Editing Blake's 7 (section)

== Merchandise ==
Terry Nation had done well financially from commercial exploitation of the ''Doctor Who'' Daleks, and recognised the potential for merchandise related to ''Blake's 7''.<ref name="Bignell-ODay-2004a">{{cite book |last1=Bignell |first1=Jonathan |last2=O'Day |first2=Andrew |title=Biographical sketch, Terry Nation |location=Manchester |publisher=Manchester University Press |year=2004 |pages=9–24 |isbn=978-0-7190-6547-7}}</ref> Nation and his agent Roger Hancock discussed this with Ray Williams of BBC Merchandising in December 1976. By May 1977, twenty-seven items of merchandise had been proposed for release by companies including [[Palitoy]], [[Letraset]] and [[Airfix]]. However, only a small quantity of these was ever made available.<ref name="Pixley-2002"/>

A small number of toys and models were produced. During 1978, [[Corgi Classics Limited|Corgi Toys]] produced a {{convert|2|in|cm|-long|adj=mid|spell=in}} die-cast model of ''Liberator'' with a transparent rear globe. This was re-released the following year in silver with a model space shuttle, and in blue on its own. Also during 1979, Blue Box Toys produced three space vehicle toys that featured the series logo; however, these had never appeared in the television programme.<ref name="B7 Programme Guide/Merchandise"/> Comet Miniatures produced a {{convert|9|in|cm|-long|adj=mid|spell=in}} injection-moulded model kit of ''Liberator'' in 1989, which contained many parts. They also produced a two-inch, white metallic ''Liberator'' model, and a three-inch Federation trooper figure.<ref name="B7 Programme Guide/Merchandise"/> A ''Scorpio'' clip gun, and ''Liberator'' and ''Scorpio'' teleport bracelets, were also produced.<ref name="B7SS"/>

The children's programme ''[[Blue Peter]]'' offered a cheaper home-made alternative to fans who wanted merchandise. In its 23 February 1978 show, presenter [[Lesley Judd]] demonstrated how to create a replica ''Liberator'' teleport bracelet from common household objects. This was followed on 6 June 1983, when presenter [[Janet Ellis]] demonstrated a similar method of making a replica ''Scorpio'' bracelet.<ref name="B7SS"/>

=== Music ===
The sheet music of the ''Blake's 7'' theme was published by [[Chappell & Co.]] Ltd during 1978 with a photograph of ''Liberator'' on the front cover.<ref name="B7 Programme Guide/Merchandise"/> A stereo re-recording of Dudley Simpson's theme music, in a markedly different arrangement to the original, was also released as a single, with ''The Federation March'' (a piece of incidental music from the episode ''Redemption'') on the B-side.<ref name="B7SS"/> The ''Blake's 7'' theme was also released on an album ''BBC Space Themes'', and ''Liberator'' was featured on the album sleeve. Another version of the theme, "Blake's 7 Disco", was recorded by Federation and released during 1979 on Beeb Records with a B-side unconnected with the series.<ref name="B7 Programme Guide/Merchandise"/> Many of the sound effects from the series were released during 1981 as an album, ''[[BBC Sound Effects No. 26: Sci-Fi Sound Effects]]'', and re-released later on CD as ''Essential Science Fiction Sound Effects Vol. 1''.<ref name="B7 Programme Guide/Merchandise"/>

=== Books and magazines ===
''Blake's 7'' books were produced by various authors and publishers. The first was entitled ''Blake's 7'', written by [[Trevor Hoyle]] and Terry Nation, and published during 1978 (novelising the first-series episodes ''The Way Back'', ''Space Fall'', ''Cygnus Alpha'' and ''Time Squad''). Its US title was ''Blake's 7&nbsp;– Their First Adventure''.<ref name="B7 Programme Guide/Merchandise"/> Hoyle wrote two more books of the series: ''Blake's 7: Project Avalon'' (1979, novelising the episodes ''Seek–Locate–Destroy'', ''Duel'', ''Project Avalon'', ''Deliverance'' and ''Orac'' from the first series) and ''Blake's 7: Scorpio Attack'' (1981, novelising the episodes ''Rescue'', ''Traitor'' and ''Stardrive'' from the fourth series).<ref name="Novel">{{Cite journal | last = Pixley | first = Andrew |date=Winter 1994 | title = A Novel Approach | journal = Blake's 7 Winter Special | page = 51 | issn = 1353-761X}}</ref> Publications continued to be issued after the series had ended. Tony Attwood's ''Blake's 7: The Programme Guide'', published by Target during 1982, is a factual overview of the series with a detailed episode guide, an encyclopedia, and interviews with the cast and writers. It was re-issued by Virgin Books during 1994.<ref name="B7 Programme Guide/Merchandise"/> Attwood also wrote an original novel named ''Afterlife'', which is set after the final episode and was published by Target during 1984.<ref name="B7 Programme Guide/Merchandise"/> Another original novel, ''[[Avon: A Terrible Aspect]]'' by Paul Darrow, told the story of Avon's early years before he met Blake, and was published during 1989.<ref name="Novel"/>

[[World Distributors]] produced ''Blake's 7 [[Annual publication|Annuals]]'' for 1979, 1980 and 1981. These featured stories, games, artwork and articles about space.<ref name="B7 Programme Guide/Merchandise"/> During October 1981 [[Marvel UK]] began publishing the monthly ''Blake's 7'' magazine, which included a comic strip by Ian Kennedy as well as text stories, features and photographs. Twenty-five issues including two 'specials' were published, until the magazine closed during August 1983.<ref name="B7 Programme Guide/Merchandise"/><ref name="Novel"/> Marvel produced two 'special' magazines during 1994 and 1995, with much of the content written by television historian Andrew Pixley and about how the series was made. Seven issues of ''Blake's 7 Poster Magazine'' were published between December 1994 and May 1995.<ref>
{{Cite web
| url=http://www.anorakzone.com/blake/Poster.html
| title=Spin Offs: Poster Magazine
| access-date=13 November 2006
| author=Richard the Anorak
| work=The Anorak's Guide to Blake's 7
| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120209091500/http://www.anorakzone.com/blake/Poster.html
| archive-date=9 February 2012
| url-status=dead
| df=dmy
}}</ref>

Several books offering insight and background information to ''Blake's 7'' were produced, including ''Blake's 7: The Complete Guide'' by [[Adrian Rigelsford]] (Boxtree, 1995), ''Blake's 7: The Inside Story'' by Joe Nazzaro and Sheelagh Wells (Virgin, 1997), ''A History and Critical Analysis of Blake's 7'' by John Kenneth Muir (McFarland and Company, 1999), and ''Liberation. The Unofficial and Unauthorised Guide to Blake's 7'' by Alan Stevens and Fiona Moore (Telos, 2003).<ref>
{{Cite web
| url=http://www.anorakzone.com/blake/spinframes.html
| title=Spin Offs
| access-date=13 November 2006
| author=Richard the Anorak
| work=The Anorak's Guide to Blake's 7
| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120209091538/http://www.anorakzone.com/blake/spinframes.html
| archive-date=9 February 2012
| url-status=dead
| df=dmy
}}</ref>

=== Home video releases ===
During 1985 BBC Video issued four compilation videocassettes containing highlights from the first three series edited into 2 hour features. The first released was ''The Beginning'', containing excerpts from ''The Way Back'', ''Spacefall'', ''Cygnus Alpha'' and ''Time Squad''. ''Duel'' was released in 1986 with highlights of ''Seek–Locate–Destroy'', ''Duel'' and ''Project Avalon''. During the same year ''Orac'' was released, containing excerpts from ''Deliverance'', ''Orac'' and ''Redemption''. The first three tapes were available in both [[VHS]] and [[Betamax]] format. The final tape, ''The Aftermath,'' was released in Australia during 1986, with extracts from ''Aftermath'', ''Powerplay'' and ''Sarcophagus''. During 1990 all four tapes were re-released in the UK on VHS.<ref name="B7 Programme Guide/Merchandise">{{Cite book
| last = Davies
| first = Kevin
| title = Blake's 7: The Programme Guide.
| location = London
| isbn = 0-426-19449-7
| chapter = The Merchandise
| publisher = [[Virgin Books]]
| year = 1994
| pages = [https://archive.org/details/terrynationsblak00attw/page/198 198–207]
| author2 = Attwood, Tony
| author3 = Emery, Rob
| author4 = Ophir, Jackie
| chapter-url = https://archive.org/details/terrynationsblak00attw/page/198
}}</ref>

From 1991, BBC Video released ''Blake's 7'' in episodic order on 26 VHS cassettes with two episodes per tape.<ref name="B7SS"/> Canadian company BFS also released these in North America. During 1997, Fabulous Films company re-released these tapes in different packaging. The BBC and Fabulous Films planned to issue the series as four [[DVD-Video|DVD]] box sets, but this was disrupted by conflicts with rights-holders B7 Enterprises. These issues were resolved and one series per year was released on [[DVD region code#2|region 2]] DVD between 2003 and 2006. During 2007 [[Amazon (company)|Amazon]] sold a four-series box set, but a casualty of the difficulties with Blake's 7 Enterprises was ''The Making of Blake's 7'', a four-part documentary directed by [[Kevin Davies (director)|Kevin Davies]], intended originally as an extra feature with each DVD release. B7 Enterprises said it "&nbsp;... did not feel [the documentary] provided a proper tribute or fresh retrospective of the show".<ref>{{cite web |last=Rogerson |first=Steve |title=What is the way forward for Blake's 7? |url=http://www.blakes-7.co.uk/b7e/b7eint.shtml |url-status=dead |work=Louise and Simon's Blake's 7 Fan Site |date=November 2003 |access-date=17 January 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110929211301/http://www.blakes-7.co.uk/b7e/b7eint.shtml |archive-date=29 September 2011 |df=dmy}}</ref> The discs contained extra features including bloopers, out-takes, alternative scenes, voiceover commentaries, interviews and behind the scenes footage.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.dvdbits.com/reviews.asp?id=3034 |title=DVD and Blu-ray Reviews and News |work=DVD Bits |publisher=John Zois |author=Bruce Flynn |date=23 October 2005 |access-date=17 January 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111204234215/http://www.dvdbits.com/reviews.asp?id=3034 |archive-date=4 December 2011 |url-status=usurped}}</ref>

On 22 August 2024, the BBC announced it would be releasing ''Blake's 7: The Collection – Series 1'', a Blu-ray box set containing the entire first series newly remastered for the release. The set contains bonus features previously seen on the DVD release of the show alongside brand new bonus material, such as optional updated special effects on all 13 episodes, a feature-length documentary detailing the making of the first series, rare convention footage and the previous unreleased ''The Making of Blake's 7 documentary'' originally meant for the DVD release. The box set was released on 11 November 2024.<ref>{{cite AV media |author=BBC Studios |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=_MEREpHICIQ |title=Coming Soon – Blake's 7 – The Collection! {{!}} BBC Studios |date=22 August 2024 |access-date=24 August 2024 |via=YouTube}}</ref>

=== Gaming ===
A retro [[point-and-click adventure game]] was developed in 2017 for the [[Oric platform]], paying homage to the ''Blake's 7'' TV series, and is available as a free download.<ref>{{cite web |title=Defence Force – Games |url=https://www.defence-force.org/index.php?page=games&game=blakes7 |website=defence-force.org |access-date=27 August 2020}}</ref>