Sky1 has dropped plans to develop a remake of Blake’s 7. The project has been in development between the channel and B7 Productions since 2008, but the channel decided not to proceed in a statement released earlier last week.
“Following the development process we have decided not to produce Blake’s 7,” a spokeswoman for the channel told The Guardian. “However, Sky continues to invest heavily in original drama and it remains at the heart of our plans.”
B7 Productions, which is also involved in the acclaimed series of audio books related to Blake’s 7, released its own statement in response to the news, in which it stated that it would seek another partner for development. “Sky deciding to not proceed with the planned TV revival of Blake’s 7 is obviously disappointing, but the development process has resulted in the dynamic reinvention of this ‘branded’ series,” the company said. “As Sky were the minority broadcaster, there is a huge opportunity for investment in a TV series that is fully developed, has genuine global appeal and has exciting 360 degree exploitation opportunities. With much praised scripts from lead writers Richard Kurti and Bev Doyle (Going Postal) and 60 per cent of the finance already in place, by anyone’s standard we have pulled together a compelling package. We are confident that this reboot of Blake’s 7 has the creative and commercial credentials that will enable us to find a partner with the vision to recognise the strength and enduring appeal of the show and the opportunity it represents to produce a bold new drama series with significant international appeal.”
SciFiNow initially reported on the show’s development as it happened in 2008, with the mood being far more upbeat at the time. “This will be a big show and that’s why it’s taken much longer to make sure we get it right… Sky want to get it right,” B7 Production’s Andrew Mark Sewell told us. “There’s a lot of talent investing a great deal of effort to deliver a really strong show. It’s exciting times. We’ve just produced what we call a mood-trailer, to let the execs see – to give them a sense of the kind of attitude of the show. That’s had a strong response.”
B7 Productions declined a request for further comment.
