The British show Blake's 7 is one of those TV series that has a small cult following — but a huge impact on the history of science fiction television, with its morally gray, arc-based storytelling influencing a whole generation of creators. There's been talk of a new Blake's 7 series, either a reboot or a sequel featuring Paul Darrow as Avon, for a decade — but now, there's a brand new deal to make it happen. On American television.
All the previous notions of reviving Blake's 7 were supposed to be on British television, probably a satellite TV network. But according to Deadline, Martin Campbell (Casino Royale, Green Lantern) has gotten involved in a bid by Georgeville Television to create a new Blake's 7 series that reinvents the show from scratch — and Campbell is signed up direct the pilot. The script will be written by Joe Pokaski, who wrote for Heroes. Andrew Sewell, who was behind all the previous attempts to bring the show back, will be on board as an executive producer.
It doesn't sound very likely that this new, Americanized Blake's 7 could recapture what was genuinely great about the original, including the acid wit and the sense that Blake was a fanatic who might be willing to cross almost any line to fight the evil interstellar Federation. The worst case scenario is that we get something like the V remake. On the plus side, it could mean a new show about spaceships on network TV. And it's probably not going to materialize, in any case. I can just imagine the pitch meetings now. [Deadline]