Carrie Dobro (Jenna) and India Fisher, who plays a new character...

REVIVED Playing our eponymous hero, Roj Blake is Derek Riddell (best known for his role as Jamie in No Angels and more recently seen opposite David Tennant as Sir Robert in series two of the new Doctor Who) and he attacks the role with energy and enthusiasm. Once Blake is awake and no longer feigning weakness, Riddell brings a steely resolve to the character. Reminiscent of a young Sean Connery, it’s clear from the start that Blake is a pragmatic idealist who, quite simply, doesn’t take any bull.

Next to be awoken is expert hacker Kerr Avon, played by Colin Salmon (best known for playing the character Charles Robinson in three James Bond films). Like all the actors his interpretation of Avon is different from the original performer’s – but he’s keen to remain true to the spirit of the character, who’s still coldly logical, just as he always was. With so many of the cast and crew being aficionados of the original series it’s impossible not to make comparisons at first - Colin Salmon himself describes Paul Darrow’s Avon as a ‘seminal’ performance’, but this is unapologetically a new Blake’s 7 and as such the actors are determined to make the characters their own.

It’s the turn of smuggler Jenna Stannis to be released from her deep sleep. Babylon 5’s Carrie Dobro goes from groggy to wildcat in under sixty seconds and, unlike the original character, stays that way. You can’t imagine Jenna becoming the Liberator-bound housewife that was arguably the fate of the original. This is one of the writers’ core aims; to reward Terry Nation’s characters with the sustained development they deserve and the actors clearly relish the opportunities that the scripts provide.

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© CJ Ravey / B7 Media 2007. All Rights Reserved.