The TV Zone website mentions the article and hopefully the following url will work for you. I believe this is only an excerpt. A UK fan who bought the magazine in October said the article runs 9 pages and has nothing new that a B7 fan wouldn't already know. But I am still happy that I will be getting a copy of this because I like for B7 to get PR, and I also enjoy reading articles about B7 even if there is nothing new in them.
TV ZONE 125, April 200, has a great summary of "Gambit" on pp. 60-64 and the index of B7 that has been in past TV ZONES on p. 65. I think TVZ has probably covered B7 better than any other magazine.
The main B7 issues (and this is arguable) are 5, 9, 14, 18, 21, 27, 28, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 58, 63, 64, 90, 125 and 156. The SPECIALS that are good for B7 are 4, 5, 27, and 30.
| Issue | Contents |
|---|---|
| 4 | (Overview of B7.) |
| 5 | (Avon: A Terrible Aspect & The Way Back.) |
| 9 | (Paul Darrow; Children of the Stones [pictures of Gareth Thomas], part 1) |
| 10 | (Continuation of COS--Of interest only to Thomas fans.) |
| 12 | (p. 2, p. 15 has a competition to win Avon's jacket.) |
| 13 | (Redemption pp. 24-27. Cover mention and pp. 2, 4, 7, 21. Has three color pictures of Blake.) |
| 14 | (Travis 2/Brian Croucher; June Hudson/costume designer--I love June's photo of PD & GT & Michael Keating & David Jackson all holding hands. It's my favorite B7 photo. Croucher is reprinted in TVZ SPECIAL 9--one of the rare reprints TVZ ever did. ) |
| 15 | ( Video reviews of episodes 1-8. VR = video reviews hereafter.) |
| 17 | (VR of eps. 9-12) |
| 18 | (Chris Boucher/writer pp. 2, 20-23; VR of eps. 13-16 p. 28) |
| 19 | (Technical Manual; Peter Tuddenham) |
| 21 | (Jacqueline Pearce; VR of eps. 17-20 ) |
| 23 | (Power; VR of eps. 21-24) |
| 24 | (Peter Miles/guest actor on B7) |
| 25 | (VR of eps. 25-28) |
| 27 | (Vila is the color cover--Michael Keating pp. 16-19.) |
| 28 | (Steven Pacey pp. 16-19, VR of eps. 29-32 p. 14. Other pages are 5 & |
| 22. | COS pp. 14-15.) |
| 30 | (Travis 1/ Stephen Greif pp. 2, 12-14; VR of eps. 33-36 p. 22. Also, p. 15.) |
| 31 | (Sheelagh Wells/make-up pp. 20-22. Terry Nation is interviewed, but it's all Survivors. ) |
| 32 | (David Jackson pp. 28-30; VR of ep. 37-40 pp. 20-21.) |
| 33 | (Terry Nation/creator) |
| 34 | (Terry Nation continued; VR of eps. 41-44) |
| 36 | ( VR of eps. 45-48) |
| 38 | (VR of eps. 49-52) |
| 43 | (David Maloney/producer pp. 15-17.) |
| 44 | (Mary Ridge/director) |
| 45 | (Mary Ridge continued. I am assuming that this one has more B7 in it. I don't remember.) |
| 53 | (4/94--Pennant Roberts/ director) |
| 54 | (a Darrow small Doctor Who "Timelash" picture on p. 23.) |
| 58 | (Vila, Cally & Avon are the color cover--Jan Chappell pp. 8-11. Other B7 on p. 4 & 5.) |
| 63 | (Short B7 season 1 B&W ep. guide (2 pages B&W); Programme Guide; COS on pp. 43-4.) |
| 64 | (Short B7 B&W season 2 B&W ep. guide pp. 18-19.) |
| 69 | (Allan Prior/ writer ) |
| 70 | (1 p. on the B7 Reunion with nice pictures. Very nice. ; Making of Blake's 7 by Rigelsford) |
| 71 | (Small picture GT on p. 3. GT is pointing at his photo in TVZ 70. ) |
| 90 | (Terry Nation tribute pp. 8; B7: The Inside Story by Wells & Nazzaro) |
| 99 | ( 2/98--Sarcophagus pp. 50-53; The Sevenfold Crown pp. 12-13. Also, p. 7.) |
| 109 | (Only brief B7 bits on 9,13,15; Vere Lorrimer pp. 56-7) |
| 115 | (Review of The Syndeton Experiment--I haven't seen this. Assume this is short.) |
| 125 | (April 2000--pp. 3,4 & 11 misc; Gambit pp. 60-64; index of B7 p. 65.) |
| 146 | ( I believe date is Jan. 2002. Very nice article written by Andrew Pixley about "Killer" on pages 42-46. Lots of pictures. Recommended.) |
| 156 | (cover mention and nine pages with photos on B7 on pp. 48-56. In honor of the upcoming 25th anniversary in 2003. Also, pp. 3, 56, 78 & 82. Children of Stones on p. 31. Mention in mag. ads on pp. 63, 63 & 65.) |
| 163 | (Article on pages 18-19. Also came in number 11 on top 100 cult tv shows, just missing out on the top ten, p. 27. In ads on pp. 64,72 & 77.) TV ZONE SPECIALS TV Zone Villain Special [ number unknown] (2002-Servalan was rated # 3. No other details known.) |
| Issue | Contents |
|---|---|
| 2 | (8/91--Jim Francis/Special Effects) |
| 4 | (3/92--Super Heroes Issue--B7 overview & Blake/Thomas pp. 2, 12-14. Recommend.) |
| 5 | (The 70's--Sally Knyvette pp. 38-40; A3 poster of Servalan pp. 28-29; COS pp. 34-5; Misc. 45 & 46.) |
| 8 | (3/93--The 80's--Gold; Vere Lorrimer/director) |
| 9 | (Supervillains--Travis 2/Brian Croucher which is a reprint from TVZ 14.) |
| 14 | (Submerged--Orac ) |
| 18 | (Psi-Fi Special --Fiona Cumming/director; Thomas's The Mentors pilot. ) |
| 27 | (Yearbook 97-98--Terry Nation remembered & general B7 pp. 8, 10-11.) |
| 30 | (Babylon 5 issue --- B7 series 3 & 4 color episode guide. This is nice. If you want to collect all 4 seasons, regular issues 63 & 64 have B&W guides for series 1 and 2.) |
| Unknown | TV Zone Villain Special 2002-Servalan was rated # 3. |
| 53 | See Below for long decription |
TV ZONE SPECIAL 28 & 31 had a little B7 in them.
The article is BY Paul Darrow himself and talks about the proposed B7 TV movie so when this was written and when this was published I have no clue. I am only assuming that it came out in October because I just received it today on Halloween from a friend.
On page 5, we have the table of contents and the blurb is
94 --- Blake's 7
There's another classic British show on the way back...star Paul Darrow tells us about his plans for the return of Blake's 7.
The article is called "Federation Beware!" and goes from page 94 through 97. Paul Darrow writes the main article which covers parts of three pages. The first page of the four is devoted to a full color picture of Avon back somehwere about 1980-1981.
There are three inset articles and I am under the impression that Darrow also wrote these, but it is not a certainty.
There are other pictures with the article. We have Avon at GP, Avon and the Scorpio crew, Blake and the first-second season crew, another picture of Avon, and then two misc. graphics.
First I will talk about the three inset articles:
One is called "Paul Darrow on Avon." There was definitely one strange comment in this brief article: "Even when the true bad guys were introduced, Avon remained the greatest threat to Blake's status quo." Exactly what that is supposed to mean is beyond me. Darrow seems to think that the character of Avon is one that has yet to be matched anywhere in science fiction.
A second inset is called "Blakeless." If Darrow wrote this, he dismisses Blake as a "MERE catalyst." Well, in my opinion, Blake was not a MERE anything. But enough of me. That is not the point. Darrow is saying basically that Avon is the real point of Blake's 7, a highly arguable opinion to which he is however entitled. He ends by saying, "Terry Nation was an original who created an original [ he means Avon] and should be remembered for the affection and admiration he deserves.
"If I'm wrong ...
"When was Avon ever wrong?"
The third inset is called "Future Horizons." Frankly this inset doesn't sound like Darrow at all--and I doubt he wrote it. It is mainly talking about Producer Andrew Sewell and quoting him. I don't feel liked typing this up (my arthritic fingers are really hurting) so I really do recommend you all buy TV Zone Special # 53 and read it yourself. If there is anyone who desperately wants to read this inset and cannot buy the magazine, contact me privately and I will try to type it up for you. One thing that he, Sewell, does say is this:
"Blake's 7 will do what all eminent SF does--examine the world we live in today by setting similar conflicts and problems in the future. Essentially, the series will be focused on tight drama, good characterization, and witty and entertaining scripts, which today's more discerning TV public requires--and indeed demands!"
Is it just me or was he slamming the old writers of B7? And is it just me again, or was this REALLY what the old B7 was all about? I frankly can't think of this definition of B7 coming out of Terry Nation's mouth, to be truthful.
Now to the main article by Darrow which is called "Federation Beware!" Darrow takes a long time to come to his point which is that Terry Nation is a genius and produced a great series in Blake's 7 in 1978. He also manages to dismiss Blake as not important and concentrate on Avon--his opinion being that Avon is Terry Nation's greatest character invention and that Avon is the whole backbone of Blake's 7. (For once, I'll just shut up. But you know I don't agree.)
BUT considering that this article was written before October 9, 2003, when Darrow with great regret dropped out of this project, I wonder what he would say now if asked by TV Zone to write another article. I definitely would LOVE to read that one.
Last updated on 30th of December 2003.