Sapphire and Steel - Assignment 1

Assignment 1
Original air date UK - 10 July to 26 July 1979
A happy family lives in an 18th century house filled with clocks and antiques. One night, a nursery rhyme ("Ring a Ring o' Roses") read aloud to Helen, the little girl, triggers a time fracture that takes away her parents. As Rob, Helen's older brother, tries to understand what has happened, two mysterious strangers appear, promising to fix things. Sapphire and Steel eventually gains Rob's trust and work out a solution to the problem. Lead also arrives to provide assistance.





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The Quatermass Conclusion - 1979

Quatermass (also known as The Quatermass Conclusion or Quatermass IV) is a British television science fiction serial produced by Euston Films for Thames Television and broadcast on the ITV network in October and November 1979. Like its three predecessors, Quatermass was written by Nigel Kneale. It is the fourth and final television serial to feature the character of Professor Bernard Quatermass. Influenced by the social and geopolitical situation of the early nineteen-seventies and the hippie youth movement of the late nineteen-sixties, Quatermass is set in a near future in which large numbers of young people are joining a cult, the “Planet People”, and gathering at prehistoric sites, believing they will be transported to a better life on another planet. The series begins with Professor Quatermass arriving in London to look for his granddaugher, Hettie Carlson, and witnessing the destruction of two spacecraft and the disappearance of a group of Planet People at a stone circle by an unknown force. He investigates this force, believing that Hettie may be in danger. As the series progresses, it becomes apparent that the Planet People are being harvested rather than transported. Professor Quatermass must devise a way to destroy the aliens before many more people die. Quatermass was originally conceived as a BBC production, but after they lost faith in the project, due to spiralling costs, production was halted. The scripts were taken by Euston Films and Kneale, now working for independent television, was commissioned to rewrite the scripts into two versions: a four-part television serial and The Quatermass Conclusion, a 100-minute film, intended for international theatrical release














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SYFY Confirms Blakes 7 Remake

“Syfy will develop the cult UK classic adventure-sci-fi series Blake’s 7, teaming with Georgeville Television and producer Marc Rosen.”

With Terry Nation’s most famous creations, the Daleks, returning to TV in Doctor Who next weekend, Syfy have chosen just the right moment to announce that they’re developing a US revamp of the writer’s fondly-remembered sci-fi drama Blake’s 7.
In a statement, the network said: “Syfy will develop the cult UK classic adventure-sci-fi series Blake’s 7, teaming with Georgeville Television and producer Marc Rosen.”
The gritty BBC1 show, which Nation described as “the Dirty Dozen in space”, ran for four series in Britain from 1978-1981. It chronicled the adventures of Roj Blake, a political dissident who escaped from an intergalactic prison, stole an abandoned space ship and lead a posse of ragamuffins on a mission across the galaxy.
Despite its pitiful budget and sub-Pertwee era Doctor Who special effects, the show was hugely popular in its day and famously signed off with one of the most depressing finales in TV history.  Blake and the rest of the show’s characters were gunned down on camera.
Plans are now afoot to re-launch the show in the States, and Syfy have drafted in Casino Royale director Martin Campbell to oversee a pilot episode of the show based on script by Heroes screenwriter Joe Pokaski, which, if the network likes what it sees, will lead to a full 13-episode series.
Fans of the original are predictably up in arms about the re-boot, worrying about what sort of job Syfy might do with the show. One the one hand, it might be an insult to the show’s memory, like the 2009 remake of The Prisoner was to its source material, but on the other it may prove to be a similar success to Battlestar Galactica, another ‘70s sci-fi TV series which was re-imagined to great acclaim in 2004.
If you’re feeling strongly about the news, let us know your thoughts below or this thread on our Facebook group

Source - Radio Times


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SYFY To Develop Remake Of Blakes 7

Cable channel that successfully rebooted Battlestar Galactica orders pilot of Terry Nation's hit 70s sci-fi show

Martin Campbell and Joe Pokaski

Blake’s 7, the Georgeville Television-produced reboot of the cult British adventure/sci-fi series, has landed at Syfy. The cable network will develop the remake, which will be written by Joe Pokaski (Heroes) and directed by feature helmer Martin Campbell (Casino Royale). The project was taken out to US networks last month by Georgeville, the independent TV studio co-founded earlier this year by Leon Clarance of Motion Picture Capital, the financing arm of Reliance Entertainment, and producer Marc Rosen. Blake’s 7 has a script-to-series commitment, meaning that if Syfy likes the script, it will greenlight the project as a 13-episode series. Georgeville employed the same model with its first series, Neil Cross’s Crossbones, which will premiere on NBC in midseason.

GVTV acquired the rights to the Blake’s 7 franchise from rightsholder Andrew Sewell and his company B7 Media with funding provided by MPC. Campbell, Pokaski, Clarance, MPC’s Deepak Nayar and Sewell will executive produce.

Source - Deadline.com
Source - Guardian.co.uk


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Blakes 7 Paul Darrow Interview 1987

Paul Darrow Interview with George Sampson 1987




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