Blake's 7 (TV Series) Space Fall (1978) User Reviews

It really was excellent in these early years.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 9/10 · 21 January 2020]

The Prisoners are on route to Cygnus Alpha, Blake and his team hatch a plan to gain command of The Ship.

Considering the small budget they were obviously working with, they did a terrific job with this episode. The main positive for this episode, the writing, it's a particularly well written story, it's character driven, which takes away from the effects and sets etc. The intrigue about the strange ship is a key strength.

We glimpse The Liberator, and get some time on board, but as with the previous episode, it has a different flavour to the episodes that would follow. We have talk of The Federation, but still limited visibility of them.

We get personalities and traits of the main cast, and they deal with the unwanted extras.

I think the quality here does seem to coincide with the quality at the time in Dr Who. 9/10

Make some space in your schedule

[hte-trasme · 8/10 · 17 July 2010]

"Space Fall" continues the precedent set by the first episode of "Blake's 7" with excellent writing and an extraordinarily bleak version of its characters' world, and it fulfills its function extremely well. We are introduced to new characters gradually, so that we don't have to endure broad "meet the regulars" exposition, and we are introduced to them in action. This episode's dramatic action never lags, but by the end we have still been privy to a well-drawn conflict between the revolutionary idealism of Blake and the cynical pessimism of Avon.

We get a very grim vision of the Terran Federation's prison ship, with a first officer who is a sadistic murderer and clearly intends to be a rapist as well, and the eternal totalitarian rule that "There are other rules, but you'll find out what they are when you break them." All the while, the "baddie" elements of the captain and first officer here are still given a very human relationship.

The message of events here is no more sweetened either. When Blake does the only humane thing and admits defeat to save many lives, it spells the end of his revolution, and he only has a chance at reprieve and a ship to steal through the chance event of one appearing and the inhuman measure of using prisoners as essential miners' canaries.

The strongest element, though, is constant and well-developed tension, which holds up throughout as Blake plans and tries to implement his attempted takeover. The alien presence on the ship is left deliberately mysterious, and that helps to make it a fascinating rather than a frustrating one.

Who Needs A Budget When You've Got A Great Script ?

[Theo Robertson · 9/10 · 23 March 2013]

One problem with an ambitious show like this is that the budget can never really match the epic space opera rivals of STAR TREK or STAR WARS . It should be pointed out that BLAKE'S 7 isn't trying to emulate the feel good Americancentric STAR TREK and Nation got the go ahead for the show in 1975 two years before STAR WARS released . Anyone watching B7 expecting a similar type of show is in for a shocking surprise because telefantasy doesn't get anymore bleaker or nihilistic

Not having a big budget should never excuse a lack of compelling drama and despite having a very limited number of studio sets and zero location filming Terry Nation has managed to write a totally compelling thriller that perhaps is not too hot on the originality stakes featuring as it does the well worn prison escape story but one that totally holds the attention

It's interesting how slowly the characters are introduced and how understated Avon's initial appearance is as he's just another prisoner in a row of seats . This no fanfare introduction was very common in 1970s Hollywood cinema with Alan J Pakula being a notable proponent of this technique . Paul Darrow as Avon gets to show fairly early on why he's the iconic figure of the show - a bitter cynicism and selfishness that is the antithesis to Blake's idealism. No one knew it at this point but the series would eventually run to 52 episodes with Vila having the unique privilege of being the only character to appear in every single episode

Terry Nation keeps up his " This show's not children's television " ethos by again referring to Blake's paedophile conviction via Sub Commander Ryker who might look down on child molesters but won't think twice about raping Jenna if he gets the chance . In hindsight one wishes that the show had seen less of arch-villain Servelan and seen more of these one off villains like Ryker

Nation too also had a reputation for recycling plots and ideas and he uses a plot set-piece here that would be reused for his final DOCTOR WHO story Destiny Of The Daleks just over a year later that involves a group of hostages being shot one by one . The episode also contains a wonderful blend of black humour that is totally convincing such as the " Drop your weapons " scene . Compare it to the humour of contemporary DOCTOR WHO and see how well it works in this context

This episode also introduces The Liberator one of the most beautifully designed spaceships in the history of science fiction and a testament to how talented the BBC set designers were in those days . The interior set is very minimalist and all the better for it. Likewise the enigmatic air of mystery that surrounds the ship - where did the ship originate from and who were its original crew ? The answers aren't forth coming and you'll have to watch beyond season one of this classic show to find out

A fine episode

[ametaphysicalshark · 20 May 2008]

"Space Fall" is another interesting and excellently-written episode from the first season of Blake's 7. In this episode Blake, with help from Kerr Avon and Jenna Stanis, attempts to take the prison transport ship London under siege and upon failing are all sent to investigate an abandoned alien spaceship, which Blake decides to attempt an escape on.

Terry Nation proves that he has more of a talent for clever dialogue than most would give him credit for, with several exchanges in this episode being quite good. This is a good concept for the episode and continues to introduce us to the world we can expect to see for the next four seasons. Good stuff all around. Model work is excellent considering the amazingly low budget.

8/10