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A2: SPACE FALL

 

RADIO TIMES: Blake and his companions are on the prison space transporter bound for Cygnus Alpha. But Blake has no intention of spending the rest of his life as a convict on a penal planet.

Broadcast: Monday 9th January, 1978: 7.15pm-8.10pm, BBC 1

Writer: Terry Nation

Director: Pennant Roberts

"Listen to me. Wealth is the only reality. And the only way to obtain wealth is to take it away from somebody else." Avon 

GUEST CAST: Glyn Owen (Leylan), Leslie Schofield (Raiker), Norman Tipton (Artix), David Hayward (Teague), Brett Forrest (Krell), Tom Kelly (Nova), Michael Mackenzie (Dainer), Bill Weston (Garton)

FACT FILE

 

  • Space Fall was watched by 7.3m viewers.

 

  • The script was commissioned from Terry Nation on Friday 4th June, 1976.

 

  • The draft script still included the characters of Selman, Klein and Trent.

 

  • Filming at Ealing took place on Monday, 3rd October, 1977. This included the fight scene in the computer room and the scenes involving the transfer tube from the London to the Liberator.

 

  • Space Fall was the first episode of Blake's 7 to be recorded in studio. Recording took place from Tuesday 1st November, 1977 at BBC Television Centre.

 

  • The Liberator set was not fully built for this episode. 

 

  • Ian Scoones' design for 'Liberator 1' was dropped in favour of a design from Roger Murray-Leach. (See Image Gallery)

 

  • Roger Murray-Leach had intended the Liberator's green 'engine' to be egg-shaped but this was changed to a sphere for reasons of cost.

 

  • The Liberator model was built by Space Models in Feltham. It was cast in fibreglass and was extremely heavy.

 

  • A number of different size models of the Liberator were built. The largest was three feet long. 

 

  • Martin Bower detailed the large Liberator model with hundreds of tiny panel lines, shading & fine detail.

 

  • The moon that the prison ship London flies over was a prop reused from Space: 1999. The moon model was rotated by hand by none other than Mat Irvine.

 

  • A much smaller model of The London was built for shots where the London discovers the Liberator for the first time. 

 

  • The episode was novelised as part of Blake's 7: Their First Adventure. by Trevor Hoyle.

 

EPISODE GALLERY

Please click on the image for larger view and details.

 

 

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