Sky One has provocatively given the go-ahead for the development of two 60-minute scripts which could see the return to the small screen of cult TV classic Blake's 7, the BBC reports.

Blake's 7 ran from 1978 to 1981 on the Beeb, and is best remembered among chaps of a certain age for the presence of Jacqueline Pearce as the deliciously villainous Servalan*, who alongside Paul Darrow as Avon and Gareth Thomas as Blake, battled gamely against wobbly sets and decidedly low-tech special effects.

While Sky's announcement doesn't guarantee that a new generation of viewers will enjoy a revamped Blake's 7, Elaine Pyke, commissioning editor for drama at Sky One, Two and Three, said: "The time is ripe for a revival of a show that represents the best traditions of the genre, not to mention one of the best-loved and most successful dramas of all time."

Sky is working with Blake's 7 Productions, "a subsidiary of Blake's 7 Media who owns the licence to the show" on the development. If and when the Liberator will relaunch remains to be seen. ®

Bootnote

*Servalan's costumes attracted a certain amount of attention, as Pearce recounted to Cult TV: "I did get a letter from a man who asked whether I’d go around one night and chastise him, but would I not go before 10pm, because his mother didn’t go to bed until 9.30. But I went and she slept through it."

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