TV Gold

Echoing Andy's (Priestner) comment on his website about books connected with Secret Army I thought I'd mention about books connected with Blakes Seven...

First up...

Terry Nation's Blakes Seven (Novelisation by Trevor Hoyle)
204 page paperback (my copy is in mint condition!)
Published by : Sphere Books Limited 1977 = 85p
ISBN - 0 7221 63215

content covering - 'The Way Back', 'Space Fall', 'Cygnus Alpha' & 'Time Squad'

back cover blurb-

GALACTIC FREEDOM FIGHTERS!

Exiled from Dome City where a vicious regime wields dictatorial power - Roj Blake swears vengeance on the corrupt leaders who have destroyed his future.

Hijacking the Liberator, the most advanced spacecraft ever created, Blake travels to the sinister planet Cygnus Alpha. There, risking the dreaded
Curse of Cygnus, he rescues other victims of the regime from the megalomaniac Vargas...

And with these allies he forms a fighting force to combat galactic injustic: BLAKE'S SEVEN.

From the latest spectacular television drama series by Terry Nation, creator of Survivors and other smash-hit TV successes, top British science fiction author Trevor Hoyle has written a gripping novel of speed space action, adventure and intrigue.

The cover photograph shows the spaceship Liberator from the BBC-TV production of Blake's 7 produced by David Maloney and designed by Roger Murray-Leach. BBC copyright photograph by Bob Komer.

secondly...

Terry Nation's Blake's Seven - Project Avalon (Novelisation by Trevor Hoyle)
191 page paperback
Arrow Books 1979 = £1.00
ISBN - 0 09 919340X

content covering - 'Seek-Locate-Destroy', 'Duel', 'Project Avalon' & 'Orac'

back cover blurb -

DETECTORS CONFIRM MASSIVE LAUNCH OF LONG RANGE INTERCEPTORS.
LOCKED ON TO LIBERATOR'S COURSE AND IN PURSUIT.

ALONG AGAINST THE MIGHT OF THE FEDERATION, AN ARMY OF
ANDROIDS - AND PROJECT AVALON!

From the arid wastes of Amersat, Planet of the Dead, to the oceans of acid on the planet Aristos Roj Blake and his crew on board the Liberator wage a deadly war against the forces of galactic oppression.

But now the Federation's Supreme Commander Serverland, and her lieutenant, the evil and embittered Space Commander Travis, are launched upon a plan that cannot fail. Their aim : to capture the Liberator, to tracp and destroy Blake's Seven and to defeat for ever the freedom fighters of the universe!

thirdly...

Terry Nation's Blake's Seven - Scorpio Attack (a sci-fi adventure by Trevor Hoyle)
based on the scripts written by Chris Boucher, James Follett, Robert Holmes
156 page paperbackBBC Books 1981 = £1.50
ISBN - 0 563 200146

content covering - 'Rescue', 'Traitor' & 'Stardrive'

back cover blurb-

BLAKE'S SEVEN : THEY FIGHT FOR THE FREEDOM OF SPACE

After the Atomic Wars there emerged from the ensuing chaos a Dictatorship so powerful that it enmeshed the majority of Earth-populated worlds known as the Federation, it grew in power until the hard-won freedom of the people it ruled disappeared.

Blake himself began the sole resistance against the might of the Federation. Now he is lost - perhaps for ever - but in his pioneering footsteps come his gallant followers known as BLAKE'S SEVEN.

In their new ship, the Scorpio, they carry on their heroic and dangerous fight for Liberty...

Cover photograph shows from l-r STEVEN PACY as Tarrant, JOSETTE SIMON as Dayna, PAUL DARROW as Avon, MICHAEL KEATING as Vila and GLYNIS BARBER as Soolin in the BBC-TV series BLAKE'S SEVEN created by TERRY NATION and produced by VERE LORRIMER. BBC copyright photograph by Joan Williams.

a couple more posts coming from me on this subject...

More an information book the next which is...

Terry Nation's Blakes 7 - The Programme Guide
The definitive handbook to the BBC TV series complied by Tony Attwood
Target Book 1983 (£1.75)
ISBN : 0 426 19449 7
this includes thirteen black and white photos spread over eight central pages.

back cover blurb reads:-

'A must for every true fan' - Blake's 7 Monthly'

This unique commemorative volume celebrates one of the most important developments in television drama for over a decade - BLAKE'S 7. Avidly watched by an average of 10 million people in Britain, and watched in 25 countries, BLAKE'S 7 took the BBC by storm: By 1981, fan clubs were springing up everywhere, and a BLAKE'S 7 magazine had established a circulation of 40,000 copies. And now - the definitive handbook. This guide includes

* An introduction by Terry Nation, series creator

* Full story-lines and cast lists of every episode

* Writer profiles

* The index - a complete reference to the world of BLAKE'S 7

* Interviews with the actors and programme makers - including Paul Darrow (Avon) and Michael Keating (Vila)

* Fan club details

AND MUCH MORE!

Just had a look over at play.com's book section and see that they list a couple of titles...

The more commonly known 'unnofficial fan' publication...

http://www.play.com/Books/Books/4-/336189/Liberation/Product.html

The other, however, I've not heard of before and might be something that at some point I'll have to get my hands on...

http://www.play.com/Books/Books/4-/1610683/A-History-and-Critical-Analysis-of-Blake-7-the-1978-1981-British-Television-Space-Adventure/Product.html