Microsoft Resurrects Brit 'Dirty Dozen In Space' For Xbox One

[Karloff]

Microsoft Resurrects Brit 'Dirty Dozen In Space' For Xbox One


Microsoft is taking its original TV programming seriously.

If you have tears of nostalgia prepped and ready to go, prepare to shed them now: Microsoft, in an effort to snag original TV programming for its Xbox One, will remake British science fiction classic Blake's Seven. Also known fondly as Dirty Dozen in space, the show was to be remade by NBC for its SyFy channel, but it seems the folks in Redmond had other ideas. What's that, you say? You have no idea what Blake's Seven's all about? Take a look at good old Avon, the people's friend, possibly the originator of the phrase "I'm not expendable, I'm not stupid, and I'm not going." Incidentally, if you didn't already know about the ending, don't try to find out. It's the kind of thing childhood nightmares are made of.

Blake's Seven, created back in 1978 by Terry Nation of Doctor Who fame - Exterminate! - tells the story of interstellar renegade Blake, first seen brainwashed and left to rot in a penal colony. He escapes with some of his fellow prisoners, hijacking an alien spacecraft which he soon turns into his personal war machine, the Liberator. The Federation wants his hide nailed to a wall, but he and his crew of misfits manage to evade the clutches of Supreme Commander Servalan [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SrrieRETtQQ] time and again. SyFy wanted to turn it into a 13 episode series, but there's no telling what Microsoft intends to do with it. However Microsoft has nicked the fella who was going to do it for SyFy, Goldeneye director Martin Campbell, so it clearly intends to go all-out with its new toy.

Blake's Seven is one of those properties that fans adore, in spite of its shaky sets and dodgy special effects. Maybe Microsoft's hoping for a bit of that Doctor Who magic, but a lot's going to depend on how seriously it intends to take the show. It was always a little more hard-edged than the average space opera; whether or not it'll keep that edge now it's a Xbox One exclusive remains to be seen.

Source: Guardian [http://www.theguardian.com/media/2013/aug/15/microsoft-blakes-7-xbox-one-bbc]


Permalink

 

[fix-the-spade]

So how are they going to do this? Are they aiming for syndication or what? They've all got to die by the end but could Microsoft ever be so brave with it's investment?

I dread to think what the Liberator's going to look like, the Lego and matchstick ships of the original had a lot of charm to them, not sure how the nominal home of video game Sperse Muhrines is going to get on with recreating charm.

Whatever happens I'm sure this will be entertaining, whether because it's good or we all get to point and laugh remains to be seen.

 

[Albino Boo]

It was more of an anti star trek than a dirty dozen in space and the later series were decidedly camp. I suspect they are thinking along the lines of the Battlestar reboot.

 

[Kmadden2004]

Well, I hope there'll be a blu-ray release later on down the line...

 

[PedroSteckecilo]

Well, I hope there'll be a blu-ray release later on down the line...

I just keep dreaming of a North American Release of ANY KIND instead of relying purely on badly ripped episodes... still... damn I love Blakes 7... so deliciously bleak.

 

[Vie]

Dear Microsoft.

I'm unlikely to buy your console, and garenteed not to use it as a media hub or subscribe to live. But I'd like to see your show.

When will it be available from sources I don't need to bleach my hands after using? (Aside obviously from the pirates who'll have it a week before you do.)

 

[Barciad]

Blakes Seven is easily one of favourite series from childhood, possibly second only to Doctor Who. Nothing would please me more than an HBO remake, thus doing to space opera, what Game of Thrones did for epic fantasy.
Ideal cast would be:-
Blake - Dominic West
Avon - Benedict Cumberbatch
Gena - Lena Headey
Villa - Simon Pegg

Servalan - ?????
Travis - James Purefoy

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

If Microsoft thinks this will get people to buy an Xbone and register for Gold, they're nuts. If the show is good all it'll do is get people to fire up those torrent clients.

I mean it might be a nice bonus to the people who are doing it anyway... but only if they forget that stuff like this is a big part of why they're paying for something that should be free.

Edit: Which is to say online multiplayer access should be free, not TV shows.

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

Servalan - ?????

Morena Baccarin

but it's going to be terrible so don't get your hopes up.

its not like the US has a proven track record of "getting" UK TV properties and doing a good job of remaking them...quite the opposite in fact.

Heck, America doesn't "get" remaking American TV properties. People[footnote]In the general sense. I hated it because it was a grimdark soap opera in space, which is not at all the same thing as a space opera despite what some people were saying at the time.[/footnote] loved BSG, but it took a light hearted action adventure show and turned it into some grimdark post-9/11 BS.

 

[Barciad]

Servalan - ?????

Morena Baccarin

but it's going to be terrible so don't get your hopes up.

its not like the US has a proven track record of "getting" UK TV properties and doing a good job of remaking them...quite the opposite in fact.

You have a point. British and American cultures and ideas as to what makes good TV can differ quite considerably. That being said, I distinctly remember enjoying the American version of The Office far more than the British original. This though was probably because, I am British and the one set in Slough felt less like a sitcom and more like a hard-hitting documentary showing why living and working in the UK is so darn depressing. But I digress.

There is also the small case of HBO, which these past 15 years has effortlessly churned out arguably the best TV every made. However, this is not being made by HBO is it. Your comments on what Microsoft have planned sound depressingly plausible. After all, who is this show being aimed at? The kind of middle-class, well read, geek crowd that lap up stuff like 'Game of Thrones' or 'Battle-star Galactica', or beer chugging frat boys to whom subtlety is a foreign language.

As for Morena Baccarin, I've only seen her in Serenity, so I can't really comment. Whoever plays her has to emanate undiluted malevolence through her very being, even (or should I say especially) when she smiles. Servalan remains one of the two greatest female villains (only Livia from 'I, Claudius can match it - incidentally, another classic BBC show from the 70's that the US is threatening to screw up) and so much of this was down to Jacqueline Pearce's performance.

I will also add, that shamefully, I never really had the chance to get into Firefly.