Set in a very distant future, Blake's 7 is a story of a group of criminals, who are lead by a political dissident (Blake) to fight a rebellion against an evil, Orwellian interstellar Federation. It incorporates elements of Star Trek, Robin Hood, and George Orwell's 1984.
The bad: the special effects are appalling, even by 1970s BBC standards. The early beta-max video is harsh looking. Some of the episode plots stretch believability.
Now the good: everything else is absolutely excellent. The artwork, costuming and design is superb. The top notch cast of actors all shine (this is back in the days when the BBC hired actors primarily for their talent, as opposed to their "market appeal"). The dialog is thick with subtle innuendo, irony, drama and the characters seem vivid and real. Some of these characters are fascinating. Most of the stories are reasonably good, and the overall situation of the series is quite absorbing.
If you can get past the bad, and I highly recommend trying, B7 is hours of entertainment for you.
And even the bad has a good side to it. The trademark early BBC special effects are worth watching, as they can provide a chuckle now and then too.
The bad: the special effects are appalling, even by 1970s BBC standards. The early beta-max video is harsh looking. Some of the episode plots stretch believability.
Now the good: everything else is absolutely excellent. The artwork, costuming and design is superb. The top notch cast of actors all shine (this is back in the days when the BBC hired actors primarily for their talent, as opposed to their "market appeal"). The dialog is thick with subtle innuendo, irony, drama and the characters seem vivid and real. Some of these characters are fascinating. Most of the stories are reasonably good, and the overall situation of the series is quite absorbing.
If you can get past the bad, and I highly recommend trying, B7 is hours of entertainment for you.
And even the bad has a good side to it. The trademark early BBC special effects are worth watching, as they can provide a chuckle now and then too.