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Re: [B7L] scripts and other ephemera
by Leslie Clifford 05 May '01

05 May '01

On Fri, 04 May 2001, Julia Jones wrote: > > In message <07c301c0d401$b5248860$0c00a8c0@codex>, Una McCormack > <una(a)qresearch.org.uk> writes > >> 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. > > > >Well don't keep us in suspense! :) > > I'm not entirely sure about the etiquette, as the only place I have a > direct quote is from a thread on The Other List. I'd rather leave it up > to those who've actually seen the script in question as to whether they > want to put their notes on a publicly archived part of the net. The > relevant line is "Oh, Avon...", for those who remember the discussion. > -- Now you've got my attention. Go on, enough with the coyness, tell us, tell us! Or are people on The Other List some how more privileged than us lesser mortals on Lysator: --)? Leslie > Julia Jones

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Re: [B7L] scripts and other ephemera
by Tigerm1019＠aol.com 05 May '01

05 May '01

In a message dated 05/04/2001 3:05:06 PM Central Daylight Time, orac(a)altavista.co.uk writes: > Now you've got my attention. Go on, enough with the coyness, tell us, tell us! > Or are people on The Other List some how more privileged than us lesser > mortals on Lysator: --)? Actually, it's that the Other List has a "no quoting without permission of the original poster" policy for the same reasons that it isn't archived. Namely that it is a slash-and-erotica-friendly list and members sometimes discuss things that they'd rather not be quoted on in less friendly forums. If you're interested in knowing what goes on over on the other list, and are over 18 and willing to abide by the rules, you're welcome to join. ;-) Tiger M

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Re: [B7L] Re: This is *my* ship ...
by Sally Manton 05 May '01

05 May '01

Dana wrote: <+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."+> and Nina: <<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.> Oh yes, absolutely, and when Blake won't play <g>, he's got Vila to spar with (on a different level, of course). _________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com.

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Re: [B7L] scripts and other ephemera - error, error ...
by Sally Manton 05 May '01

05 May '01

Eeeep. Try February *1993*. One wonders how one ever got through one's history degree, being this bad with dates ... _________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com.

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Re: [B7L] scripts and other ephemera
by Leslie Clifford 04 May '01

04 May '01

On Wed, 02 May 2001, Julia Jones wrote: > 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. Excuse me, I don't say much on the Lyst I know, but I'm a lighting technician by trade, and I absolutely had to laugh when I read this. An actor is absolutely the last person you want to ask about production! > 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 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. on the script for _Blake_, > highlighting what I think is one of Boucher's rare duds. What? The most powerful, dramatic, grim and bleak ending to a series ever on television? Oh well, tastes differ. Back to lurking. Leslie

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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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