These posts will look back on the different crew line-ups we had on Blake's 7 over the years, the characters' relationships with one other and the development that the actors and the writers gave to them.
SERIES A
Name: Roj Blake.
Role on the ship: Leader of the crew, engineer of unknown specification.
Much like the Robin Hood template he is based on, Blake drives the majority of the action in the show's first season. He kickstarts the mutiny on the London, he gathers a crew, it's him that the villains are after and it's he who goes on the vast majority of missions (the sole exception being Deliverance, which was a last minute rewrite).
Blake represents humanity as we know it now (or in 1978, as it were), with the moral and ethical standards that follow. It's this humanity that makes him stand out not only in the Federation, but even amongst his own crew, which is largely composed of justly prisoned criminals. It's also the main reason why so many of them are eager to follow him - he's the last person to stab anyone in the back. This gives Blake a kind of parental role over "the wayward children" (Avon and Vila in particular) whom he's gathered to do his bidding, and makes him the perfect audience surrogate in a cutthroat world. Through Blake's innocent, pacified eyes, we experience the Federation's cruelty. He then evolves into a terrific role model - Blake questions everything, demands his rights, isn't afraid to make his voice heard, but not in a grating, overbearing fashion. He's simply standing up for what's right. It's practically a blueprint for what a good person should do in an oppressive situation.
Jenna is the first to rally to the cause, giving them a special kind of camaraderie. There's numerous hints towards a romantic connection, which never quite materialises, but she is clearly the one he trusts and relies on the most (emphasized in Duel, when Sinofar chooses her as Blake's companion in the battlefield). Jenna seems to represent a kind of liasion between Blake and the criminal world. Having been a smuggler instead of an Alpha grade, she has a closer connection to the other prisoners than he does and often represents the rest of the crew in discussions with him. Vice versa, Jenna is the one who can persuade others that it is within their interest to help Blake.
Because of their wildly different worldviews, Avon and Blake were in conflict from their very first scene together. However, in this first season it's clear that Blake holds all the cards in that relationship. He is the undisputed leader of the crew, and understands Avon's personality well enough to know that he is a thinker, not a fighter. Even as early as Cygnus Alpha, Blake is totally unafraid of Avon aiming a gun at him. And if Blake represents what we should be, then Avon is most likely what we would be. His arguments against moral empathy are the ones that cynical viewers might come up with, and Blake provides an answer for each one. Which is not to say that Avon is an antagonistic character - you need the brain as well as the heart - but in Terry Nation's universe, the heart ultimately has the final say.
The connection between Blake and Cally is self-evident. They're the only two freedom fighters amongst the crew. Like Jenna, Cally is a true believer in the cause for freedom, but she has also made personal sacrifices for it, and joined that life by choice. That military experience and moral reliability makes Cally a frequent choice for sidekick (they spend the last three episodes of the season paired up). Her presence in the crew also serves to showcase Blake's lack of xenophobia. As we see over the course of the show, the Federation is extremely insular and distrustful towards aliens, to the point where it's rumored that all sapient life originated from Earth. Blake is Cally's sole sponsor in the early days, and his faith in her is what pushes the crew to give her a chance, particularly in The Web.
Vila and Gan seem to have less of a connection with Blake than the others, perhaps to do with the fact that they never really had a personal adventure with him (Avon and Jenna accompanied Blake to the Liberator, and Cally was saved from suicide). Ironically, they're also the two I would imagine following him the longest - Gan out of principle and Vila out of a need for safety. They're unlikely to find a better home, and Blake is simply happy to have followers at all.
Role: Pilot, connection to the criminal underworld.
At the beginning of the show, Jenna holds an enormous importance as the original believer in Blake's cause, giving the audience that first glint of hope that Blake actually has a chance against the Federation, that despite the massive disillusionment of the future society, there are still people willing to do the right thing when given the oppurtunity.
That being said, though, it's hard to deny that Jenna never really gets to develop as a separate character from this context. We only ever get to see the "smuggler Jenna" once, which is when she first meets Blake in The Way Back, and bitterly snaps at him for continuing to hope of escape. Towards the end of the episode, however, as Blake's time runs out, she suddenly becomes sympathetic and admits to him that she's scared.
As much as I enjoy the chemistry between Thomas and Knyvette, I've never been fond of that scene. It's well acted, but I feel that Jenna's burst of sincerity comes far too quickly for someone who lives in the paranoid universe of Blake's 7. It gives me the impression that her entire personality until that point was essentially a facade. Which wouldn't be all that bad, except that the facade is never replaced with anything but loyalty towards Blake. By Space Fall, she's more or less a Bond Girl without the sex. A good one, but still. The only subsequent Series A episode to revisit her smuggling past in any meaningful capacity is Bounty, but it's still no more than a red herring.
Cygnus Alpha teases the idea of a relationship between Avon and Jenna (possibly a love triangle?). After all, they're both veteran criminals who can rely on each other's greed if nothing else. Avon plays the part of the devil on her shoulder, trying to sway her to abandon Blake and his idealistic dream in favor of the riches and freedom of the Liberator. The original draft also depicted Avon being thrown offguard by Jenna's "space maiden" beauty, in a scene where she's openly flirting with him by showing off a revealing outfit (a different version of this sequence appears in the final cut. The original is recreated in Trevor Hoyle's novelisation).
Jenna weaponising her sexuality may be an eyerolling notion, but on the other hand, it would have levelled the playing field a little, and revealed two things to the audience: one, that she can be as devious and backhanded as Avon when she wants to be. And two, that Avon's composure is not impermeable.
In any case, whilst the two would continue to be an efficient team, the notion of a coupling is never revisited afterwards.
The early interactions between Jenna and Cally are marked with hostility. Publically, it's due to the former's distrust of aliens following the invasion of the Liberator in Time Squad. However, it's also likely that Jenna is jealous of Blake's immediate connection with her. Of all of Jenna's many jealousies (I love that she gives the death glare to every woman he talks to), this is actually by far the most plausible one, since it was the rebellion which had brought Blake and Jenna together. And now, Cally basically supersedes her in that regard. I think this would have been an interesting notion to explore further, but their rivalry fizzles out pretty quickly, and they have no more noteworthy interactions in Series A.
Jenna and Vila are introduced as already being acquainted, making them arguably the first two members of the crew, before even Blake. Their relationship is fairly simple. Vila respects and defers to Jenna due to her experience, whilst Jenna seemingly tolerates his companionship due to lack of any better, taking the occasional pot shot at his cowardice. You might call her Vila's "original Avon". Once aboard the Liberator, they usually work together without much conflict, probably due to their shared criminal background.
During Time Squad, Jenna and Gan get a good bit of time to bond. Gan had only recently lost "his woman" and was clearly searching for some kind of company (for reasons that are never really elaborated on, Gan despises solitude). He is visibly attached to young women in particular, and seems to derive comfort from Jenna's presence and her willingness to listen to him. This isn't an ongoing dynamic and it didn't need to be either, but it does provide extra depth to both characters, and an extra layer to future stories (for example, when Gan is part of Jenna's rescue team in Deliverance).
Name: Kerr Avon.
Role on the ship: Computer engineer.
The original incarnation of Avon is something of a control freak. He is easily flustered by unproductive behaviour, and lives his life in the world of computers - predictable and logical machines that operate entirely under his control. Being a realist, Avon's primary goal in life is to advance his own interests - namely in wealth and security. Despite this cantankerous and self-serving attitude, however, Avon doesn't lack empathy. He is open to assisting others in need (within reasonable limits, of course) and there's more than one implication that he is deeply sentimental inside.
One of my favourite things about the Blake/Avon relationship of Series A is how Avon feels the need to question everything - not just the rebel cause that Blake stands for, but every decision, every course of action. He'd probably criticise Blake for buying normal milk from the store, and go on a rant about the benefits of the low-fat variant. It's these ideological conflicts that really elevate the early episodes, in particular the weaker ones like The Web or Breakdown. They give the viewer a chance to engage with the material even when it's otherwise uninteresting, and emphasize the disparate nature of the crew - that these aren't people under Blake's command, but individuals with their own thoughts and feelings about what they're doing. Bringing out these different worldviews is, in a show about totalitarianism, very important.
Another noteworthy element of their relationship is that Avon yields the final word to Blake, something which never really happens in the later seasons. And whilst he does occasionally quip about usurping authority, his idea of becoming independent is to leave the Liberator, not lead a mutiny. That's a key aspect of the Series A version of Avon: he has no thirst for leadership. Simply the right to make his own decisions. He is, in a way, Blake's ideal model of a citizen: free-thinking, proactive and straightforward. "The honest man".
Avon views Jenna with some interest as a potential ally in Space Fall and Cygnus Alpha, though most likely because he could recognise that she's more pliable than Blake, and he had no other options. However, the conclusion of Cygnus Alpha proves definitively that she's loyal to Blake, at which point their relationship is mostly him being exasperated at her. That being said, he continues to respect her more than he does Vila, Gan and Cally, presumably due to her criminal past.
There's an interpretation of the scene between Avon and Cally ("I'm interested in your work.") in The Web, which would suggest that Avon is uncomfortable at the level of attention Cally gives him, or surprised that she gives him any at all. Given that he tries to have her dumped in the next scene, I don't agree with it (unless he's irritated at the fact that it turned out to be a feint to get access to his work). I think Avon is simply wary of her as an alien like Jenna is, albeit not so much out of xenophobia but simply due to his natural caution towards things and people he doesn't understand. The two manage to bond during their adventure in Mission to Destiny, where Cally proves herself to be an intelligent companion, perhaps more so than anyone else on the Liberator besides Blake.
Avon and Vila get off on the wrong foot pretty much from their first meeting, and an iconic pairing of mutual self-interest and loathing is formed. The difference between their dynamic in the first season when compared to the later ones is mainly down to how the actors play the parts. Avon isn't quite as intimidating and Vila is more cocky, making them closer to equals instead of a Blackadder & Baldrick prototype. There's also less focus on them in general (the Robert Holmes episodes of Series B did the most to develop the pair, and by Series C and D they were co-leads). The most notable scene they have together is the iconic conversation in Duel about whether or not one should be irrational in order to prove that they care. It's a nice way of showing how much thought Avon puts into his relationships with other people, and how little Vila does.
There's some enmity between Avon and Gan. Avon has little time for him due to Gan's seemingly low intelligence, but he's also sometimes caught offguard by Gan's reasoning ("for a clever man, you're not very bright. Deaf, dumb and blind, how are they going to catch us?"), suggesting that Avon is consistently underestimating the latter. He cannot comprehend Gan's willingness to sacrifice himself. The contrast between Gan's simple, down-to-earth logic and Avon's high functioning one is interesting, and perhaps more could have been made of it.
Role on the ship: Telepath, medic, guerrilla fighter.
There's a common perspective in the fandom that there are in fact two Callys: the huntress we were introduced to in Time Squad and the rather demure mother hen who would eventually become the heart of the crew. But is that really the case or is it an exaggeration based on the lack of action Cally was given in the scripts (as the show notoriously scrimped on giving any woman not named Servalan chances to shine)? Let's take a look.
Cally makes a very powerful impression in her first episode. She's armed, defiant, fanatical to the point of being willing to commit suicide. She's dressed in blood-red and hisses her dialogue, like a cobra that might lash out at any second. But the important thing we learn about Cally in that episode is that she is not a leader. Left to her own devices on Saurian Major, Cally's only plan was to "destroy until I am destroyed". Admittedly, Cally had no known resources and it's not clear whether she could have left the planet. But still, I think it's important to note that as soon as she realises that she can trust Blake (which she does very quickly for a paranoid soldier), she submits to his authority. The episode closes with Cally sitting awkwardly on the flight deck, thankful to be alive and unwilling to argue with a crew who openly express their dislike of her. She makes no case for herself, no suggestions for how she might benefit them. It's entirely up to Blake to justify her presence. Cally is a follower. A fierce one, but a follower nonetheless, right from her first appearance.
Taking into account that she was alone and rudderless in those early scenes, I think Cally's attitude makes sense in the context of her later characterisation. She seemed to have more initiative, because nobody else was around to give her any until Blake showed up. But that doesn't mean that Cally lost her backbone. In the closing scenes of Seek-Locate-Destroy, Cally is as vicious as ever she was, and looking for any reason to murder Travis. In Mission to Destiny, she takes a risk in offering herself and Avon as hostages to guarantee the Ortega crew's trust and save their planet. During Bounty, she is practically leading the mission and constantly keeping Blake focused on the task at hand.
Now, admittedly, there are certain weaknesses in the writing. Despite The Web being the first episode to address Cally's background (and the only one in Series A), she never goes down to the planet to meet members of her own race. It's a missed oppurtunity for development, as well as a chance to see Cally reject her seniors. Project Avalon similarly robs her by artificially giving her role over to Jenna (Cally was originally scripted to be the acquaintance of Avalon who goes down to meet her with Blake). Breakdown and Deliverance introduce the idea of her as having medical expertise, which is not out of character, but refocuses our perspective of Cally to be more soft and in the background. I'd also criticise the costume designers, who force Chappell to wear the same kind of gaudy shirts as Knyvette. What were they thinking with all those flower petals and rainbows?? How could anyone take either of them seriously in those clothes?
So yes, there is a certain truth to Cally being disserviced by Series A. I don't think she's ever depicted as a different person. She's the same kickass fighter from beginning to end, the episodes just doesn't give Chappell a lot of oppurtunities to show that.
As for her relationship with the crew, there's no denying that in the first season, she is closest to Blake. He's the first person she meets, single-handedly gives her a reason to live and protects her right to remain onboard during the early days on the Liberator. They work together frequently, no doubt because of their similar ideologies when it comes to dealing with the Federation. His rescuing her in Seek-Locate-Destroy must have strengthened the trust between them.
There's also a few times when the show implies a romantic chemistry between them. Deleted lines from Time Squad all but stated that Cally and Jenna were warring over his affection, and both of them seem to take notice of Tyce flirting with Blake in Bounty. It's never brought to the forefront, but the admiration that Cally has for him adds a nice texture to their relationship.
It's almost a shame that the romantic triangle wasn't developed after The Web, because the initial interactions between Cally and Jenna promise amusingly catty banter. Jenna's obviously distrustful of Cally both as an alien and a romantic rival whilst Cally - being a trained soldier with field experience - is shown to be amused by Jenna's fierce attitude more than anything else. It would've been fun to see them tease each other a bit more over their differences, but on the other hand, perhaps the maturity they show in burying the hatchet quickly is more telling.
Mission to Destiny is the key Series A episode when it comes to the relationship between Cally and Avon. It neatly lays out their worldviews - Cally's reliance on instinct against Avon's pragmatism, her sense of moral obligation versus his detached curiosity. Similarly to the Avon/Vila pairing, I think Avon and Cally recognise each other's mutual usefulness to one another, and choose to cooperate. Certain scenes in Duel and Project Avalon also demonstrate that they're able to connect with one another over other members of the crew as outsiders (Avon due to his emotional distance and Cally being an alien) and because of their lack of pretense. There's really nothing more to their relationship this early on, however.
All of Cally and Vila's interactions (which are few and far between) imply that Cally doesn't think much of him. Bemusement seems to be her only reaction to his existence. Obviously his cowardly nature doesn't gel well with her militant background, nor his lack of emotional depth with her empathetic nature.
Cally and Gan have one memorable scene together. It's during Breakdown, when Gan's limiter has malfunctioned and he takes advantage of Cally's kindness towards his condition to break loose. I don't think you can really extrapolate an entire relationship based on one scene (especially with one of the participants being out of character), but it does show that she at least cares about his wellbeing. Given that Gan usually displays a brave, moral attitude, that's unsurprising. They also briefly bond over their mutual hatred for Tarvin in Bounty. Given Gan's backstory of losing his wife girlfriend woman to the Federation, I can imagine the two of them finding a lot of common ground in their desire for justice. It's just a shame that Gan was underused so much that there was really no chance of them developing any kind of dynamic.
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Name: Vila Restal
Role on the ship: Thief, picklock, gunner (he operates the weapons console onboard the Liberator).
Vila is perhaps the most consistent character in the entire series. He's always the comic relief, always the pain in Avon's backside, and his main traits of cowardice and thievery are prevalent throughout. But it would be a mistake to underestimate Michael Keating as an actor. Despite playing what is almost a cartoon, there are different facets to the character that Keating shines light on, depending on the script and series he's in.
There's a cockiness to Vila this year. He's got Gan to watch his back, he knows Blake's far too compassionate to consider getting rid of him and he shamelessly enjoys showing off his abilities to counter the low opinion most have of him. Perhaps more so than at any other time, Vila is happy with his lot. He lucked into living on the Liberator, and is happy enough to work under Blake so long as he gets to return home at the end of each day. An emphasis is also put onto Vila's 'street rat' origins. Even after arriving on the ship, he retains a shabby sense of fashion. He's more squirrelly than later on, going so far as to threaten Dr Kayn with a gun in Blake's absence (albeit to protect Gan) and suggest murdering Avon. There's even a working class bent to his dialogue, with lines like "No need for belligerence, pretty lady!" and "That's all right, that's fixed Orac!". It adds a slight element of danger to the character.
Vila is notably the first member of the crew to ever meet Blake, and thus our first introduction to the company he'll keep for the rest of the show: murderers, liars, cheats, smugglers, thieves. None of whom have much political or moral motivation to help him. As Vila helpfully points out in Breakdown, he simply likes Blake and has nowhere else to go. Blake commands the Liberator, the Liberator = safety, therefore Blake commands Vila.
Interestingly, Vila appears to be very familiar with Jenna, Avon and Gan from the get go. It's left very ambiguous. He could simply know them by their crimes, but it doesn't entirely add up. Gan certainly doesn't come across like a high profile criminal, and I'd also question Avon being so infamous in the early days (this is before his ego overtakes his pragmatism). Vila's close relationship with Gan in particular is notable, as Gan is entirely absent in The Way Back and thus they would've had to establish their partnership earlier, off-screen. I suppose it could've happened during the six-month time gap.
Much like his relationship with Blake, Vila largely cares about the crew in the context of what they can offer him. That's not to say that he doesn't care about others, but he is sycophantic and insincere by nature. Vila doesn't seem to be truly attached to anything. His love of thieving and women is ego-based, and his friendships are onenote. Gan is almost an exception, but that's arguably because Gan simply likes Vila more than the others do and he's happy to go along with it.
It's very rare that we get to see Vila out of his element of submission, but it's always interesting when it happens. Despite his early viciousness towards Avon ("let's kill him now!") and the threat to Kayn, he is horrified after stabbing someone in Cygnus Alpha. Vila might be used to seeing murder and even being an accessory to murder, but he is apparently empathetic enough to regret being responsible. He (albeit with Gan and Cally's support) chastises Avon for his seeming lack of compassion towards Blake in Duel. And although we have little evidence of Vila's behaviour before the events of the series, it is a fact that he never steals from innocent people despite having plenty of oppurtunities. All this would suggest a somewhat warped code of honor, but a code of honor nonetheless.
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Name: Olag Gan.
Role on the ship: Strongman, communications officer (he operates the comms on the Liberator).
At first glance, Gan would be easy to dismiss as the most archetypically Robin Hood character of the entire show, being only one wooden staff removed from Little John. But in actuality, he is the earliest example of the show's subversion of typical heroic roles.
Little John was a somewhat simple-minded gentle giant. Loyal to his friends, kind to women and ferocious towards enemies. Gan is all those things... and not. His fury is unnaturally restrained, his attitude towards women is borderline obsessive and his loyalty appears to be the result of brain surgery. The episode Breakdown - often unfairly criticized for being a Gan-centric episode that has the actor sleep on a table for half the runtime - brings his entire identity into question. How much of the Gan we know is truly Gan? Is he a good soul whose brain is temporarily altered by a malfunctioning implant, or is the sadistic monster we see in that episode his terrible secret?
Rewatching Series A with the 'dark Gan' theory in mind can be a fascinating experience. Perhaps the moment where he refers to his past girlfriend as "his woman" isn't just a peculiar choice of phrase by Terry Nation, but a deliberate hint towards Gan's Hyde shining through. The way David Jackson behaves in his scenes with Jenna, Avalon and Cally can also be rather offputting (he likes to grin awkwardly at them), and I can't help but feel it's due to some specific direction. Gan clearly has no real compunction against violence, as he gleefully threatens to tear his enemies' limbs off. What he could do without the limiter doesn't bear thinking about.
In accordance with Gan's simple-mindedness, his loyalty to Blake seems to be based entirely on gratitude, and a desire for camaraderie and a noble cause. The latter might be important. Assuming that Gan is aware of his darker nature, he might hope that being surrounded by friends will help keep the unsavoury side of his personality at bay. For all we know, it could even be his limiter specifically programming him to look for ways and for people to help him do that.
Gan takes a specific shine towards Vila, at least in earlier episodes. It's not altogether clear why. It's possible the writers simply paired them up as a comedy thing, and then abandoned the notion. But within the narrative, my best assumptions are that either they have unmentioned backstory or he's simply protective for the sake of it, recognising Vila's (apparent) inability to look after himself. Considering that Gan obviously values chivalry, he might just be trying to do the right thing. A third possibility and the one I like the best is that there's a parallel with Vila wanting friendship for physical self-protection and Gan wanting friends for mental self-protection. So he endears himself to Vila by protecting him and thus makes sure he isn't alone if something should happen.
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