Rebel (2007) Review

Rebel is an effective modern reimagining of Blake's 7, although its Syfy style does rob the series of its original dystopian grittiness.

WRITTEN BY

Ben Aaronovitch, who was a fairly successful writer during the last few years of Doctor Who. He's clearly got a good sense of what the fans want.

PLOT

Roj Blake, framed pedophile and political dissident takes the oppurtunity to escape from the corrupt Terran Federation's grasp when he's assigned to help recover a derelict alien spaceship. With the help of cocksure pilot Jenna, self-interested technician Avon and ex-trooper Mezin, he takes the ship to the penal colony of Cygnus Alpha to recruit a crew in the hopes of fighting back at last.

ANALYSIS

I had a great time listening to this. There's a clear focus on trying to make this new take on the show as approachable and defined as possible for potential new fans. The time difference between contemporary Earth and the future presented here has been shortened by several hundred years, so we still hear recognisable aspects of our culture like London, helicopters, apartment complexes etc.

The storyline has also been significantly streamlined so the episode moved along at a quick, brisk pace. It's an entertaining, well-constructed remake with a good replacement cast and I could see it being very successful if it was on television.

However, it is very much not Terry Nation's Blake's 7. Nation was a writer whose interest was centered around dystopia and the darker sides of human nature. That aspect has been almost entirely skipped over and is used more as an excuse to get Blake and his crew something to do as opposed to being a strong motif. The remake lacks the cynical edge and sense of constant danger from the original and is a much more lighthearted space adventure.

CHARACTERS

Rather than following Gareth Thomas's slightly chubby everyman, Derek Riddell reinvents Blake as a classic square-jawed lead with a charming Scottish brogue. He is more immediately likable, but there's little of the fiery passion for freedom. One gets the sense that this Blake is more of a troublemaker than someone taking a stand.

Colin Salmon doesn't have much to do here, but his take on Avon doesn't seem to differ much from Paul Darrow's. There's the same natural authority and keen self-preservation. He isn't written to be nearly as cutting as the original Avon though, which is a shame as barbed wit is one of the character's primary trademarks.

Carrie Dobro as an American Jenna Stannis brings, well, an American sensibility to her character. She's more quirky, exaggerated and outspoken, fitting the space smuggler backstory.

India Fisher plays a new character, a Federation trooper who is forced to defect when she is abandoned. I'm hoping her previous loyalty won't just be forgotten and we can get some tension out of what she will do next(since there's no blueprint for her in the original).

I really loved Dean Harris as Vila. Just the fact that he's so much older than Keating's Vila gives the character a more eccentric flavor. In contrast, Owen Aaronovitch is basically doing a David Jackson impression and the character doesn't seem changed at all. If anything, he's got even less to do now.

Daniela Nardini and Craig Kelly are alright substitutes as Servalan and Travis, both sounding as more reserved, less flamboyant versions of Jacqueline Pearce and Brian Croucher, respectively. It was fun to see them in a personal environment, with hints of lives outside of their duties.

Robin of Sherwood's Michael Praed(whose calm and collected demeanour reminded me a lot of Paul McGann) was a terrific addition to the cast, and I'm glad they didn't kill him off in the manner of the original episode. I almost wanted to see a spin-off just about Soris, Vila and Gan surviving on Cygnus Alpha, because that trio had such a good chemistry.

NOTES

*This audio drama is the first part of the "A Rebellion Reborn" trilogy, created by B7 Productions in an effort to reboot the series. B7 Productions was partially founded by original Avon actor Paul Darrow, but he parted from the company due to creative differences.

*I was a bit worried when the episode didn't start out with the classic B7 theme, but it's fortunately still in the incidental music.

*Blake is established as a senior engineer. His job in the original series was never revealed, although it was heavily implied to be scientific.

*The script emphasizes the judge's independence from typical Federation manipulation, but this just seems to be dropped a few scenes later, where she ends up giving Blake a guilty verdict anyway. It's implied she was somehow coerced, but I would've liked for her to have one more scene establishing how exactly, maybe between her and Servalan.

*Unlike the original show's space travel, which is similar to Star Trek, here the ships have to "jump" around from place to place, and they can't go directly to their destination. There is also apparently no teleport system - instead Blake uses a shuttle to get to the ground.

*The battle sequence between Blake's group and the Liberator's robots was very unclear, and one of the few moments where the direction really dropped the ball. I had no idea what exactly was happening.

*Dean Harris(Vila) also appeared in the original Blake's 7, in the episode Warlord. He played Zukan's assistant Finn.

*Was the "oh sh-" really necessary?

*What happened to the rest of the prisoners? Did they also get to the Cygnus village? We never seem to hear from anyone except Vila, Gan and Soris.

INFORMATION

*The episode is a loose adaptation of The Way Back, Space Fall and Cygnus Alpha, all written by Terry Nation.

*A few of the oneliners are reused from those episodes, namely "I hate personal violence, especially when I'm the person!" and  "Who was number one?" "The guy who caught him.".

BEST QUOTE AVON QUOTE

"There is a point where unwarranted optimism becomes a pathology."

CONCLUSION

A fun yarn, and I look forward to where it's going, but it's not quite as special as the original.