What have you retained of the original series stories?

We've retained a surprising amount of the original stories but retold in a new way and of course adapted for audio which is quite a different media from television.

Are there dramatic changes in the way the characters are realised? Will we for instance recognise the characters if we're old fans, or will we be surprised - is Vila still comic relief, Avon still a cold calculating bastard?

The characters should be instantly recognisable to fans of the original series, especially Vila and Avon. But what we've tried to do is bring some depth to those characters that were less well drawn in the original - specifically Jenna and Gan.

What are the challenges of working on audio versus television?

The principle challenge is depicting action without having a character say, for example, 'My god he was shot in the shoulder and spun round to the left where he smashed into the console and activated the self destruct.'

What do you think will get people excited about these audio adventures?

The stupendously action packed, character driven drama filled total brilliance of them! Our aim is to produce something so compelling that people end up listening to it at 3 am in the morning because they want to hear one more segment (the stories are split) into short segments - before they sleep.

What's the best thing about writing for Blake's 7?

The characters are brilliant.

How does writing for Blake's 7 compare to writing for Doctor Who?
Blake's 7 is much more an ensemble piece so you have to make sure all the characters are getting their moments and pulling their weight.

How did you get involved with the project?

I met Andrew Sewell at a production of one of Andrew Cartmel's plays and he said he had acquired the rights to Blake 7 and I asked who I had to kill in order to work on the show.

What are you working on now?

That would be telling…

And with this Ben scuttled back to his word processor under the watchful eye of the audio's producer. We didn't let Ben off that easily though - and we'll bring you in-depth audio interviews with him and cast and crew from the recording sessions very soon.