Blake’s 7 Reboot: Add Your Choices to the Casting Wishlist

There has been a lot of chatter this week about how the Blake’s 7 reboot is shaping up, and no topic has had more chatter than which actors are going to be in it.

Exec producer Leon Clarance tweeted a while ago that Episode 1 of the new 13-episode Syfy series kicks off in Blake’s London apartment. And that the episode will feature: Blake, Gan, Vila, Servalan, Avon, Travis, Jenna and Zen.

Clarance also said that casting was “already starting to get interesting,” but so far hasn’t elaborated.

In the absence of hard news let’s speculate wildly, try not to cry when remembering the awesome BSG lineup and how it skews who can play what in Blake’s 7, ignore actors’ pre-existing work commitments, and compile our own dream cast for the new, amazeballs Blake’s 7.

Add your picks in Comments.

The TVClaw Blake’s 7 Casting Wishlist

Blake: Idris Elba, Paul Blackthorne, Jason Isaacs. Wild card: Clive Owen.

Gan: Jason Momoa, Kristian Nairn, Rory McCann. Wild card: Ray Stevenson.

Vila: James Callis, Mark Sheppard, John Thomson. Wild card: David Tennant.

Servalan: Lucy Lawless, Minnie Driver, Hermione Norris. Wild card: Lena Headey.

Avon: Dominic West, Lennie James, Peter Capaldi. Wild card: Paul Darrow.

Travis: Hugh Laurie, Ben Browder, Sebastian Roché. Wild card: James Purefoy.

Jenna: Leah Cairns, Natalia Tena, Michelle Ryan. Wild card: Billie Piper.

Zen: Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Brian Blessed. Wild card: Paul Darrow.

Excited much? Stay tuned for updates.

If you’re in need of a Blake’s 7 fix while you wait, check out The Liberator Chronicles series of enhanced audiobooks from Big Finish Productions.

@TVClaw

Blake’s 7 Reboot: It’s Amazeballs!

The Blake’s 7 gang are currently doing the rounds at the MIPTV spring market in Cannes to launch their loooong-awaited reboot of the cult fave.

What’s new? Well, according to exec producer Leon Clarance, the reboot is “suitably amazeballs.”

Previously, Clarance teased that the first line of the pilot episode is “Int london – Blake’s apt – morning.”

Now, courtesy of FremantleMedia, we get the rest of the picture: “The year is 2136, Blake wakes up on one side of the bed.  He reaches for the other side. There’s nobody there. As reality sets in, this handsome ex-soldier sits up, and looks at a photo of his wife Rachel. Beautiful. Deceased.”

FremantleMedia described the new Blake’s 7 as “a revolutionary reinvention” of the 1970s’ BBC sci fi series, which followed the story of seven criminals — six guilty and one innocent — who escaped from captivity on their way to a prison colony in space.

Launching the reboot, David Ellender, CEO FremantleMedia International and Kids & Family Entertainment said, “Blake’s 7 was such a forward-thinking concept that the show continues to have resonance with audiences today. Its complex characters and gritty storylines, coupled with the highly talented team and modern production techniques are sure to appeal to both original fans of the show and new viewers.”

Leon Clarance said, “Joe Pokaski and Martin Campbell have worked tirelessly … to create an amazeballs reboot of this classic space opera which I watched with my father when I was a child. This reimagined classic for a new generation of science fiction fans will enthrall original and new fans alike.”

Who’s in it? We still don’t know for sure, but the TVClaw casting wishlist has been updated. How about a Wire reunion and have Idris Elba as Blake and Dominic West as Avon? Lucy Lawless as Servalan could be totes amazeballs. Or how about Ray Stevenson or Sean Bean as a male Servalan, Minnie Driver as Jenna and  Alastair Mackenzie as Vila?

Other worthy contenders: Jason Isaacs, David Harewood, James Callis, David Tennant, Helen Baxendale, Claudia Black and Gethin Anthony.

There is consensus among fans that original Blake’s 7 star Paul Darrow has to have at least a cameo role, but who else do you want to see in it?

@TVClaw

Blake’s 7 Remake Is Happening: Syfy Brings Back Cult Series

Time for Blake’s 7 fans to do the happy dance: it is coming back to a small screen near you.

Following (we hope) in the footsteps of such successful remakes/reboots as Star Trek and Battlestar Galactica, producer Andrew Sewell today confirmed via Twitter reports that the cult sci fi series is to be resurrected.

Despite the pretty final ending, Blake’s 7 is the series that just will not die, and there have been several attempts to revive it since it went off the air in 1981.

Deadline exclusively reports that the new series will be a joint venture between independent studio Georgeville and the Syfy cable channel. Syfy has placed a script-to-series order, which could see a 13-episode series in the works soon.

The remake will be written by Joe Pokaski (Heroes, CSI) and, perhaps crucially, helmed by veteran director Martin Campbell (Casino Royale). It will be exec-produced by Campbell, Pokaski, Leon Clarance, Deepak Nayar and Sewell.

Feature director Campbell may at first seem an unlikely choice to direct a TV reboot, but he cut his teeth on British television dramas of the 1970s and ’80s, working on The Professionals, Reilly: Ace of Spies and Edge of Darkness among other things.

There’s been no news on casting yet, but the rumour mill will be grinding overtime soon. Right now, my dream team would kick off with Dominic West as Blake and either Claudia Black or Minnie Driver as Servalan.

Who would you cast? How about Ben Browder for a full-on Farscape reunion? Or even Wayne Pygram as a male Servalan? Now that I’d like to see.

Excited, much? Sewell told me on Twitter that, “There’s much to dance about — more news next week”.

Stay tuned for updates.

Follow me on Twitter: @TVClaw