| Issue | Contents |
|---|---|
| 4 | (p. 5 one page on reunion, pp. 54-7 Couch Potato reviews B7, pp. 58-9 Liberator, p. 106 Scorpio. Also, cover mention & pp. 3 & 105. Highly recommended issue. Couch Potato reviews are NOT to be taken seriously.) |
| 9 | (pp. 58-9 Paul Darrow, pp. 82-3 B7 videos, p. 102 competition.) |
| 25 | (p. 14 Terry Nation, p. 24, p. 77, p. 94 review of Blake's 7: The Inside Story, p. 105 ad.) |
| 29 | (p. 16 small Blake [Gareth Thomas] at Wolf 359 in 1997, p. 83, p. 107.) |
| 34 | ( Jan. 1998--front cover mention, p. 40, pp. 78-81 "Back from the Dead" & 96 are on The Sevenfold Crown. Very nice.) |
| 36 | (p. 20 GT mention, p. 43 one page Darrow, pp. 92-94 Couch Potato reviews "Pressure Point", p. 105 video ad. Be warned that Couch Potato is not kind to Blake/Gareth Thomas.) |
| 37 | (p. 20 Darrow, p. 101 video ad, p. 108 video sale/buy page , p. 111 video review--vol. 1 & 2, p. 121.) SFX will review B7 videos in many issues and run some ads. SFX is selling them, too.) In total, I think SFX reviewed Vol. 1-18 out of the 26. |
| 38 | (p. 12, pp. 16-17 & 25 GT's Merlin TV pilot, p. 22 Darrow-Guards (play), p. 70 Liberator voted # 3 top spaceship, p. 106 video review--Vol. 3 & 4, p. 111 sale page, p. 138 Guards ad, p. 142 con ad, inside back cover full page color video ad. Hereafter, I'll abbreviate that to IBCVA) |
| 39 | (catalog insert selling B7 video on p. 11--pp. 72-3 nice Liberator, p. 108 full page video ad, p. 142 con ad, p. 143 fan ad.) . |
| 41 | (p. 12, p. 80 video review--Vol. 6, p. 86 sale page, p. 114. I missed Dave's Question which is answered in 43 with Jacqueline Pearce.) |
| 42 | (p. 12 Star Maidens --GT, p. 18, p. 108 video review--Vol. 7, p. 109, p. 128.) |
| 44 | (p. 26 The Sevenfold Crown, p. 104 video review--Vol. 8,* p. 108 video review-- Vol . 9,* p. 134 con ad, p. 135 fan ad.) Chris Boucher does the review for Vol. 8. * These are mistakenly labeled 15 & 16. |
| 45 | (p. 16, p. 34 (or 54?), p. 102-3 video review--Vol. 10 & 11, p. 132 con ad, p. 137 sale page, IBCVA.) |
| 46 | (catalog insert selling B7 video on p. 18--p. 19 Darrow play, p. 26 full page video ad, p. 110 con ad.) |
| 49 | (March 1999--p. 4, pp. 6,7-9 Blake-less B7, p. 29, p. 64, p. 74, p. 75, pp. 78-9 Couch Potato reviews "Rumours of Death," p. 91 video review of Vol. 14 & 15, p. 113.) |
| 50 | (April 1999--An attached insert which is numbered separately has the top 50 shows and Children of the Stones--GT--comes in 34, insert pp. 8-9, and B7 comes in 16 on insert p. 14. p. 23 very nice fake B7 movie poster, p. 46, pp. 80-81 Couch Potato reviews "Orbit," p. 95 video review Vol. 16.) |
| 52 | (p. 12. p. 20, p. 44, p. 93 video review-- Vol. 18, p. 96, p. 113.) As far as I can tell, Vol. 19-26 were never reviewed. |
| 53 | (June 1999, front cover mention, p. 5, p. 13, p. 21, pp. 18-19 B7 TV movie, IBCVA) |
| 55 | (p. 18 Darrow comment, p. 20 Blake comment, p. 21 con ad, p. 32, p. 97 full page video ad.) |
| 68 | (p. 20 an "ask Darrow" questions short article for an upcoming feature, p. 43, p. 120 con ads) |
| 69 | (Oct. 2000--three pages with photos of Darrow using questions people sent in pp. 4, 6-8, Zenith voted "Fanzine of the Month." p. 24. Ads p. 120. ) |
| 70 | (Nov. '00--Misc. on pp. 34, 78, and 120.) |
| 71 | (Dec. '00--Misc. on pp. 112 and 113 with a Thomas picture on 112.) |
| 72 | (Christmas '00-- Darrow picture on p. 16, Cygnus Alpha on pp. 77-79, Redemption con ad on p. 112.) |
| 73 | (Jan. '01--Con ad on p. 112. Sometimes that's all SFX has concerning B7.) |
| 74 | (Feb. '01--Picture of Thomas on p. 4 and article with same picture about Doctor Who CD on p. 16. Also, pp. 110, 111, and a related article on p. 97.) |
| 75 | (March '01--Couch Potato on Stardrive on p. 52. Also pp. 11 & 104.) |
| 76 | (Pp. 12 and 52. GT's "Storm Warning" on 91 and 99.) |
| 80 | (July--Asks for people to name favorite episodes in 18 shows including B7 on p. 24. Gan's death only (small photo) mentioned on p. 39 in list of Sci-Fi Deaths. ) |
| 88 | (March 2002-p. 3, 38 & 39 (group photo), 42 (list) & 45. Readers Poll of 10 best episodes of B7 is one of 18 shows done. First season cast & Travis are in group photo. Top 3 shows are 1. Blake; 2, Star One; and 3, Terminal.) |
| 100 | (Jan. 2003-Avon makes greatest character list on p. 54, 55 and Servalan makes list on pp. 48,49 & 52. Con ads on 142. Avon is 12 and Servalan is 69 in top 100.) |
| 128 | Review of season 2 DVDs - See coments below |
| SFX COLLECTOR'S EDITION | The Best Sci-Fi & Fantasy in the World Ever! (mid 2001--This came out after issue 78 (May). Came with an SFX card game --Sci Fi Trumps--and Avon is one of the cards. B7 gets mentioned in various places such as # 3 in best final episode: "Blake," p. 24; #2 in characters who shouldn't have died: Blake, p. 108; and other mentions on pp. 38 (3 times), 88, 89, and 109.) |
| Deep Space Special | (early 2002-p. 12 Liberator with photo is one of 11 ships in Shatship gallery, p. 22 B7 is one of 11 series briefly mentioned on pp. 22-23 & B7 is rated a 7. The only two 8's are Babylon 5 and Red Dwarf.) |
| SFX Collection # 22 | Best of British. I think it came out Summer 2005, and in it they rate the top 50 UK Sci-Fi and Fantasy shows. Blake's 7 came in # 4 and Children of the Stones came in # 38. Pages relevant to either are 5, 14 (COS), 50-51 (B7), 64, 66-69 (COS), 89, 116, 117, and the back cover. Other series that Paul Darrow and/or Gareth Thomas have been in were also mentioned such as the 2000 version of Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased), Dr. Who, Shadows, Hammer House of Horror, Knights of God (p. 122), Space Cadets and The Strangerers. |
SFX issues with barely any B7 are 1, 15, 18, *27, 28, 30, 31, 32, 33, 35, 40 (Video Vol. 5 reviewed , has photo), 43, 47, 48 (Vol. 12 & 13), 51 (Vol. 17), 54, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 66 and 72. *The issue originally came came with a brochure insert for CULT TV. There was a one page ad about a contest to win an actual Tarrant costume by making a copy of a B7 prop. This is the only B7 in 27, and I doubt 27's today would have the insert included. [I didn't note any B7 in issues 62-5, although there were surely con ads, such as Redemption, in the back since every issue lists con ads. If this is an error, let me know. All issue 67 had was con ads.]
The review by Ian Berriman is basically good. He pans the extras, yet gives them four out of five stars. The series itself he gives only 3 and a half stars to. Ironically he likes season two better than season one because Terry Nation doesn't write it all. He only writes three episodes--not all thirteen.
I say ironically because the SAME issue of SFX includes an extra magazine listing the "Masters of the Uiniverse. The top 50 greatest SF pioneers ever! They Shaped science fiction as we know it!" And in this booklet which is 32 pages long they list B7 creator Terry Nation as number 8. He gets an entire page ( p. 22) which includes his picture, a big picture of the Daleks, and a smaller picture of Avon and Vila. The paragraph devoted to B7 in this addition to the main magazine says:
Proving he was much more than a one-trick pony, Nation went on to devise a whole BBC series of his own in Blake's 7 (1978-1981). Popped from the Star Trek mould, with an added dash of political intrigue, it perhaps held little influence on shows that followed but brightened many a childhood and is recalled via rose-tinted memories."
[My goodness, whoever wrote this? Hasn't this person seen Babylon 5, Farscape, and Andromeda--three recent to fairly recent shows I personally see B7 influences in? But back to what the magazine says.]
Of "The top 50 Greatest SF pioneers," number 1 is George Lucas, number 31 is JM Straczynski, and number 50 is Mary Shelley.
[ I do recommend you try to buy a back issue of SFX 128 because this booklet is interesting.]
Getting back to the review, Berriman much prefers writers Robert Holmes and Chris Boucher over Terry Nation. He even picks "Voice from the Past" as a good script, a show that some fans consider one of the weaker episodes of season 2. He really likes Avon and Paul Darrow's acting and says it's the best reason to watch the show. [Of course, I disagree with that.] Because he likes Avon, that must be why Avon has his own special little section in the review with his photo.
In general, he does say something that I think most B7 fans will agree with. "As ever, what makes Blake's 7 watchable are the characters, and the relationships between them. [ Shouldn't that be among them? At least, it is in American usage.] Betrayal is always a possibility, and often discussed. And these heroes are not your average heroes; even Blake has shades of grey."
Last updated on 02nd of October 2005.