Tuesday’s “Blake’s 7 remade, Bates Motel gets a 2nd season and Sky has Fortitude” news

9th April 2013 Rob Buckley Canadian TV, Film, French TV, News, UK TV, US TV 5 Comments

The Daily News will return on Thursday

Doctor Who

Film

Trailers

Film casting

Trailers

  • Trailer for Ron Howard’s Rush, starring Chris Hemsworth

Theatre

Canadian TV

  • Space to co-produce, acquires Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell

French TV

  • Canal+ acquires Banshee, Vikings

UK TV

US TV

New US TV shows

New US TV show casting

  • Amy Aquino joins ABC’s Divorce: A Love Story, Vik Sahay to recur on Sean Hayes comedy, plus other pilot casting




  • Mark Carroll

    I am curious about how the Blake's 7 remake will go. Dystopian futures seemed to fit better when the original came out.

    It's one of these shows like Firefly where my memory of the series is rosier than how much I liked any particular episode. But, the premise does give plenty of room for good things.

  • Agreed. The original was very bleak and 70s in a lot of ways (less so as it went on), with hints of Brave New World, et al. Not sure how well this will work now. Although, you know, BSG n'all

  • SK

    Oh dear, I hope it doesn't turn out like Battlestar Galactica with its endless angsting about moral dilemmas. The great secret to the cynicism of Blake's 7 was that the crew never had any moral dilemmas.

    'What about Doctor Plaxton?' 'Who?'

  • Not so much. That was certainly true of the psychopath Avon (by season 4 certainly) and to some extent Blake, but Dayna was always a voice of moral concern, as were Cally and Jenna. The ending of the second season sees the crew wondering if they should finish off the Federation Alpha One (?) thing, because so many innocent people will die once their environmental controls end, and that contrasts with Blake's moral certitude, which looks, in context, like it's becoming fanaticism. It's just that Blake usually got his way in the first two seasons, Avon in the latter two seasons.

  • SK

    Oh, there was conflict between the characters, sure. But I meant that the characters themselves rarely put themselves through the angst that happens on something like Battlestar Galactica.

    Adding levels of angst and self-doubt is not the same as making a character more complex…

    (Cally's a fanatic in her own way, of course: 'on Earth, it is considered rude to kill your friends while committing suicide.')