The B7 Xmas Special (i)

Although arguably Doctor Who's sister show, Blake's 7 has had nowhere near the same level of research into its production history which in turn leads to surprising revelations that take even hardcore fans by surprise - from the original idea of Dayna being raised by dog-people to the unheralded cross-promotion with the Wimpy's food chain with Avon and Scorpio. Often the case is unless it was properly publicized by the BBC, the general public had no idea of its existence and that includes the almost totally-forgotten Christmas special.

Dubbed Marooned for clarity, the episode's origin came from mid-1980. Bill Cotton, Head of BBC Television, had been so impressed by the quality of Terminal that he wanted a further series commissioned. Although legend has it he rang up the BBC during the episode's broadcast to demand a last-minute announcement to the effect, it happened months earlier and was by no means as easy as it appeared. With no Liberator or Zen, Blake and Servalan killed off and the cast looking for work elsewhere, it seemed nigh-impossible to revive the show.

Obscure contractual clauses did offer an alternative. Blake's 7 had the option of a further hour-long Christmas special, as many BBC series had in case they were forced to end prematurely - the yuletide episode would act as an epilogue to provide closure for any plot-threads and act as proper farewell. This meant it would be possible for another episode post-Terminal featuring the main cast plus Gareth Thomas and Jacqueline Pearce who were also under contract. With Terry Nation unavailable and Chris Boucher working with Vere Lorrimer to try and structure a fourth season, Cotton had ended up commissioning an episode with no one to write it.

Hastily-drafted in to fill the gap were writers Norman Ashby and David Agnew who often acted as "damage control" in such circumstances, with a fast return on writing easily-recorded and produced scripts. They also had extensive experience on Doctor Who and other sci-fi credentials. Cotton gave them a list of elements to include, including an order to "revive" Blake, Servalan and Zen and provide conventional Christmas motifs to the episode suggesting a snow planet, the crew getting presents to play with, and even a cameo by Father Christmas.

Ashby, having little to no knowledge of Blake's 7, happily worked out a plot which was did not fit the series at all - clearly inspired by Star Trek, Blake and Servalan were alive and part of a military-based star crew on a team-building exercise. Agnew worked to synch the script more in line with events in Terminal. Here, the crew tried to cheer themselves up after the loss of the Liberator by opening presents found in Servalan's base and going to play with them in the snowy surface. After Tarrant accidentally destroyed the ship Servalan left behind, Santa Claus arrived complete with reindeer to rescue the crew.

Boucher found the ideas ridiculous though he admitted he liked Agnew's suggestion that, upon meeting Santa, Avon would shoot him and steal the reindeer. Boucher offered some input into the script to reduce the whimsy and suggested Santa be replaced by a character - dubbed "Noel" - who traveled in a freighter delivering supplies who would fulfill the idea. He then married this idea to a Doctor Who script he was reworking for B7, a sci-fi version of The Picture of Dorian Grey with the titular immortal now a serial killer kept alive with alien technology.

Boucher's script - initially entitled Recovery, then Rescue - kept the idea of the crew being saved from the snowy Terminal by a benefactor who gave them all gifts and took them home for a feast, but ran into trouble at learning Jan Chappell was not interested in returning to the show. She missed Sally Knyvette and had found the scripts in the last series disappointing, as well as wanting to spend more time with the family. Although contracted to return for the Christmas episode, she wanted her character killed off dramatically. As such, Rescue had to be restructured to introduce Cally's replacement and other scripts likewise rewritten.

Ashby and Agnew resumed work on Marooned, taking Boucher's notes for the character of Dorian and naming his ship Scorpio (Agnew mistakenly believed that was the star-sign for those born during Christmas) and the flight computer Slave (evoking the "sleigh" Santa used). Tying in closely with the written material, the pair expanded on the Dorian sequences and added a "Mrs. Claus" character which would ultimately turn into Soolin. They also came up with Servalan surviving the destruction of the Liberator by teleporting aboard Scorpio and added lines to hint Zen also endured within Slave.

With the Scorpio scenes set to be filmed as part of Rescue, the writers decided to add as much stock footage from previous episodes as possible - most specifically Terminal, Moloch and Underworld - which totaled up to ten minutes of run-time. However, only two Terminal-based sequences of Rescue (the destruction of Servalan's ship and the crew discussing their options around a campfire) were available and the writers had only vague ideas for the rest of the plot as it would follow character-based drama around characters they were unfamiliar with.

Although the studio sequences were planned out, the location shoot was still undecided even when the cast and crew arrived at Perton Hill to start shooting. The lack of "Christmas snow" delayed filming for another day, while Thomas was angry to learn that he wasn't actually required to film any scenes. Chappell, likewise dissatisfied with the sloppy production and the fact the script had not been changed to kill Cally off, left without filming her only requirement - a sequence where she climbed out of, and then back into, the underground complex set. Michael Keating had to improvise the explosive scene and won a bet with Steven Pacey so Tarrant would be unconscious and get no lines or heroic action. Similarly, the sequence where Avon and Dayna encounter the links and then find the base has exploded was worked out entirely between the actors on location. Lines were also added to the campfire scene that Cally had perished.

Agnew and Ashby had not progressed any further on the script, finding it hard to utilize the "Christmas present" idea - though traces remained in Vila's new outfit, Avon's "telescope" rangefinder and the "family argument" over how to spend the day. The writers were reluctant to do any further work without clarity over whether Chappell would actually be willing to film material, and believed her behavior was unacceptable. By this time, Boucher and Lorrimer were too busy to help but strongly advised Cotton fire "the AA" and hire another writer. Robert Holmes, working on two scripts for the new series, was put forward to take over but instead recommended his good friend Robin Bland who had done wonders with the Doctor Who story The Brain of Morbius.

Bland set to work, using the scripts of Terminal and Rescue, to work out a proper character arc for the main characters. Aware of Cotton's desire to resurrect Blake but the production team's certainty the character was dead, Bland compromised by re-using the illusionary Blake from the previous episode. He also tied in the script to Boucher's Weapon with the acknowledgement that there was a clone of Blake out there somewhere, suggesting a final sequence to show the clone alive and well. As this would be Cally's last episode, Bland decided to focus on her and give her as heroic a send-off as possible with her bravely sending Vila and Tarrant to safety while she braved the explosion. She would also be vindicated in her belief that Blake was alive with the clone "hearing" her dying telepathic cry in the closing scene.

Chappell was reluctant to return to the "shambles" but agreed to two days filming, one in studio and one at the Perton village hall with the illusionary Blake (as per Terminal's production). Due to this, Chappell did not work with Josette Simon on this last episode, which both actors regretted. For the redressed underground base post explosions, inserts were added of Chappell in burnt, bloody-makeup and an extra in a wig was let for Avon to find.

Although filming was completed just inside the deadline, work continued as Mary Ridge returned for the filming of Rescue and was dissatisfied with the already-recorded footage. Several scenes on Terminal were refilmed, with the destroyed ship replaced with stock footage and a new sequence of Dayna being threatened by a giant snake as the link scene was considered too poor. The remounted campfire scene was truncated, and the scene where Avon agrees to find if Cally survived was dropped. Meanwhile, Geoffrey Burridge and Glynis Barber were on the new Scorpio and Xenon sets with Jacqueline Pearce for her survival and dispatch to Carthensis (a planet named in Boucher's Star One), none of which would appear in Rescue.

Finally a new, Liberator-free title sequence was developed using a heads-up display of a flight computer over the previous animated material of pursuit ships. This version was only used on Marooned, being reworked to show the launch from an alien planet with model work that better showed off the graphics and a new logo - with a sniper-rifle's cross-hairs rather than the Federation insignia - being used from Rescue onwards.

 

Lorrimer and Cotton disliked Marooned's disjointed plot which mainly showed things exploding and acted little more than a prologue for Rescue. The Christmas elements were barely noticeable and the long stretches of silent inaction - particularly the establishing shots of Terminal and Xenon Base's basement - were tedious. It was also felt the dialogue was functional and repetitious with only Avon's scenes with Vila and Cally having any spark. The last straw was discovering that the fourth series of Blake's 7 was scheduled for the end of 1981 and while having Marooned at the end would ensure it came out at Christmas, the plot would be incoherent after the previous thirteen episodes set after it. Since Rescue was clearly the better season opener, Marooned was ultimately not shown in 1981 at all. It would ultimately be screened after the repeat season the next year for the Christmas 1982 lineup with little fanfare, following the statement it would not resolve the cliffhanger of Blake. The reused scenes lead several reviewers to believe it was actually just a repeat of Rescue without any new material.

Marooned's unusual status meant it was not syndicated with the rest of the fourth season and thus never seen outside of Britain. Nor was it released on video - though there were plans for a fifth compilation special after The Beginning, Duel, Orac and The Aftermath for Scorpio Attack, an edit of Terminal, Marooned, Rescue, Power and Traitor that never came to fruition. Both DVD releases failed to include it and it was discovered by accident during the archive cataloguing of 2018 where its description of "Season 4 ep 1" meant it was only seen by chance.

And now, at last, it can be told...