Blakes 7 | 1000 Fields of Roses

When Stars Begin To Fall

Woke up this morning to the news that an actor from one of my favourite TV shows died yesterday. I’m of an age now when a lot of people I remember from my childhood have died, but it’s always a bit of a shock.
I’ve always enjoyed the classic sci-fi shows (vintage Star Trek and Doctor Who, as well as their more modern revivals) but Blakes 7 was my favourite. It only ran for four years, had seemingly cheap (but not cheerful!) production, and sometimes seemed to lose its way a bit, but I still watch and enjoy it. Avon was my favourite character, so hearing of the death of Paul Darrow gave a sad start to my day. He portrayed Avon as cynical and sarcastic, but also oddly vulnerable and, at times, sympathetic. The snark is legendary…

As the series was made in the days when you couldn’t just google an episode to guard against continuity errors, it sometimes doesn’t quite hang together. The acting can be quite theatrical, the scenery in danger of falling over, and the dystopian universe doesn’t provide the feel good factor. The titular character (Blake) is only present for two series, and there never seems to be exactly seven in the crew, unless you include one or both computers – depends on who else is still alive at the time. Despite all this… watch it. You’ll be glad you did.
So, it seems that Avon is no longer with us (along with Blake, Gan, Orac/Zen and Servalan). Having originally seen the final episode back in the early 80s, and clearly remembering the shock and disbelief I felt then, I can only paraphrase a tweet I saw earlier in the day – “It occurred off camera. I choose to believe he made it out…”

Here’s a fan made music video I found on YouTube a while back. It seems appropriate.

I got the whole series on DVD a couple of years ago, so I can have a bit of a wallow in my childhood angst today. Anyone want to join me?

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on June 4, 2019 at 2:57 pm Leave a Comment
Tags: Blakes 7, Paul Darrow

A Refreshing Interlude

Both today and yesterday! 🙂
The year’s coming to an end, so it felt like a good time for something different. We went down to the Japanese Gardens in Queen’s Park to spend some time, individually, being still and quiet. It was lovely – running water, birds, lots of dragonflies… Not sure Littlest Bean understood the idea – he spent the time darting around, counting all the animals and insects he encountered. Even turtles!

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I sat outside the teahouse, listening and watching.

There was a lone lotus flower on the other side of the lake.

We went to the library afterwards. It was a refreshing break in our morning…
In other news, our thistle has probably reached the stage where it should be chopped down.

It’s getting a bit wild.
The flowers are still beautiful, though.

I chopped some branches off the mugwort today, and found a little ladybird.

I put it in the grass so it could fly away when it was ready. 🙂

So – what was my refreshment today? I didn’t know which to choose – a good old mystery, or a bit of nostalgic sci-fi. I decided to go for both – Blakes 7 – Mission To Destiny… Agatha Christie in Space!

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on November 19, 2016 at 4:14 pm Leave a Comment
Tags: Blakes 7, Japanese Gardens, Ladybird, thistles

Ernie And Blake

I have every intention of posting some book reviews 😀 but I’ve been wandering around some old clips. Enjoy! (although if you don’t know Blakes 7 and/or Benny Hill, this may not make much sense…)

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Music

on April 7, 2014 at 12:04 pm Leave a Comment
Tags: Blakes 7, ernie the fastest milkman in the west

Living In The 70s

…no, not the Skyhooks song..

I was at the shops recently, when I wandered into a clothes shop.. there were clothes there that reminded me, both in form and fabric pattern, of what we wore (or wished we were old enough to wear) in the 70s. Then I realised that the music playing was “Funky Town”
I used to think the lyrics for that song were “Your toothpaste tastes too… Funky Town!”
Yeah, it doesn’t make sense. But, it was the 70s…

I was born in 1969, so the 70s were my formative years… it’s all a bit of an orangey/sepia type of haze now, like the colour photos from the time..
I’ve been looking at some old photos from the early/mid 70s – here’s one of me on my Space Hopper –

Remember those?
Here’s a clearer image..

I don’t remember mine having a face like that. That’s a bit creepy.

I wanted to note down all the things I remember from that era, but there are so many…
The clothes, of course. I wanted so much to have a flared pantsuit, and eventually a family friend gave me one of her old ones. It was nylon, in some sort of animal print. There are, thankfully, no photos in existence of me wearing it.

As far as I know.

I remember my first pair of jeans. They were bright orange, and I wore them with a lime green t-shirt. I was so hip in those days…

It always seemed to be bright sunshine, and I remember walking down to the (newly built) supermarkets down the road, on my own, on a Saturday, and getting a tiny bag of dolly mix, or a cone of hot, buttered, salted popcorn. Then I’d go home and read Trixie Belden, or watch one of the corny, but somehow exciting, TV shows of the period. There were too many to mention, but I did lean towards the “Little House On The Prairie/Waltons” type ones, or the sci-fi shows. There seemed to be so many of them, in a time when we still thought we might soon be living on the moon, or discovering our innate superpowers (Tomorrow People, anyone?) Tom Baker was “my” Doctor, and I started watching an exciting show called “Blakes 7”, which I still love.On the nights I wasn’t allowed to stay up to watch it, I could tune in to the ABC on my old mono (as opposed to stereo) radio, put in the earpiece, snuggle under the covers, and listen instead. The reception wasn’t the best, but it was better than nothing…

I had bits and pieces decorated with Holly Hobby, and Strawberry Shortcake. There was tie-dye, and paisley, and orange and brown furnishings… Tupperware in olive green, cream and orange..

ABBA, of course. We gave Nanna and Poppa the ABBA:Arrival double album for their wedding anniversary one year.
I’m not sure they were particularly thrilled.

Looking through Google hits reminds me that I also had a Growing Up Skipper Doll. Here she is..

She was meant to be Barbie’s little sister… but this version had a gimmick. Her upper torso was covered by a flexible rubber sleeve, so when you twisted her arm in one direction, her torso lengthened, and her breasts popped up. When you twisted it in the other direction, they went down again… It was endlessly fascinating, although the wire mechanism that pushed the rubber up eventually wore through. I’m not sure, either, if it prepared me for the realities of growing up..

I’m sure there are many other things I’ve forgotten.
The 70s were a… different… time. I remember them being more innocent, but I’m not sure if that was childhood, or the era..

It was a galaxy
far, far away…

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