Way back in 1981 millions of tv viewers were shocked by the final scene of Blake’s 7 (seen here in dodgy VCR copy).
Three decades later we finally find out what happened next!
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lucifer-Blakes-7-Paul-Darrow/dp/1781780463/
Written by Paul Darrow, who played Avon and set 20 years after the final scene, some professional reviewers didn’t like this book but it has 4.5/5 stars on Amazon from customer reviews and I think that’s deserved. I loved this show. No not for the scientific accuracy – it never scored highly on that and neither does the book but who cares – Avon and Servalan are in it!
And fans of the series should also check out the Audio Play Warship which reunites the original cast. Warship’s author is Peter Angelhides who was a contemporary of Craig Murray’s at Dundee University.
In this reunion photograph Jacqueline Pearce (Servalan) was recovering from cancer treatment thus the lack of hair even by Servalan standards.
“Servalan” was my nickname for our deputy headmistress at my secondary school. Always done up in her stilettos, make-up and jewellery, she stalked the corridors looking for girls wearing make-up, jewellery or heels that exceeded the school’s rules. I don’t think I ever saw her smile.
What was that exchange? Something like:
“Give me your gun.”
“But I’ve only got one!”
“I only need one.”
Another exchange. A guard stands by a door that opens to his hand-print. Avon (I think) points a gun at him, and says “open the door”. The guard hesitates, so Avon says “we only need the hand”. A lesson there for all those authorities currently advocating finger-print readers.
Avon never did appreciate Orac.
A major sci-fi buff completely dismissed my memory of this. Kindly help me out here.
Avon is kind of secretive about where he’s going.
In the final, final scene of Blake’s-7. Avon is being hopelessly outnumbered, and realises that Blake did not betray him – but only after he’s fired those dying whirr-whirr sounding shots into his mid-riff. He asked Blake incredulously, just before he fires, “You would betray us?” … then… “You betrayed _me_ ?”
Again, all going from memory here – only saw it once, and I was a small kid at the time.
Before Avon raised his gun to fire a shot – while surrounded by Federation guards – which triggered a storm of fire in response – he stood astride Blake’s body, after he’d grasped Avon before falling.
Do I recall correctly that Servalan appeared on the scene at the end, walking in off-stage left?
Glenn,
In the book Lucifer, a reason is given over and above the suspected betrayal of Blake’s former group, for Avon killing Blake. The final episode does have some support for this if you watch it again.
Servalan infamously does not appear in the final episode – yes you would have expected her to walk on in the final scene as you describe but that didn’t happen. Loopholes were left in the episode to support a continuation.
Clark,
I think Avon certainly valued Orac even if he didn’t necessarily like “him”. In Lucifer once the remnants of the Federation discover that Avon is still alive twenty years later, Servalan (officially still under house-arrest on a luxury planet) realises that means that Orac might be functional somewhere as well – and Servalan always knew the value of Orac. I can’t say if Orac survived as that would be a spoiler 🙂
Hi all,
Just followed a link from CM then found the Asteroids game. Brilliant fun and appropriate to the topic of this page. The hours I’ve wasted on the original game. Thanks for the memories, Squonk.
Out of interest, I disintegrated almost every word and graphic on the page including widgets and banner. Only “Leave A Reply” proved invulnerable to my super mega death ray. Why?
Indestructible font?
And coming up
LUCIFER: REVELATION
http://www.bigfinish.com/releases/v/lucifer-revelation—book-and-ebook-889
A Chinese empress, head of a formidable space fleet, and keeper of dark secrets…
A beautiful killer, known as ‘the Huntress’, on a deadly mission fuelled by money and revenge…
A figure from the past, still fighting the system, and desperate for help…
Avon is back, and there’s trouble brewing! Look out for old friends, new enemies and startling revelations in the second part of Paul Darrow’s epic trilogy, Lucifer: Revelation, telling the story of Avon’s life in the far future, beyond the events of the TV episodes.
Many years have passed since the death of his companions on Gauda Prime, but Avon is still very much on the minds – and a thorn in the sides – of those in power. On the run in a stolen spaceship, Avon has world leaders, warlords, aliens, bandits and hitmen on his trail, all hoping to seize control of the super computer Orac, and to be rid of Avon once and for all.
But those who underestimate Avon do so at their own peril.