The surviving original TV cast of Blake's 7 are being brought back together again in six new audio plays.

The Big Finish dramas will launch in January 2014 with Fractures by Justin Richards, in which an escape from a Federation pursuit ship leaves the crew of the Liberator licking their wounds. As the dust settles, realisation gradually dawns that the trust and camaraderie that has built up between them is dissolving - and one of the crew is working against the rest.

The audios see the return of Gareth Thomas as Roj Blake, Paul Darrow as Kerr Avon, Michael Keating as Vila Restal, Sally Knyvette as Jenna Stannis, Jan Chappell as Cally, and Brian Croucher as Travis, while Alistair Lock voices the computers Zen and Orac.

The writers for the rest of the season are Andrew Smith, Marc Platt, Peter Anghelides, Mark Wright, and Cavan Scott.

The news follows the release earlier this year of Anghelides' audio drama Warship, which first saw the original surviving Liberator team reunited. David Jackson, who played crew member Olag Gan, died in 2005, while Peter Tuddenham - the voice of Zen and Orac on TV - died two years later.

Producer David Richardson said: The series is being released in a licence deal with B7 Media, and Andrew Mark Sewell, the executive producer of B7 Media, said: After Fractures comes out, the other stories - whose titles are yet to be revealed - will be released monthly until June.

The TV series, created by Terry Nation, ran on BBC1 between 1978 and 1981.

The reboot of cult TV sci-fi show Blake's 7 is being pitched by entertainment company FremantleMedia International to buyers at MIPTV - the television and online-content market and creative forum in Cannes.

Currently in development with the US cable network Syfy, the series of 13 one-hour episodes will be made by Georgeville TV, the independent studio co-founded by Leon Clarance of London-based Motion Picture Capital (the financing arm of Reliance Entertainment), and producer Marc Rosen. It has been written by Joe Pokaski and will be directed by the award-winning Martin Campbell.

Pokaski is best known for his work on the TV sci-fi drama series Heroes, while among his credits Campbell has directed the Bond films GoldenEye and the Daniel Craig-starring Casino Royale as well as both TV and film versions of Edge of Darkness, winning a BAFTA for his 1985 BBC television production.

FremantleMedia has released the following teaser information about the new version of the show:


David Ellender, the chief executive of FremantleMedia International and Kids & Family Entertainment, said:
Leon Clarance, the co-founder of Georgeville Television and chief executive of Motion Picture Capital, the finance arm of Reliance Entertainment, added:
(Yes, Clarance really did say "amazeballs" in the press release!)

Blake's 7 was created by Terry Nation and originally ran for 52 episodes over four series on BBC1 between 1978 and 1981.

An April Fool was circulated last week via Twitter, claiming that Idris Elba would be playing Blake, and a copy of a fake "official" Blake's 7 magazine with Elba on the cover has been put on eBay to raise money for Macmillan Cancer Support. Anyone interested in bidding for it should be aware that it has no content.

An audio drama that reunites the original surviving Blake's 7 TV cast members has been released by Big Finish - a month ahead of schedule.

Set during the Galactic War, Warship - written by Peter Anghelides and directed by Ken Bentley - is a two-disc special, with the adventure on one disc and a behind-the-scenes documentary on the other.

It brings together Gareth Thomas as Roj Blake, Paul Darrow as Kerr Avon, Michael Keating as Vila Restal, Jan Chappell as Cally, Sally Knyvette as Jenna Stannis, and Jacqueline Pearce as Servalan, with Alistair Lock as Zen and Orac.

Peter Tuddenham, who originally provided the voices of Zen and Orac, died in 2007 and David Jackson, who played crew member Gan in the first two seasons of the TV show, died in 2005.


It can be bought as a CD and download. The tie-in novelisation, expanding on the story's events and developments, will be published next month as planned as an e-book.

A puppet from the Gerry Anderson series Captain Scarlet that was estimated to fetch between £12,500 and £13,500 failed to find a buyer when it went up for auction yesterday at Bonhams' Entertainment Memorabilia sale in London.

The Captain Brown puppet consisted of an original, restored head with reproduction body and uniform. The character of Captain Brown featured in the first episode of Captain Scarlet as well as in flashback in the second episode. The puppet was then used for other characters in the series, including Major Reeves and Dr Conrad, before being "recycled" for other Gerry Anderson shows.

Approximately 22in (56cm) high, it also appeared as Dr Blakemore in the Joe 90 episode Operation McClaine and as Harry Sloane in Double Agent in the same series. In The Secret Service it portrayed several characters, including the spy George Grey and, with grey hair and moustache, General Brompton in the episode Hole In One.

A prop stardrive device from the Blake's 7 episode Stardrive (series 4, episode 4) went for £1,187, having had an estimate of £500-700. Meanwhile, a mothership model from Series 10 of Red Dwarf was bought for £562 (estimate £500-700), while an Annihilator model spaceship from the same series fetched £750 (estimate £500-700). All sale prices included the premium.

The auction was held at Bonhams' Knightsbridge saleroom.

Models and props from Captain Scarlet, Blake's 7, and the latest series of Red Dwarf are to be auctioned next month in London.

Bonhams' Entertainment Memorabilia sale takes place on Wednesday 12th December at its Knightsbridge showroom, starting at midday, where the following will be available to bid for:

A reboot of Blake's 7 could be teleporting its way back on to TV screens.

According to a report by Deadline, the American independent studio Georgeville Television has joined forces with director Martin Campbell to bring back the series that was created by Terry Nation.

The franchise rights have been secured from the rights holder Andrew Sewell and his firm B7 Media, financial backing is coming from MPC, and writer Joe Pokaski is penning the reboot. The project is currently being touted around the American networks.

Blake's 7 originally ran for 52 episodes over four series on BBC1 between 1978 and 1981. In 2008, Sky1 announced that it had commissioned two one-hour scripts for a possible TV series, but two years later it said it had decided not to commission the show.
(With thanks to Steve Layton)