survival is winning. Instinctively firing on an advancing Blake he no longer knows nor knows if he believes in. Blake! Not a Travis figure, a hated enemy, rather his captain, his true friend. Tarrant's peeved and pragmatic take on matters proves tragically misguided. But who on Gauda Prime can see the wood for the trees? Avon pulls the trigger and kills the thing he loves. Shakespearean tragedy in a sci-fi serial? it's unexpected and devastating. It isn't easy to watch the demise of beloved characters in this way but then Blake's 7 isn't easy television. The stakes were always bleak. The Federation are cold killers. The crew of The Liberator set out from episode one to reassert some chaos amidst the terrible new order, but it was always a fool's hope they would triumph. Few endings are more powerful or memorable across the galaxy of British television - 'Blake' seals the series indelibly in the mind as cruel, magnificent and spellbinding. A masterstroke to bring Blake back. Servilan omitted?- a puzzling yet bold move, she at least lives on. Plenty to argue about as the years have rolled on, never bettered, 'Blake' is a cultural treasure.

Prime Gouda.

[bbjzilla · 8/10 · 18 January 2022]

So I lay to rest the cold calculating logic, gamesmanship and negotiation/ blackmail that pursued my 4 seasons of Blake's 7, which was really 5 or 6 and mostly didn't include Blake.

Instead I lay my hat on a season finale which made no sense other than a bunch of stuff happening, spaceships crash, people appear from nowhere pull off their metaphoric masks and behave very badly. And then THEY ALL DIE HORRIBLY......for no real reason.

Shocking then as it is still, but more of less a cheap gag and inconsistent with the rest of the show's episodes.

Happily no Servalan whose twist reveal became a trope after 3 episodes and continued throughout the season but sadly no more Soolyn who could butter bread for 52 minutes and I would watch. Shallow I know but we all have needs. Dempsey & Makepeace anyone?

Great episode aside from the ending

[gallifreyanpathologist · 7/10 · 2 December 2020]

I agree with those who claim cop-out. Avon and Blake know each other well. When it came to Blake, Avon was not a "shoot first and ask questions later" kind of guy. He knew Blake was an undying idealist when it came to the Federation as well, and Avon's well-established perspicacity has suddenly vanished. Blake could tell that Avon was still not convinced though, so his advancing was also out of character. That whole scene was just a rushed way to kill off Gareth Thomas' character so that he would be able to move on with his career, but as another reviewer pointed out, it could have been devised more cleverly. Avon's being surrounded wordlessly is also ajar from what one would expect. Maybe we're making it all too sober a consideration, but it would have been nice to go out on one of Blakes 7's more sharply-defined notes, something echoing Series 1, and this just seems hurriedly struck up.

Unconvincing Series Ending!

[pnk-6 · 4/10 · 1 February 2009]

It seems to me that the producers and script writers were bored to death from the 4 years of "Blake's 7" production and made everything possible to take revenge in that episode. They got all characters in front of the wall and punished them with death for all the headaches through the years. Even worse - they discredit most of them before that. It seems that all previous heroes had been degrading to killers and stupid shouting order-giving psychopaths. Avon kills Blake just for fun ... shooting him 3 times? ... Why not 5 or stubbing him with knife at the end? It seems that in that episode all characters were under drugs .. may be from the planet atmosphere ... In my opinion that is not logical, or convincing, or the smart way to end all.

A Knockout Hour of Television

[StuOz · 11 October 2023]

After four years the series finally ends.

I have been a fan of this series since it first aired in the late 70s. Over the decades I have returned to it for repeat viewings and I never get bored with it.

This final episode is a knockout for several reasons. The climax to this episode "Blake" is still talked about to this day. A less talked about element to this hour is the best action sequence in the whole series - the spaceship crash landing! Perhaps it brings back memories of Lost in Space (1965) which also had epic crash landings of spaceship Jupiter 2.

I was a little surprised that some fans were less impressed with this Blake's 7 sequence but I guess you can't make everybody happy.

Blake's 7 was not a perfect series but all four seasons, without fail, ended with a knockout hour of television.