Editing Blake's 7 (section)

== Production history ==
{{main|History of Blake's 7}}
Terry Nation had the idea for ''Blake's 7'' in a moment of inspiration during a pitch meeting with Ronnie Marsh, a BBC drama executive. Marsh was intrigued and immediately commissioned a pilot script. When he had seen the draft, Marsh approved ''Blake's 7'' for full development.<ref name="B7SS">Pixley, Andrew (1995). ''Blake's 7 Summer Special''. {{ISSN|1353-761X}}</ref> [[David Maloney]], an experienced BBC director, was assigned to produce the series and Chris Boucher was engaged as script editor. Nation was commissioned to write the thirteen episodes. Boucher's task was to expand and develop Nation's first drafts into workable scripts, but this became increasingly difficult as Nation started running out of ideas. Meanwhile, Maloney was struggling with the low budget available given the need for action and special effects. Despite these challenges ''Blake's 7'' was very popular, with some episodes exceeding ten million viewers. A second series was quickly commissioned.<ref name="B7SS"/>

The BBC engaged new writers for the subsequent series. It was decided that one of the regular characters should die, to demonstrate that Blake and his crew were not invincible. Gan, played by David Jackson, was chosen because Gan had been under-used and was the least popular character. Although ratings declined compared to the first series, the BBC commissioned a third.<ref name="B7SS"/> When Gareth Thomas and Sally Knyvette decided not to return, new characters were required so that the story could continue without its titular character. Suggestions for a replacement actor for Blake were rejected and Avon became more prominent in the story. New characters Del Tarrant, portrayed by Steven Pacey, and Dayna Mellanby, portrayed by Josette Simon, were introduced.<ref name="B7SS"/>

''Blake's 7'' was not expected to be recommissioned after the third series and there was surprise when during 1980 a further series was announced as the third series ended. [[Bill Cotton]], BBC Head of Television, had watched ''Terminal'' and enjoyed it greatly. He telephoned the presentation department and ordered them to make the announcement.<ref name="Liberation-Cotton"/> David Maloney was unavailable to work on a fourth series, and [[Vere Lorrimer]] became the producer. He introduced new characters, a new spacecraft – ''Scorpio'' – and its computer Slave. Jan Chappell (who played Cally) decided that she did not want to return, and was replaced by [[Glynis Barber]] as Soolin.

Gareth Thomas made a final appearance as Blake and insisted that his character be killed in a definitive manner. Although the fourth series performed satisfactorily in the ratings, ''Blake's 7'' was not renewed again and the final episode had an ambiguous finale. Except for Blake, whose death was contractual, the characters were shown being attacked in such a way that their survival would have been possible had a fifth series been commissioned. The final episode, titled "Blake", was broadcast on 21 December 1981.<ref name="B7SS"/>

Although Blake's 7 never crossed over with ''[[Doctor Who]]'' during its initial run, Gareth Thomas was open to the idea as he was close friends with ''Doctor Who'' star [[Tom Baker]], and the two wanted to be 'briefly crossing paths' with one another before going their separate ways. Ultimately, the idea was scrapped.<ref>{{Cite web| title=Gareth Thomas and Tom Baker wanted Blake's 7 to crossover with Doctor Who| url=https://www.digitalspy.com/tv/a790626/gareth-thomas-and-tom-baker-wanted-blakes-7-to-crossover-with-doctor-who/| author=Morgan Jeffrey| website=[[Digital Spy]]| date=14 April 2016| access-date=11 February 2019}}</ref>