All-new audio dramas to air on BBC Radio 7

LONDON, May 19, 2010: Based on Terry Nation’s seminal 70s science fiction TV series, the popular BLAKE’S 7 audio series returns to BBC Radio 7 for a series of prequel adventures stripped over five nights from 31 May at 18:30.

BLAKE’S 7: THE EARLY YEARS is a thrilling new prequel series of audio stories that explores the origins of key BLAKE’S 7 characters before they met rebel leader Roj Blake, taking you back to where the seeds of rebellion against the Federation really began.

These re-imagined BLAKE’S 7 audio adventures, described by news-stand magazine SciFiNow as “… a bold and revitalising addition to the Blake’s 7 story” and by SFFAudio.com as “morally complex, deeply noir”, are independently produced and financed by B7 Productions.

The audio dramas feature well-known names including COLIN SALMON (Doctor Who), KEELEY HAWES (Ashes to Ashes), BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH (Hawking), GEOFFREY PALMER (As Time Goes By), MICHAEL COCHRANE (Sharpe) and ALISTAIR LOCK as Zen.

30 years since the dramatic and shocking finale of the original series, MICHAEL KEATING reprises his most famous role as the cowardly thief Vila and JAN CHAPPELL as the mysterious alien telepath Cally.

The confirmed BBC Radio 7 TX dates are;

• Eye of The Machine – Monday 31st May at 18:30
• Blood and Earth – Tuesday 1st June at 18:30
• The Dust Run – Wednesday 2nd June at 18:30
• The Trial – Thursday 3rd June at 18:30
• When Vila Met Gan – Friday 4th June at 18:30

Executive Producer, Andrew Mark Sewell says of the return of BLAKE’S 7 to BBC Radio 7: “With an ever-growing fan base, we believe that the Blake’s 7 audio adventures represent some of best independent audio drama currently being produced. It’s great that an even wider audience will get to discover the new Blake’s 7 universe on Radio 7.”

BBC7 Programme Details:

BLAKE’S 7: EYE OF THE MACHINE (BBC Radio 7 tx 31 May 18:30)

Written by Ben Aaronovitch | Directed by Andrew Mark Sewell
Featuring Colin Salmon, Keeley Hawes and Geoffrey Palmer

Oxford University. It is the Freedom Spring of 2230 and the campus is a hotbed of student protest as Roj Blake’s Freedom Party seeks to sweep away a century of corrupt rule. Kerr Avon (Colin Salmon), a young man from the frontier, brilliant, ambitious and naïve, has arrived to make his mark on the future. Avon is here to work with Professor Ensor (Geoffrey Palmer), the Federation’s most brilliant cyberneticist. Avon has no intention of getting involved in politics – he may be naïve but he isn’t stupid – and then he meets Anna Grant (Keeley Hawes), activist and girl about town, and all bets are off!

BLAKE’S 7: BLOOD & EARTH (BBC Radio 7 tx 1 June 18:30)

Written by Ben Aaronovitch | Directed by Dominic Devine
Featuring Amy Humphreys, Julian Wadham and Jan Chappell

Auron is a world of clones, where everyone is buoyed by the constant murmur of telepathic support, gossip and opinions. When Ariane Cally’s (Amy Humphreys) plane crashes in the middle of a wilderness park she finds herself cut off not only from rescue, but the voices that have sustained her all her life. Her only hope is the mysterious Aunty (Jan Chappell), the single voice she can still hear, a woman who claims to have been the second Cally ever to be born on Auron. From Aunty she will learn the true and secret history of her people, but only if the wilderness doesn’t kill her first.

BLAKE’S 7: THE DUST RUN (BBC Radio 7 tx 2 June 18:30)

Written by Simon Guerrier | Directed by Alistair Lock
Featuring Carrie Dobro and Benedict Cumberbatch

Jenna Stannis (Carrie Dobro) has grown up as a spacer, where the normal rules don’t apply. No school, no police, no public imperatives – that’s still all to come. But the situation on Earth is changing and the effects are slowly being felt throughout the Vega system. It’s going to mean trouble for brash boy Townsend (Benedict Cumberbatch) – who Jenna doesn’t fancy at all. Soon Jenna and Townsend are competing in the Dust Run – racing shuttles through an asteroid field without using computers, making the complex calculations in their heads. It’s dangerous, fool-hardy and really good fun. But they’re playing for the highest of stakes…

BLAKE’S 7: THE TRIAL (BBC Radio 7 tx 3 June 18:30)

Written by Simon Guerrier | Directed by Alistair Lock
Featuring Carrie Dobro, Benedict Cumberbatch and Stephen Lord

The election is going to change everything. A man called Roj Blake promises the voters new hope, an end to years of corruption. There are those who can’t let him be heard. But Jenna Stannis (Carrie Dobro) is determined to get his message out to the colonies. It’s been years since the Dust Run, and Jenna’s a changed woman. She’s left the Vega system far behind, using her exceptional piloting skills to carve out a life as a smuggler. Blake’s message could earn her a fortune – or cost her, her life.

BLAKE’S 7: THE VILA MET GAN (BBC Radio 7 tx 4 June 18:30)

Written by Ben Aaronovitch | Directed by Andrew Mark Sewell
Featuring Michael Keating and Owen Aaronovitch

Earth. 2230 AD. A time of social and political turmoil… Olag Gan wants to marry the woman of his dreams. Vila Restal wants to steal anything that isn’t nailed down. When they form a partnership, a perfect combination of strength and skill, it seems that nothing stands between them and the easy life. But fate hates to give a sucker an even break and the course of true love never did run smooth.

– ends –