Happy Birthday...

[thisbluespirit]

... to aralias, meneleth, whuffle, rosied, & jaxomsride2 who all share this very special day!


And also of course a very unhappy fortieth Gauda Prime Day to everyone who knows what that means! (I remain as amused as ever that so many of the people above do know - so happy birthday/commiserations! Celebrate as appropriately as you may! Possibly... XD)


I hadn't realised it was 40 years till yesterday! Anyway, in lieu of something more, I've been repointing people to my Why Classic Who Fans Should Watch Blake's 7 post and aralias's similar but different why you should watch blake's 7, f-list.

It is old and creaky TV now, but for anyone for whom that is not a barrier who can get hold of it, it is hands down one of the best TV rides I've ever had, with some of the best characters, and I recommend checking it out. For a short-lived BBC SF show (4x13 50min eps), it's had a very long impact and almost all the current crop of TV SF are in some way its grandchildren - its children being Babylon 5, Farscape and Firefly, who all took important aspects from it. (JMS drops in the odd Avon quote in homage, just to prove it.)

(It also has Ben Steed, but we can talk about that when & if anyone gets to S3.)

Anyway, it is genuinely awesome. I know this is sad and weird of me, but when I reached the end after other Classic Who fans bullied me into giving it a go about 12 or so years ago, I just stood up and clapped. And then was v relieved there was no one else around. But... yes. It was one hell of a ride, and they'd all been right, and I loved it.

Comments

[earthspirits]

I love Doctor Who - and Blake's 7. Years ago, I was fortunate to meet Paul Darrow - charming man!

[kerk_hiraeth]

My very first fanfic was Blake's 7; about Dayna's great-grandaughter. It was a prequel to a series of stories that life; as in my mental health never allowed me to write. I recently found the fist part of that though and may yet post it.

Project Avalon was my favourite episode, and I never really recovered from Jenna's absence.

kerk

[astrogirl]

40 years! My goodness. It really does amaze and delight me that people are still marking this particular occasion all these years later.

A friend of mine who's spent way too much time over the years listening to me explaining why it's such an influential show and why he should watch it pointed out to me recently that B7 is now available on Britbox, so there's finally a reasonably accessible way for more people to see it. (Hopefully he'll get around to it soon.)

but when I reached the end after other Classic Who fans bullied me into giving it a go about 12 or so years ago, I just stood up and clapped

I threw a pillow at the television. I have never, ever done that for any other show before or since. And then I went away and stewed angrily over it all night, during the course of which I came around to realizing that it was, in fact, one of the best and most fitting TV show endings of all time. That was in, I believe, 1989, and I still remember it vividly and smile thinking about it.

[sovay]

It is old and creaky TV now, but for anyone for whom that is not a barrier who can get hold of it, it is hands down one of the best TV rides I've ever had, with some of the best characters, and I recommend checking it out.

I have intended to watch Blake's 7 for years now and I do still intend to, TV is really just that much more difficult for me. I believe the current plan is that someday the rest of everything will be enough less difficult that TV will be easier. The rest of everything being less difficult would be cool enough on its own, honestly.

[beccadg]

I've always been torn between curiosity and dread at the idea of actually watching it. I've never actually watched it, but I know the significance of Gauda Prime Day. I've even seen a bloody t-shirt that said, "I went to Guada Prime and all I got was this t-shirt." My curiosity was improved a bit when I heard the creators had always meant for Avon to survive and carry on the story given the chance, but access was a problem for a long time too. I loved Babylon 5, apart from Marcus Cole's death, and Farscape's apart from D'Argo's death, but I was never into Firefly like my parents were so I'm not sure what my reactions to its children say about how much I'd enjoy B7 itself. Its age and wobbliness aren't issues. The Key to Time series of Classic Who will remain some of my favorite TV until the day I die. It's just... that ending.