Blakes7 May 2001

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84 participants
897 discussions

Re: [B7L] Re: This is *my* ship ...
by Pherber＠aol.com 04 May '01

04 May '01

In a message dated 5/3/01 9:01:58 AM Mountain Daylight Time, dshilling(a)worldnet.att.net writes: > +INFORMATION At 0347 hours ship time we passed #2 on the Top > Ten Bolthole list, at which point Avon picked up the suitcases with the > leather gear and the contents of the Treasure Room and had me teleport > him down. He says, "So long, suckers."+ <chortle> But he'd have such a hard time finding anyone as talented as Blake to argue with, and (IMHO) Avon *needs* somebody stimulating to argue with almost as much as he needs to breathe. Nina

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Review of 'ttba'
by Una McCormack 04 May '01

04 May '01

This review should have been finished and posted about a month ago; anyway, it's here now. Una ----------------------------------------- 'ttba' was a pleasure to proof, and now it's a joy to read. Tavia's aim was to create a zine which was, as the title of the editorial suggests, 'Conceptually Alien': which consisted of fiction chosen on the grounds of quality rather than according to any commonly accepted fan divide. In this aim she has been singularly successful. This is a zine for people who discriminate on nothing other than quality. The layout of 'ttba' is clean, crisp and professional, with attractive and consistent styling. The artwork is of a high quality; as well as Val Westall's lovely cover, Firerose demonstrates that she is a talented artist as well as writer, and Penny Dreadful supplies some terrific stylish pictures of, well, I'll let you guess. The proofing is damn near perfect, by God, but the £2 challenge for 'first typo spotted' has already been won by yours truly (and there was much and loud swearing on the 17:45 King's Cross to King's Lynn service, to the consternation of East Anglia's commuter community). An honourable mention to Harriet Monkhouse, who spotted it about twelve hours later. On to the fiction. Prize for most stories goes to Belatrix Carter, who contributes seven stories, which originally appeared as part of the 'Seven Deadly Virtues' challenge on Freedom City. Belatrix has written seven wicked little homilies on the dangers of good behaviour, ranging from the tongue-in-cheek ('Diligence') to moving ('Fidelity'). An excellent and well-crafted response to the challenge. Executrix comes close to matching this number of stories, with four dispatches from her unique Avoniad. Her story 'Purple Haze' first appeared on Freedom City, and perhaps people remember my adoration of this story from then. Executrix's translation of real life events (the Kent State University shootings) into the B7 universe neither undermines those terrible, actual events, nor weakens the im pact of their fictional counterpart. Turning the famous photo of the young student berating the heavens over the body of her dead friend into an image of Inga and the source of Blake's politicization is only one of a number of masterstrokes in this story. This is a superb piece of politically critical fiction; it could only exist as fanfiction, and is all the better for it. Anyone claiming that fanfiction cannot be as good as profiction should be forced to read this story until they understand the point. Executrix's appearance as a B7 writer has been a real pleasure. She has her own unique take, some of which I don't see (Avon a queer Catholic?) but her stories and vision are executed with such style and intelligence that, frankly, who cares that it doesn't match my own view? Fanfiction is all about interpretation, and it's easily as interesting to read other people's as to construct one's own. When I read Executrix's Avon, drawn here at various stages of his life in three other stories ('Not Our Kind, Darling', 'Of All the Gin Joints' and 'Take My Breath Away'), I care about him and the other characters she draws because they are substantial and believable, and her take on the B7 universe is so finely detailed. Executrix is very close to being elevated into my personal pantheon of B7 writers (about which more below); I suspect it is only because I am so badly read that I don't appreciate half of what is going on in her stories that means she hasn't. Executrix is a much better writer than I am reader. It has been great to see queer readings of B7 emerge recently and, along with Executrix, Ika has been at the forefront of this. Ika claims that her obituary of Roj Blake was purely written as a way of coping with having watched 'Blake', but it's much more than simply a fannish desire to salvage a happy ending. It's a celebration of the characters and the programme, and it damn near persuades me that Blake and Avon could have been happy together. Ika contributes three other stories to the zine and, of these, my favourite has to be 'Awake And Find No', which made me cry. So much B7 fiction is orientated towards the male characters and their experiences, their losses and their grief. Ika's story has one of the best portrayals of Servalan I have seen. It's also clever in its themes of how technology can support and construct femininity, and it draws a detailed and convincing picture of the Federation under Servalan's Presidency. Of the other short stories, my particular favourites are, of course, the sadder ones. Jenner's 'Nightmare' is a cool dissection of the cruelties of desire. Airan Wilkinson's 'Before the Fall...' remembers those that have been forgotten. Hafren's 'Fetch' is a delicate and chilling ghost story, which imperceptibly grips its hands around your throat. Then there are the longer stories. Firerose's 'Ash Wednesday' is a most skillfully executed blending of fantasy and science-fiction reminiscent of Ursula Le Guin, and also an excellent study of the psychology of despair. Susan Cutter's 'Privilege' crept up on me unexpectedly. Proofing it was an upsetting experience; rereading it with the luxury of sufficient time to pay proper attention, I was left impressed by the story's treatment of class - but still disturbed by its central scenes. Powerful stuff. 'Benediction' by Morrigan is a beautifully paced evocation of the Gauda Prime Blake, and a convincing exploration of how the idealist of 'Star One' could have become the hardened man we see in 'Blake'. And there's a funny little story in which the author is pompous enough to think she can pull off retelling 'Julius Caesar' as B7. These fans - they're scamps. There are also some fan authors who take the source material and from it produce something first class that is uniquely inventive yet profoundly evocative of the series, and of a standard that should make professional writers weep: I'm thinking here of Alison Page, Loulou Harris and Nickey Barnard. And now there's a fourth. Penny Dreadful's story 'The Killer of Dole Nu Lin' is, quite simply, one of the best B7 stories ever written. It is a story of the resilience of humanity, and its emergence in unexpected places; it exploits canon yet is scrupulously attentive to its detail; it is pure B7, yet something absolutely novel from a gifted writer. This is the kind of story that you wait years to read. Only 'Blake's 7' could allow a fanwriter the space to write a story like this; it is putting aside simplistic divides and concentrating on creating bloody good fiction that allows such writing to emerge. Penny has done the fandom proud in writing this story; Tavia is to be commended for creating a zine in which this story stands as the epitome of her aims. It's twenty-three years since 'Blake's 7' was first transmitted. It's almost twenty years since I first read a piece of fanfiction. Since then I've spent a large chunk of my life and my grant cheques on fanfic and profic from many different series, always chasing that elusive good read. For imagination, consistency, and sheer bloody quality 'Blake's 7' fanfiction has no comparison. Neil Faulkner and Judith Proctor have set the standard over the past few years, and now I'm delighted that a third editor has come along who insists that with fiction, what matters most is that it is *good*. Congratulations to Tavia on a superb achievement, and here's to 'ttba 2'. Una McCormack, May 2001

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Re: [B7L] Chris Boucher
by Jenny Kaye 04 May '01

04 May '01

> >Neil Faulkner said: > >Let's go back to what Judith originally said: > >"Chris Boucher just asked me to pass on that he'll be selling various items > >via e-bay in the near future. I don't know what items he has in mind, though I > >imagine it's probably his remaining copies of scripts from various shows. " > >So I think Judith's PS was perfectly justified, But you *haven't* included her PS have you? You've snipped it. and didn't warrant the > >sarcastic response it got. This is what the rest of her email did say: "Anyway, he says he'll be putting something up every ten days or so. Judith PS. For those who don't know, Chris was the script editor on Blake's 7 and also wrote many of my favourite episodes, such as Rumours of Death." Reading it back again, I still think it's funny. Because the PS reads very much like an afterthought. The same kind of information could have been put over in a much simpler way, for example: "Blake's 7 script editor and story writer Chris Boucher is going to be selling some original scripts from the series on ebay." But instead Judith only tells us who he is in the PS. And then does it (to my mind) in quite a comic way. She tells us that he was script editor, she tells us her wrote many of her favourite episodes, (which, unless you know Judith, isn't telling you anything at all!) and then, apparently realising this, she tells us he wrote Rumours of Death. Which is not the episode on ebay anyway. (I apologise to Judith for dissecting her letter in this minute way. I mean no disrespect, and not wanting to put her on the spot is why I did not answer Neil's original post.) I thought my reply was funny. Others commented both on and off lyst that they thought it was funny too. And then about a week after the event, I get attacked for it. You made your point in an earlier email. I read it. I did not answer, for reasons I have stated above. Then Julia Jones (for her own, apparently personal, reasons) decided to make an issue of it. Now you're repeating your statement again. Jenny _________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com.

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This is *my* ship ...
by Sally Manton 04 May '01

04 May '01

After I wrote: <It appears that he hasn't given any thought to this, and once he's got it, he - and the rest - muddle around for half a season almost *looking* for something to do with it (IMO).> Dana riposted: <Well, Blake muddled around for two seasons looking for things to do with it, so there.> Now play fair <g>. Blake did too know what he wanted to use it for - One might or might not agree with the uses he chose (sometimes one has to wonder about Our Heroes) but at least he *did* have ideas, and very strong ones, on the subject. Avon's ideas (till he came up with the Shrinker business) seem restricted to looking for Fearless Leader and bits of rock (in that order). Perhaps he did expect to be able (if Blake was on Earth running the rebellion) to still be involved in that (on a strictly avaricious basis, of course, making Blake quite literally pay), but then there's that rather loud "I want to be free of HIM," to be factored into his thinking. And Harriet wrote: <Judging by Horizon, he's thinking of "sailing the universe for as long as we like in reasonable safety, provided we keep out of everybody's way and we do not do anything rash." So, keeping safe.> A bit of a non sequitor, but does anyone else get the feeling in that scene that, what with all those questions (including at least one he knows the answer to and others he could surely work out for himself) Avon's trying to *get Orac to make the decision for him*? I almost feel sorry for the poor confused rat-in-a-box ... _________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com.

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Travis sighting
by Harriet Monkhouse 04 May '01

04 May '01

Flicking through the telephone guide for the England and Wales Cricket Board, I notice that the National Disabilities Development Officer is a Mr Travis... -- Jarriet "There is a place for all at the rendezvous of victory." - Aime Cesaire

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Re: [B7L] Fans everywhere
by Anna Carkeet 04 May '01

04 May '01

i met a b7 fan in a much stranger way. me and my sisters adore horses and have 12, and we nicknamed them after members of the b7 crew, for example the one that hates the others and is a loner is avon, this young crazy foal we have who loves kicking the others is dayna etc. zoe and i were out riding and we met this horse with one eye (it had been surgically removed or something) and we jokingly named him travis. we visited him for many months and one day we were in his paddock talking to him when his owner came down. and said hi, and we talked for a while and the lady said something like, 'travis loves company' for a minute it didn't register and i said 'do you mean travis is his name?' and she laughed and said 'it's a charactor from some show who doesn't have an eye... blakes 7!!!' suddenly zoe and i started going nuts and we were all talking over each other about the show!! it was really cool because no one we know has heard of the show!!! it was pretty amazing coincidence i thought. Anna >Down the pub the other night chatting about work and I mentioned something >about one of the computers playing up (the computers on my networks are >named after B7 characters). The friend I was with asked which one and I >told her 'Vila' at which the guy next to me at bar pipes up "Oh is that >Vila as in 'I should really introduce him now, he's at his best when he's >unconscious.'" > >I nearly bounced off my seat, usually people look at me blankly when I >mention B7 or summon up some memory of 'some old Sci-FI program' > >Leia _________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com.

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Re: [B7L] Fans everywhere
by Tavia 04 May '01

04 May '01

Julia wrote: >So I explained to the sales rep why I wanted to go that >particular Thursday or Monday, and imagine my surprise >when I get what I eventually classified as "standard >semi-mundane male reaction on mention of B7"... In the course of printing ttba, two different laser-printer technicians visited my office, both male, both approx 40. Both commented on the picture of Jenna, of all things.......... Tavia

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Amstrad disks
by Andrew Williams 04 May '01

04 May '01

Neil wrote: >But PCWs used their own weird 3" disk format so I can't salvage it for >posterity. Pity, eh? I'm sure there must be a way. The emulation scene for Amstrad machines exists, so there must be some bits of kit around that they are using to copy their old disks as disk images on newer machines (PC, etc). There used to be a floppy drive called a Catweasel that could read different floppies from different machines, once installed in your PC. Otherwise you would need some kind of transfer cable (I'm sure you could find the plans on the net), a transfer program (which are bound to be free or shareware) and a new Amstrad/drive, which I imagine could be picked up from some kind of jumble sale or car boot market relatively cheaply. To drag it back to B7...er...um...how about, if Orac could take over the Liberator and do things to the DSV sister ship, does this imply that the System had the equivalent of the tariel cell, and if so, does that imply that the tariel cell is a necessary development to achieve computing power of a certain sophistication? (It doesn't really gel, but I don't think they'll notice. "I mentioned emulation once, but I think I got away with it." - Basil Fawlty) Andrew. - - - - - "Why play Half Life when you can play 'Chuckie Egg' in 16k?" -- some Speccy owner - - - - -

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Re: [B7L] scripts and other ephemera
by Marian de Haan 04 May '01

04 May '01

Julia wrote: >Another example is Vere Lorrimer's infamous habit of shoving in action sequences and then cutting exposition to bring the episode back to length, occasionally leaving out critical plot points in the process.< Can anyone give examples of where this has happened? I feel increasingly frustrated about not being able to know where to look for it :-) >And then there's Mary Ridge's notes on the script for _Blake_, highlighting what I think is one of Boucher's rare duds.< Can you be more specific? Marian

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Re: [B7L] scripts and other ephemera
by Sally Manton 04 May '01

04 May '01

Can I suggest we just drop this whole matter, as the unpleasant tone is getting out of hand. Sally ----Original Message Follows---- From: "Jenny Kaye" <jennycat55(a)hotmail.com> To: blakes7(a)lists.lysator.liu.se Subject: Re: [B7L] scripts and other ephemera Date: Fri, 04 May 2001 06:47:50 -0000 Snipping together two e-mails here.... Julia writes: > > > >> >Yes, I am. Longer term residents of this list have seen a good few > > > >> >members turn up who had not seen all of the series; had seen none of > > >it on arrival but had heard it talked about elsewhere and wanted to learn > > > >> >more about a show that didn't have neat tidy endings performed by > > >shiny happy people; > > > > > > > >And they come here? > > > > > >I believe that's what I just said. Then they must have been severely disappointed. >Several of them have spoken for > > >themselves now. Yes, by saying, "I didn't know who Chris Boucher was." Only one has said whether or not having this information would have influenced her to buy the script, and the answer was pretty negative. >I note that you've snipped one of the categories - a > > >large one, and the one I'm (almost) in. > >How can you be "almost" in a category? You either are, or you aren't. > >I'd only just got hold of the videos and worked my way through them when I got net access, and at that > > >point I could *not* cite chapter and verse on the production crew. I > > >would have still been extremely interested in a script with the personal > > >notes of any of the production crew, So you'll be bidding for this script then will you? BTW, where does it say in Judith's email that the script has "personal notes from production crews" on it? >partly for the thrill of owning a > > >little bit of B7, but mostly because I'm one of those people who isn't > > >just content to watch the silk handkerchiefs but wants to know how the > > >trick was done. This is one of the many reasons I go wandering around > > >the country to theatres where Gareth is performing. It's wonderful to be > > >able to sit in the bar with one of the actors afterwards and pick apart > > >how the play was put together, to compare what I saw during the > > >performance with what the production crew were trying to achieve. So that fact that Gareth Thomas, or Paul Darrow is appearing in these productions is pure co-incidence then, is it? Having read your reply to Leslie, I can see that you are obviously a great fan of the theatre, and particularly in the detail of how plays are put together. And having such a great interest in the background of such productions and being such a dedicated and diligent fan of Blake's 7, then I am sure that you will also able to furnish me with extensive details about the workings of a television studio in the last 1970's, early 1980's. > > >It can be very interesting to know what was intended. >A good example of this for me is Blade Runner. I happened to read an SF-orientated review > > >before I saw the film. > > > > The reviewer had seen the original preview cut, > > >was thoroughly impressed, and was horrified when he went back to see the > > >release version. He described what had been done to the preview. I went > > >to see the film knowing something about what Ridley Scott had intended, > > >and came away much more impressed by the remaining traces of "Do > > >Androids Dream of Electric Sheep" than by the "Raiders of the Lost > > >Androids" studio cut. The messing about had completely changed the feel > > >of the film, for the poorer in my opinion. > Now, a cynic, like Avon for instance (funny how life sometime imitates B7) would read the above, which states that you believe the alterations to Ridley Scott's film turned it into "Raiders of the Lost Androids", and may very well come to the conclusion that you don't know what the hell you are talking about. Of course I'm not that cynical. I believe you have a particular interest in this film, and therefore, I would like to discuss it with you. Now. In your email to Leslie you went even further in your analysis. Leslie said: > >Same notation, actually. I think your reviewer got it right, but I also >think >that if you really want to know what the production crew were up to, you'd >be better off reading what they themselves had to say. And you replied: >In this case a lot of it was already a matter of public record - the >review was useful because it was by someone who had seen the original >cut and could say how it had been changed. See what I mean? This again supports my view that you have taken a great interest in this film and therefore, know a great deal about the issues it covers, the characters, the locations used, the reasons why the film was changed etc, and most importantly of all, the pivotal character and the hidden subtext relating to them. >The messing about had completely changed the feel > > >of the film, for the poorer in my opinion. > Much as I like big explosions >and neat special effects, I'm primarily a litfan. Ridley Scott wanted to >make _Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep_, I wanted to see it. So what you are saying is that Ridley Scott wanted to make the book, but because of the "butchering", the film turned into an action adventure similar to the Indiana Jones trilogy. I knew >from interviews what Ridley Scott thought about the butchering of his >vision, although I think he was being a little less blunt about it at >that time than later on when the Director's Cut came out. (I have seen >the Director's Cut. I think it's actually *better* than the book.) Right. So how did the 1992 Director's Cut vary from the original put out in 1982? > >on the script for _Blake_, > >> highlighting what I think is one of Boucher's rare duds. > > > > >Such changes are known to have happened in B7. There was a good example > > >of this given in the analysis of Gambit script changes in an article in > > >Horizon 39. Another example is Vere Lorrimer's infamous habit of shoving > > >in action sequences and then cutting exposition to bring the episode > > >back to length, occasionally leaving out critical plot points in the > > >process. Is that right? Okay, give me an example then of a Vere Lorrimer story that happened to, and what the "critical plot points" cut out of it were? > > >And then there's Mary Ridge's notes on the script for _Blake_, > > >highlighting what I think is one of Boucher's rare duds. In your other email Leslie writes: > >What? The most powerful, dramatic, grim and bleak ending to a series ever >on television? Oh well, tastes differ. And you reply: >No, one bad line:-) From the description I've heard of the notes on the >script (I haven't seen it myself), Ridge was responsible for dropping a >few words from the script, which action IMO heightened the impact of >that last scene. What were these "dud" words? Jenny Ps. Have you got any scripts from the show? What colour are they? And yes, there is a sensible reason for asking... _________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com. _________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com.

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Blakes7 May 2001