Blake's 7

Blake's 7 is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC and created by Terry Nation that takes place in a dystopic, interplanetary empire of the future. 
It ran for four series, each of thirteen episodes, which were broadcast between 1978 and 1981. The final episode, "Blake", was widely discussed. In 1989, a fan wrote: "What drove me into fandom was the last episode; it wasn't enough. I wanted to see more, discuss it, read about it." from Comlink #40The episode caused such an uproar in the fandom that even in 2020, fans are writing Post Gauda Prime (PGP) stories. 
Like Doctor Who, with which it shares many writers, directors, producers and actors, the show was made with the BBC's usual production values for science fiction shows at that time: low special effects budgets, minimal sets and most outdoor scenes filmed in one or two locations. However, like Who at its best, "Blake's 7" had consistently sharp, political scripts (in part due to the work of script editor Chris Boucher), intriguing characters and strong acting.
The show's name is an obvious nod towards The Magnificent SevenAlthough the show's name is Terry Nation's, it is worth noting that Boucher and Paul Darrow (Darrow portrayed Kerr Avon) were both big Western fans, as was Nation. Nation stated in an interview in Freedom City Gazette #3 that "Blake's 7" was like The Dirty Dozen in space. Some DVD commentaries clarify that some of Darrow's favourite Avon moments are nods to Westerns that were written for him by Boucher; for example the line "Stick to action, Blake. That's what you're good at" in 'Trial' is a nod to Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. In early drafts of the script, Blake had seven allies in addition to himself, but many of these characters were cut but the title was retained, with Blake now counting himself and the computer Zen to make up numbers. By the third series, Blake had left the programme and there were only five regular cast members. Other references to westerns can be found: creator and writer Terry Nation is cited as referring to the series as "The Dirty Dozen in Space".
"Blake's 7" was also somewhat influenced by Robin Hood and to a lesser extent Star Wars. 
The direct and indirect allusions to Robin Hood are plentiful. For example:
Partly because it also features a Federation, whose symbol references the Star Fleet insignia, Blake's 7 fans have compared the show to Star Trek. For more information, see Blake's 7 and Star Trek.
Blake's 7 strongly influenced and was later referenced by several popular American science fiction programmes; most notably Farscape, Babylon 5 and Firefly; and arguably Spike's chip in Buffy the Vampire Slayer is a nod to the limiter device implanted in Gan's brain.B7 Media: Blake's 7TV Tropes: Blake's 7Lost Spook commenting on Aralias's journal
==Thatcherism and Neoliberalism==
Philip Braithwaite suggests that with the arrival of Thatcherism, the series changed its focus from traditional moral standards and the collective well-being, to an exploration of "individualism, Machiavellian behaviour and moral relativity":
==Blakes or Blake's?==
The show itself is officially titled "Blakes 7," but fans and almost all commentary does not use this spelling. from a fan in 2016: " (if the title sequence abhors a possessive apostrophe, then goddammit, so do I — though if a quote uses it, I’ve decided (grudgingly) to allow the difference of opinion to stand)" 
==The Fourth Season and the Very Controversial Last Episode==
Fans had many opinions about the developments, and the very controversial last scene in the show's final episode. Chris Boucher and Terry Nation did, too. See Nation's 1987 comments here and Boucher's 1989 comments here.
The end of the show prompted a letter campaign to bring it back: Bring Back Blake's 7!
==Characters ==
 B7 hewed to the British tradition that women of whatever class, and any working-class characters of any gender, are referred to by their given name only.
Cast in order of appearance:Seasons one and two:
* Roj Blake played by Gareth Thomas 
* Vila Restal played by Michael Keating (link)
* Jenna Stannis played by Sally Knyvette
* Kerr Avon played by Paul Darrow
* Olag Gan played by David Jackson
* Zen voiced by Peter Tuddenham (in some episodes, Tuddenham voiced both sides of a conversation between Orac and Zen or Orac and Slave.)
* Cally played by Jan Chappell 
* Supreme Commander (later President) Servalan played by Jacqueline Pearce
* Commander Travis played by Stephen Greif (series 1) and Brian Croucher (series 2)
* Orac voiced by Peter Tuddenham
In season three, Blake, Jenna, Gan and Travis had left the series. The two new characters in season three were:
* Dayna Mellanby, played by Josette Simon
* Del Tarrant, played by Steven Pacey
By the beginning of season four, Cally and Zen had left the series and were replaced by another two new characters:
* Soolin, played by Glynis Barber
* Slave, voiced by Peter Tuddenham
Other notable characters:
* Anna Grant
* Avalon
* Carnell
* Jarvik
===Female Characters===
== Pairings==
* Blake/Avon (slash), referred to as "B/A" or "A/B"
* Avon/Vila (slash), referred to as "A/V"
* Avon/Tarrant (slash), referred to as "A/T" or "A/Ta" (to distinguish from Avon/Travis, or "A/Tr")
* Avon/Cally (het), referred to as "A/C" or sometimes "C/A".
* Avon/Servalan (het), referred to as "A/S"
* Blake/Jenna (het), referred to as "B/J" 
* Jenna/Cally (femslash), referred to as "J/C" or "C/J"
* Blake/Tarrant (slash), referred to as "B/Ta"
One fan wrote: 
The list of other pairings in this ensemble show is long. Sandy Herrold once calculated that with:
==Early Fandom and Distribution==
The series was not broadcast in the US until the late 1980s, when video recorders were neither cheap nor common in the UK until after that time, so videotapes could not be shared. Fans in the US received tapes made by pointing a portable videocamera at the television screen during an episode. These camera copies were poor quality and their quality diminished as they were copied and passed on. A joke circulating among American B7 fans after the series was broadcast in the US was, "My tapes were so bad, I didn't realise Travis was played by two actors!"
Other fans would often put together videotape "recruitment" packages:
The inability to access the show impacted fans across the world. In 1994, an Australian fan complained about the decline in fan clubs and the lack of reruns: 
The show was often broadcast at unusual times and in unexpected places:
==Participation in the Fandom by TPTB==
The actors, writers and producers of "Blake's 7" were frequent guests at conventions, wrote fanworks of their own, wrote intros to zines, and were very accessible to fans. While many fans enjoyed this close contact with the celebrities, this close intermingling had some devastating effects. See The Blake's 7 Wars.
Terry Nation, the show's creator, stated in 1978 that he did not want to support zines or clubs that had a focus on something other than Blake's 7. A reporting of correspondence in August 1978 between Nation and two fans in the UK:
Brian Croucher was GoH at 1987's Eccentricon in Australia. He agreed to reprise Travis in Harpic Productions' live game show parody, The Nearly-Wed Game. Based on Australian TV's The Newlywed Game (formerly The Marriage Game), the concept was to pose questions to SF media couples who had "nearly wed". Travis was teamed with a local cosplay Servalan lookalike. Other pairings were Zaphod Beeblebrox and Trillian (Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy) and Admiral James T. Kirk and Dr. Gillian Taylor (fresh from the movie Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home). The compere was Maltz the Klingon (Ian McLean in cosplay) from Star Trek III, who was frequently and hilariously upstaged by Travis.
Image:Nearlywed.jpg|Maltz (left) hosts the Nearly-Wed Game, 1987. Brian Croucher (right) reprised Travis.
===Some Examples of Fourth Wall Violations===
* In The 1988 Blake's 7 Bootlegged Zines Discussion, Terry Nation got personally involved in a fan dispute.
* Avon: A Terrible Aspect is a 1989 fanfic by Paul Darrow.
* Reflections in a Shattered Glass (1989) includes Terry Nation's Introduction to the fic/zine: "I read the opening chapters and found myself intrigued and absorbed. I was hooked. I read on with growing fascination and ever-increasing questions. Where was the story going? What was happening here? Had Joe written himself into a corner from which there was no escape? How could he make sense of what seemed an impossibly contradictory plot? With the questions answered, the manuscript came to an abrupt end—a cliff-hanger of classic proportions. Desperate to know what came next, I called Joe."
* Many contributions by the celebrities to Horizon Newsletter, including reading and judging their fic, poems and essays; from comments by Paul Darrow in Horizon Newsletter #9 in 1983: "It is fascinating to read such erudite compositions, but extremely difficult to establish who should be first, etc. In the end, the winner came in by a distance. All the others, I felt, were of almost equal merit".
* At the convention Gambit, Gareth Thomas read aloud a poem by a fan named Mary G.T. Webber. A fan recalls: "[Gareth] said it was the best Blake poem he had ever read and then didn't he call the lady out and hug her or something?"Lucky girl! No, I wasn't there. I just saw the vid." —from a fan in Rallying Call #16 (January 1996)
* "Interview with a Monster" was a play written by fan Teri White and starring Gareth Thomas. Thomas said Teri's play was closer to his own self than anything he'd ever done, and that performing it would be intensely difficult because it was, even more than acting usually is, laying his soul bare."So that Teri needn't boast, I'll report what he said: that he wants to perform the play, along with one other short serious play that he has in hand and something lighter that he needs to find. And he used it to illustrate what he was saying about acting: that it isn't as easy as people think, especially when it goes that close to the bone. He said straight out that Teri's play was closer to his own self than anything he'd ever done, and that performing it would be intensely difficult because it was, even more than acting usually is, laying his soul bare." -- from Rallying Call #16
==Fannish Perspective==
See also: Timeline of Blake's 7 Fandom
In the 1980s and 1990s, Blake's 7 fandom was one of the largest gen or slash communities and merited its own categories in the Fan Q Awards. Blake's 7 began broadcast after Star Trek had concluded and before the first Star Trek movie was made; hence its fandom participated in the normalization of many common fannish practices of today; for example the social history of slash and print zines. Like most pre-web fandoms, early Blake's 7 fan fiction was sharply divided into slash, explicit het (referred to in contemporary zines as "adult") and gen.
With the rise of the internet, it gained two mailing lists; Lysator and Space City (later Freedom City), both of which are, as of 2020, largely inactive. There were also two major archives; The Blake's 7 Library and Hip Deep in Heroes before a small number of fans moved to Livejournal. As of 2020, the UK-based fan club Horizon still operates a relatively popular message board, which is largely used for discussion rather than for posting transformative fanworks.
The Blake's 7 fan community declined during the 21st century, and was small enough to be considered a Yuletide fandom "And suddenly, I'm realizing that Blake's Seven would be legit, right? The show ended 10 years ago, it only has 4 listed interest comms on LJ (three of these inactive), it's got exactly 100 stories on FF.net, it's a British show hardly anybody under the age of 30 has seen or has necessarily ever heard of -- that counts as obscure/inactive." -- a comment in 2007 at until 2013, mainly because the challenge rules were changed and the fandom's archived works were counted towards the total. However, there was an upsurge in activity on Livejournal and Dreamwidth in the early 2010s. As of 2020, the fandom continues to be active on Tumblr, Discord and AO3, with fans writing stories, making art, memes and fan videos, and (particularly on Tumblr) making gifs.
Rumours of a remake have been circulating for many years – most recently in 2013BBC News: 'Blake's 7 cult BBC classic 'to be remade for Xbox Live' – but as of 2020, no remake has been produced. However, B7 Media, which owns the rights to produce new Blake's 7 material, have produced a re-imagined Blake's 7 audio seriesB7 Media: Blake's 7 the audio series (2007) and Big Finish have been making Blake's 7 audios with the original cast since early 2012; neither series has made a significant impact on transformative fandom (see Blake's 7 (Big Finish Series)).
===Fan Comments===
===1989===
A fan wrote in 1989: 
===1990===
 
===1994===
===1997===
==Fanworks Overview==
:For a full listing of Blake's 7 fanfiction on Fanlore, see :Category:Blake's 7 Fanfiction
 Fanfic was published in zines from 1977 onwards. An early post-1st season story, written not long after the first season ended and before the second season was broadcast, was simply titled The Epic as it was at the time (50,000 words) the longest B7 fan story ever published.
As with the original Doctor Who, Blake's 7 was broadcast before the watershed (before 8pm) and expected to be suitable for children, so episode scripts when televised could not include explicit sex nor swearing. Very early fanfic written while the series was being broadcast was generally expected by fan editors and publishers to correspond to BBC pre-watershed standards; though swearing might be permitted, even heterosexual relationships could not be explicitly sexual. Horizon began to produce adult fanzines featuring only heterosexual relationships (even an early reference to male-on-male rape was objected to) in the early 1980s, when the series was no longer being broadcast. 
The first Blake's 7 fan fiction website was The Aquitar Files, which appeared in early 1996.
A fan in 1994 commented on the differences between British and American Blake's 7 fan fiction:
==Common Tropes in Fanworks==
Sue Clerc collected numerous tropes in her 1993 essay, Recurring Themes in Blake's 7 Fan Fiction.
A fan in 1993 commented on happy endings and fiction for this series: 
==="Avon Ducked and Other Survival Tips"===
The 1994 Lysator FAQ explains common post-Gauda Prime scenarios: "There are many, many ways to explain the survival of various characters. Fan fiction is rife with stories that let Our Heroes live to fight another day. Here's a brief list of some of the more common ploys, each of which has a myriad of variations. ... :
:Avon ducked and the troopers killed each other in the crossfire.
:Vila was shot in the back but fell the wrong way, ergo he wasn't shot.
:Avon-and-Blake-set-all-this-up.
:Servalan-set-all-this-up.
:Orac-set-all-this-up.
:Something-else-set-all-this-up.
:It was the clone.
:The Dallas version: the 4th season was all a dream.Lysator, which notes it was Partly derived from a longer version posted Jan 22, 1994 by Nicole Vifian
===Slash===
Relations between the gen fandom and slash fandom varied over time. Unlike other contemporaneous fandoms, many Blake's 7 zines, especially some from Ashton Press, had both gen and slash stories. But because actor cons (see below for more info) were very common, gen fans often thought of the slash fans as an embarrassment. A quotation from Paul Darrow, "Why is Gareth always raping me?", was frequently used by anti-slash fans to show how inappropriate the actors thought slash was, as well as blurring the line between the actor and the character.
In 2003, B7 Media's executive producer Andrew Sewell gave an interview in which he said he would do everything he could to root out slash fandom from Blake's 7 fandom.TPTB's dim view of slash continues to this day. Swell, who now owns the rights to the show, has been lobbying for a remake and plans were announced in 2013 for a US remake to be shown on XBox Live.-- Wikipedia article, Blake's 7 TV revival. "I think slash is distasteful. The actors that are represented do not appreciate it. And some produce this stuff on the web. I think it is bad taste. It has no reflection or bearing on what the show is and it is not a tribute to Terry Nation's legacy. I think it is an abomination. I think what is an abomination is the pornography. I have no problem with fan fiction, but I do have a problem with pornography.What is the way forward for Blake's 7?, interview with Andrew Sewell, Nov 2003.
Asked what he planned to do, he said: "They will find out how I am going to clamp down on it. The moment you start doing something of an extremely dubious nature of the pornographic variety or for a commercial benefit without acquiring the rights, I and my partners will take a dim view of that."[[What is the way forward for Blake's 7?],] interview with Andrew Sewell, Nov 2003.
One fan's response to Sewell's statement said: 
In 2009, fan Lillian Shepherd commented on Blake's 7 slash written while the show was on the air: "Certainly, most Blake's Seven fan fiction written in 1978-1981 was circulated on set. Oddly, the porn usually rose to the top, or so we were informed by David Jackson [the actor who portrayed Gan]." Another fan responded: "I'm not at all surprised the porn rose to the top and I'm happy to hear David Jackson admitted it. Of course, Mr. Darrow ordered it immediately delivered to his dressing room. (Oooh, sorry, that was evil)." Shepherd replied: "Read it! Hell, David wrote (or, to be more precise, taped) his own satiric R-rated fic, though I felt very privileged to hear the tape, as there were only a couple of copies, the original being made for the fan (Anne Harding) who he later married. The reason there was no B7 slash published in the UK until after the show finished was, in part, due to Pat Thomas promising Gareth Thomas that she wouldn't allow that kind of thing. You didn't cross Pat!"Melody: , see original post for more context, December 18, 2009
In 2015, Shepherd expanded on her previous comments and speculated on the relative lack of B7 in UK fandom: 
Luckily, slash fans pay little attention to TPTB. Slash fanfic began to be published in 1983; an early zine that included same-sex and mixed-sex relationships was The Big Boy's Book of 1001 Things to Do in Zero Gravity with a Federation Hand Blaster, which was first published August 1983 and includes what may be the first Blake's 7 slash story, Licence, pairing Del Tarrant with Jarvik, a character who appears only in the third-season episode Harvest of Kairos.
The first-known Blake's 7 all-slash fanzine was E-Man-Uelle, the first two issues of which were published in 1983 (issues 1 to 8 came out roughly twice a year between 1983 and 1987). While poorly produced and typed, these zines were the first to publish some Blake's 7 fan writers who later became better known in other fanzines and other fandoms: Julien, Jane Carnall, Julie Kramer, Bryn Lantry and others. These zines were stories pairing Kerr Avon with either Roj Blake (Blake/Avon) or with Vila Restal (Avon/Vila), which remain the most popular slash pairings.
Hermit.org hosts a link to fansites hosting.Blake's 7 fanfic online Many early stories are still only available in fanzines: the slash library is an institution at British slash conventions. For more information, see Zines
=== The Fandom Implosion of 1989: The Blake's 7 War===
In the late 1980s, relationships between some BNFs and many of the Blake's 7 actors imploded; many fans, desperate for information in an era before the Internet, blamed slash fans for the implosion. In retrospect, slash had little or nothing to do with the implosion and had more to do with some fans' personal access to TPTB, as well as attempts by some of the actors and Terry Nation to monetize and formalize conventions on their own terms.
===B7 Online ===
====1990s and early 2000s====
Blake's 7 fandom was an early participant in online communities. The fandom went online in 1992 when the first mailing list, called Lysator (often shortened to "the Lyst") after the "Lysator Academic Computer Society"—one of the first Internet-connected sites in Sweden—was opened. Lysator was very active for many years. Several members of the community collaborated to produce a full set of episode transcripts to facilitate discussion and provide fans who had no access to the series with a way to enjoy it. As of 2017, they are still available at Lysator and Judith Proctor's site.
Personal fan pages appeared from 1994.For example, B. King & D. White Blakes' 7 Site has a date of May 1994 on one of the subpages. -- Wayback link). In the 1990s, when Blake's 7 fandom hit the Interet, a lot of newly-online fans were quite startled when they heard of slash for the first time. Slash fans on the various Blake's 7 lists and newsgroups grew tired of repeating the same arguments, and drew up a The Generic Slash Defense Form LetterThe Generic Slash Defense Form Letter still available on the net. In 1995, Space City, a slash-friendly mailing list, was spun off from the Lyst to allow discussion of slash and adult topics without controversy. This was replaced by Freedom City in 1999.
The first online Blake's 7 fiction website was The Aquitar Files e-zine launched in 1996. Hammer to Fall, founded by 1998 as the "Blake's 7 Story Archive", was possibly the first website to call itself a multi-author archive. Print zines continued to be important throughout this period.
Some fans embraced online fandom, citing greater access to communication and fandom content. Others were horrified at the exposure and increased visibility. From a January 1996 comment by a fan: 
Fans associated with this period of production include: 
* Alicia Ann Fox
* Belatrix Carter
* Calle Dybedahl
* Carol Mc
* Chris Blenkarn
* Delmonica
* Emma Peel
* Executrix
* Firerose
* Hafren
* Harriet Monkhouse
* Helen Patrick
* Ika
* Jenner
* Judith Proctor
* Kathryn Andersen
* Leia Fee
* Manna
* Marian de Haan
* Marian Mendez
* Mistral Amara
* Morrigan
* Neil Faulkner
* Nickey Barnard
* Nicola Mody
* Nova
* Pat Fenech
* Pat Jacquerie
* Penny Dreadful
* Predatrix
* Sally Manton
* Snowgrouse
* Steve Rogerson
* Sue Clerc
* Susan Cutter
* Susannah Shepherd
* Una McCormack
* Vanessa Mullen
* Vickie McManus
* Willa Shakespeare
* Zenia
.
In 2011, Neil Faulkner wrote the meta essay Sorry, but I've been pondering, which posits that a "new wave" of fanfiction distinct from the more "traditional" approach to B7 fic appeared in Blake's 7 fandom in the latter half of the 1990s and the early 2000s.
====The Move to Livejournal====
Fandom moved onto Livejournal in 2003–2005; the mailing lists and archives continued to be used but printzine publication tailed off. Within the year, communities such as b7_rpg were founded, with several more (largely founded by Vilakins) appearing throughout the decade. (For more information, see Websites, Lists and Communities.) Several ficathons were held in 2004–2006. Blake's 7 fielded several hundred recs in 2003–2007 on Crack Van.
Fans associated with this period of production include: AstroGirl, babel, Executrix, Hafren, Lyssie, Pink Dormouse, redstarrobot, Sally Manton, shimere277, Snowgrouse, Van Donovan, Vilakins, Zenia 
====2010s====
In around 2012, several fans began posting material (including gifs and archive material) to Tumblr - some of the main figures seem to be: destructobot, perfectchichi, lileclaire. These fans were only active for a few years, with new fans joining later in separate movements though their content continued to be re-blogged for some years.
Blake's 7 takes on popular Tumblr community/memes were founded, most notably: Fuck Yeah, Blake's 7 (most active in 2010-11) and Texts from the Federation (2014-2016). sirjohnsmythe ran Secret Santa for several years, and other users, particularly bruinhilda organised live re-watches. In 2017 Jaelijn proposed that Tumblr users create a digital zine, Rebels and Fools, which is still active as of 2020.
In 2013-2016, there was a (small, but significant in terms of output) resurrection of the Livejournal/Dreamwidth fanfic community, led to some extent by fandom-recruitment posts written by Lost SpookNon-Spoilery Guide to Blake's 7 (and why Classic Who fans should watch it) by Lost Spook on Livejournal and Aralias.'why you should watch blake's 7' by Aralias on Livejournal Not all fans who posted new around this time were new to Blake's 7 (although some were, and had previously been interested in classic Doctor Who) - many, such as Executrix, were simply encouraged by activity in a previously quiet(er) fandom. Several Russian fans also participated in English-language fandom. New Livejournal/Dreamwidth communties were founded, including Blake's 7's first kink meme, Sexually Liberated! (2014-) and BlakeFest. In 2015 Aralias published the paper zine Pride and Prejudice, which featured a new cover from Suzan Lovett.
Interestingly while LJ/DW fandom was mainly focused on the ship Blake/Avon (influenced by key figures, and to some extent because the platform[s] continued to play host to influential B/A fans from zine-era, such as Judith Proctor and Willa Shakespeare) and Tumblr seems to have initially gone this way, by 2016-17 Tumblr fandom became increasingly focused on Avon/Vila (again influenced by the fans active there). As of 2020, a variety of (both slash and het) ships are favourited by Tumblr users, including a resurgence of Blake/Avon.
It is also worth noting that most of the (extensive and still growing) documentation of the fandom on Fanlore took place from around 2009 onwards.
Fans associated with this period of production include:
* Tumblr: destructobot, perfectchichi, Jaelijn, bruinhildasirjohnsmythe, i-fought-space, comarum, funforahermit, wordswithkittywitch, mrs-underhill22, ruth-dw
* Livejournal: Vilakins, Executrix, Sally Manton (and - new-ish fans) Aralias, Elviaprose, Corngold, Clocketpatch, emuna, la_avispa, Lost Spook, lycoris (founder of Texts from the Federation), Paranoid Angel, Liadt, Unsentimentalf, WellHarkAtHer (founder of the kink meme), x_los.
====2020s====
2020 has seen a resurgence of enthusiastic Blake's 7 fan activity on Tumblr with new fans creating fics, art, vids, memes, and communities. These fans include: foreignobjecticus, hadescavedish, Bunn1cula (founder of Gauda Prime Social Club Discord server), Emmaliza, locked-behind-the-walls
Gauda Prime Social Club member chrysopoetical suggested the following as fanfic trends associated with the Discord server: 
For even more information about Blake's 7 online fandom, see Lists and Communities and Archives.
==Conventions==
Small, fan-run conventions were arranged in the UK in the early 80s. The second of these (The Teal Vandor Convention) took place in Holborn, London and was run jointly by the two UK clubs - Liberator Popular Front and Horizon. A number of the cast and some production staff attended (unpaid!). British Blake's Seven fandom also had a significant presence at the 1979 World SF Convention in Brighton UK.
Conventions - some were fan run with actor guests and some were professional. 
In addition, not all conventions focused solely on Blake's 7 but were often bundled with other sci-fi and fantasy shows. 
The multifandom con, Escapade, had many Blake's 7 panels.
* 1980: Star One, the first Blake's 7 convention
* 1981: Teal Vandor (UK)
* 1982: Edgecon in the UK
* 1988 & 1990, Orac (convention), a "Alpha Grade Blake's 7" convention was held near San Francisco, California. Actors Paul Darrow (Avon) and Michael Keating (Vila) were among the invited guests. The convention slogan was "Organized Rebellions Ain't Cheap."
* 1983-1989, Scorpio: a series of British media conventions, Oak Brook, IL
* 1988: DSV (Blake's 7 convention) held in New Jersey
* 1987: Eccentricon in Richmond, Australia, with GoH, Brian Croucher
* 1989: Gambit (convention) was held in New Jersey
* 1989: Freedom City (convention) - ??
* 1990: ORBIT was held in Newark, New Jersey
* 1990: DEL 10 was a planned convention to have been held January 5-7, 1990 in Huntsville, Maryland. Attendees were limited to 125. Paul Darrow was to have been a guest. This con was cancelled, the likely reason was The Blake's 7 Wars. 
* 1995: Event Horizon (Australian convention), a science fiction convention in Brisbane, Australia. Read a review here.
* 1998: Deliverance '98 held in Stoke-on-Trent, England. Organised by Horizon: The Blake's 7 Appreciation Society.
* 1999 to present: Redemption (Convention), a general science fiction convention with a large Blake's 7 presence
* 2002: Blake's 7 Writers and Editors Convention, a one-off convention in the UK for fanzine writers and editors
* 2003-2007: Star One, a series of conventions held by the The Avon Club
* 2008: Aftermath (Blake's 7 convention) in the UK, celebrating the 30th anniversary
* 2019: Maximum Power! (Blake's 7 convention), 'a one-day fan event celebrating Jacqueline Pearce and Blake's 7, in aid of Marie Curie,'Horizon Forum, http://www.blakes7online.com/news.php?readmore=349 (Accessed 24/08/2020) organised by Horizon (Blake's 7 fan club)
* 2020: Forever Avon (Blake's 7 convention) was 'a one-day fan event memory of the legendary Paul Darrow, in aid of The Dog's Trust,' organised by Horizon (Blake's 7 fan club). It had to be postponed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.Horizon Forum, http://www.blakes7online.com/news.php?readmore=384 (Accessed 24/08/2020) This con was Cygnus Alpha: Down and Safe (Digital Blake's 7 convention) was held in place of "Forever Avon". Cygnus Alpha Events Youtube, https://youtu.be/q0VlG31cqvE (Accessed 24/08/2020)
 
== Zines ==
 
===Print Zines===
* a comprehensive listing of :Category:Blake's 7 Zines
* An out-dated list but helpful due to some organizational features
* an older list of Blake's 7 zines (offsite at Judith Proctor's Hermit Site)
* The Bleeding River (poetry)
* Carcanet collection (gen fic series)
* Memoirs (proposed non-fiction zine that was intended to record fans' experiences at conventions where B7 actors took part)
* Puzzline A puzzle zine
* Welcome to Blake's 7: Zine from the Blake's 7 Welcomittee sent to new fans
===Online Zines===
These either started out as ezines, or were archived on the web after going out of print.
* Oblique Publication's B7 zines, online in downloadable PDF format
* The Aquatar Files, a 1996 ezine (called a WWW zine on the site)
* TTBA, winner of the 2002 Fan Q Award for Best Slash Zine.
*Rebels and Fools, annual digital anthology zine published by Jaelijn.
*The House Always Sins, an e-zine (also available in print) published in 2021 by the Gauda Prime Social Club.
==Websites, Mailing Lists and Communities==
===Play By Mail===
Fans in the early-to-mid 1990s role-played by mail.
===Mailing Lists===
* Lysator
* Space City
* Blake 7 Chat And Fic Description: "Avon and Vila, Or Blake and Avon? Tarrant and Avon? Vila and Callie? SuLynn? Jeanna? Can Orac play naughty??? You decide...come share a story or a discussion with the list...General, hetero and slash fiction based on the BBC series, Blake 7 are all sought with intent. Discuss the 52 eps to death as well...What makes these characters so immortal after over 25 years. I'm gonna ask here that the authors remember to share with this list when you're sharing with others. We can only get pleasure from the sharing if something is posted to the list. And readers, play your part by feeding the authors. Its more important than you may realize. All the stories will be considered direct submissions to the multi-fandom/lists list archive. Because this archive handles several hundred lists, I don't have time to notify each writer as their stories go up so I recommend you join the direct submissions/announcements list at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Makebelieve if you want to be informed. I have neither the time or the inclination to moderate the posts for minor ears, joining tells the world you are over legal age. Be honest. Finally, if you spam the list I will remove it AND you without warning. We don't need spam in our files. I do however encourage chatter onlist. It tends to stimulate ficcies, and that's what we're here to inspire, aren't we. Oh yea, and its been requested that you include your couples in your posts, please do this. some readers would rather only read the pair they like and not wade through the rest. See ya on the flip, luvs..."
	
* Slash Blake 7 Description: "Discuss the Blake 7 Series...Share a slashy story...what are the actors doing now? Here is a place to discuss and share. I'm gonna ask here that the authors remember to share with this list when you're sharing with others. We can only get pleasure from the sharing if something is posted to the list. And readers, play your part by feeding the authors. Its more important than you may realize."
* Horizon Blake's 7 e-bulletin: "For all the latest news about Blake's 7 and its cast and crew from HORIZON, the Blake's 7 Appreciation Society".
* Audio-Visions
===LiveJournal===
There are several Blake's 7 communities on livejournal, most have very low to no traffic as of 2010.
* The Blake's 7 Livejournal Community (news, info, discussion) (updates ca once a month)
* Blake's 7 Discussion Community (LJ comm) (average posts - 2x a year)
* B7 Fic (LJ comm, fanfic) (average posts - 5x a month)
* B7 Friday (link) (LJ comm, weekly ficlet challenge) (average posts 5x a month)
* B7 Recs (LJ comm) (average post once a month)
* B7 Icons (LJ comm, icons only) (average post once a month)
* Blake's 7 Fanart Community (LJ comm) (average post once a month)
===Fanclubs===
Several early Blake's 7 fan clubs sprang up in the UK during and immediately after the first season was broadcast (1978-1979); one of them, Blake's 7 Appreciation Society Horizon, the Blake's 7 Appreciation Society is still active forty years later.
 
See Category:Blake's 7 Fan Clubs for a full listing of clubs.
===Discord===
*Rebels and Fools (associated with the digital fanzine of the same name. "Do you like chatting about Blake’s 7? Do you like to bounce headcanons around? Are you a content creator and love sharing ideas, cheering on others and collaboration? Are you always looking for a beta or some feedback? Are you working on your submission for issue 5 and just want to share the ideas and the struggle? Are you looking for a safe and inclusive environment to talk B7? Good news! There is a Discord channel dedicated to any and all B7 chatter! You will need a Discord account to join us (you can make one with only an email, a nickname and a password). You do not need a microphone; chat is text-based. Like the zine, the Discord channel is open to all pairing preferences. Also note that the Discord operates under the assumption that all participants are of age in their respective countries. There might be discussions not suitable for minors.")
*Gauda Prime Social Club (cheeky, mostly NSFW chatter and memes with off-topic discussion welcomed)
== Archives ==
One of the challenges facing Blake's 7 was that, as an established fanzine fandom like Star Trek, discussion of online fan fiction was often met with hostility.
For example, in 1993 on the Lysator mailing list one fan asked:
She received a swift and negative response:
Her question was met by silence, until one list member finally explained:
In short, in 1993, there seemed to be little interest in or tolerance to the idea of online fan fiction.
In 1998 when a fan asked: "Where can I get me some of this fan fiction," his question was answered with four responses regarding information about how to purchase zines.Lysator, June 1998
Fortunately, that changed over time and several fan fiction archives were established.
* The Aquatar Files, a 1996 ezine (called a WWW zine on the site) (offline but a copy is archived here), also considered the first Blake's 7 online fanfiction archive
* Hermit Library (gen, adult het, slash) (last updated 2008?)
* Hip Deep in Heroes, a successor to the Hermit Library (offline)
* Liberated (link) (slash, het, and "adult" gen) (last updated 2007)
* Oblique Publication's B7 zines, online in downloadable PDF format (last updated 2002)
* Tarrant Nostra, Tarrant-focused archive featuring specific authors (last update 2000?) (offline but a copy is archived here)
* Blake's 7 Stories, Dayna section of the Remember Us archive for characters of colour (last updated 2003)
* Hammer to Fall (non-PGP stories) (offline)
* Bang and Blame (PGP stories) (offline; last updated 2002)
* Pink Asteroids - an archive for 'U' and 'PG' rated Blakes 7 slash (now offline, a copy is archived here)
* A Little Light (and Dark) Reading - archive for zines published by Helen Patrick (last updated 2011)
* Blake's 7 on fanfiction.net (276 stories, posted around four a month)
* Blake's 7 on Yuletide (9 stories, Blake's 7 qualified as a 'rare fandom' until 2013)
* Blake's 7 on AO3 (>2,500 works, fairly active)
* Personal Fan Fiction archives can be found here.
* Stories by Jean Graham
==Other Fanworks==
===Fanvids===
The vast majority of Blake's 7 fanvids were made in the 1980s and mid 1990s. Not all these vids have survived conversion to the digital age.
====20th century====
* Mary Van Deusen created 68 fanvids, mostly in the 1980s, which were distributed by Horizon and are still available on her website for downloading. 61 of those are available in a YouTube playlist. They were seen by Gareth Thomas, Paul Darrow and Terry Nation in private showings.
* A memorably heartbreaking videotape fanvid contained scenes from the last episode to the song Send in the Clowns.Shown by the Skaro Hunting Society in the mid-1980s. Maker unknown. (busaikko)
* True Believer by Viv Nichols of the Media Cannibals
* Crimson & Crystal (sung by Julia Ecklar), vid by Cybel Harper
* Comedy Tonight and Hotel California by Mary Van Deusen are extremely clever uses of images to create something entirely different from the show.
* Studs in Black Leather set to "Everywoman's Lament" by Jillian Courtenay - a clever filk song that pairs "Nights in White Satin" with fandom's fetish for men in black leather
* Hold On by Liz J. - Sandy Herrold wrote: "A good video; made even more by the line, "Don't you recall how you felt when you weren't alone," The clip is Avon in the third season, it has stuck in my mind ever since."
* Cold--Biography of a bastard in 4/4 time by DeeJay -- Sandy Herrold described it as "Every clip in order, to a song that was made for Avon, as if narrated by Vila"
* Some of the most innovative vids of the 80s were made by Gayle F and Tashery S, including Walking and Falling, and Continental Drift. Both can be found on their Shadow Songs vid collection.
Most of Blake's 7 fandom had become quiescent by 2000, however, a few computer vids did appear online. In 2002 both Morgaine and Xanthe offered their vids here and here respectively (sites are offline, archived versions are offered where available).
====21st century====
*foreignobjecticus' Blake's 7 fanvids - crackvids, songvids (particularly Avon/Vila)
*Zukalis - B7 and B7-related songvids
*Fashion is Danger (Blake's 7 vid) by gkiyo (2014)
Other songvids by fans can be found under the vidder's name here on Fanlore. A few VCR-era songvids are listed below where the vidder's name cannot be identified
* "Where The Boys Are" - this vid was shown at Zebracon 1995
===Filk===
Blake's 7 has a long history of filk songs, both those presented in written lyrics in fanzines and those recorded on tape, including at least three full cassette albums. Most of these were created in the 1980s and 1990s. As of 2020, filk seems to have large disappeared from the fandom. However, the fourth issue of Rebels and Fools (2020) featured a series of filk lyrics by sothatsagoodthing set to Lana del Rey songs. 
====20th Century====
*Songs of the Seven (Blake's 7 filk tape) by Linda Short (1983)
*Ditties from the Edge of the World by Linda Short (1985)
*The Blake Bunch, anthology of poems and filks by Aya Katz (1988)
*Hip Deep in Heroes (filk tape) by The Zen Nine from Outer Space (1990); includes a recording of "Everywoman's Lament" with the lyrics credited to Jacqueline T.
====21st Century====
*Van Buren Sound, the musical collective of Gauda Prime Social Club; including Gauda Prime Rebellion Complex, with lyrics by sothatsagoodthing, based on Mariners Apartment Complex by Lana del Rey, and Jarvik Threw It On the Ground, set to Threw It On the Ground by The Lonely Island, with lyrics by Anon from this Livejournal B7 Sexually Liberated! kinkmeme entry and Bunn1cula
===Other Fanworks===
* Model Building
* Wobblevision
==Further Reading/Meta==
* articles and mentions of Blake's 7 in Starburst, compiled by Judith Proctor
* articles and mentions of Blake's 7 in Starlog: Starlog, compiled by Judith Proctor
* articles and mentions of Blake's 7 in SFX, compiled by Judith Proctor
* articles and mentions of Blake's 7 in Doctor Who Bulletin: DWB, compiled by Judith Proctor
* articles and mentions of Blake's 7 in Dreamwatch, compiled by Judith Proctor
* articles and mentions of Blake's 7 in Cult Times, compiled by Judith Proctor
* articles and mentions of Blake's 7 in TV Zone, compiled by Judith Proctor
* by Leia Fee (unknown date)
* by Leia Fee (unknown date)
* The Man Who Killed Blake's 7 (Starlog #163) (February 1991) 
* by Nicola Mody (January 2002)
* by Nicola Mody (February 2002)
* by Nicola Mody (includes an email by Terry Nation) (January 2002)
* Vila Restal - character, Myers Briggs personality, some answers by Vilakins (January 2002)
* In Defence of Vila, or Teamwork is Overrated Anyway by Sally Manton (part of The hermit.org B7 essays series)
* Some Questions and Answers about Vila by Nicola Mody (January 2002)
* The Blake's 7 Characters (February 2002)
* The Federation Grading System (March 2002)
* The hermit.org B7 essays, originally at Judith Proctor's site
* Fandom Primer on crack_van by executrix
* Blake/Avon pairing primer on ship_manifesto by executrix
* Horizon, the Blake's 7 Appreciation Society website
* Hermit.org The Largest Blake's 7 Site on the Web
* Blake's 7 Newbieguide on Livejournal
* 
* The Paul Darrow Appreciation Society website
* Vilaworld (this website has no connection to the early B7 fanclub/fanzine Vilaworld)
* TarrantNostra for Steven Pacey fans
* E-Man-Uelle, the first B7 slash zine
* The Hereld Collection of Blake's 7 zines at the Univesity of Iowa
* Boucher, Backbone and Blake - The Legacy of Blake's 7 by Erin Horáková, at Strange Horizons (2016)
== References ==
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