Blake’s 7 – A Rebellion Reborn is a set of 10 audio CDs released by Big Finish in 2013, which consists of Blake’s 7 – The Audio Adventures and Blake’s 7 – The Early Years from b7media, complete with a final disc of behind-the-scenes interviews.  The series attempts a reimagining of the original TV series with a brand new cast, although familiar voices were to return in the follow-up series.

The adventures are as follows:

BLAKE’S 7 – THE AUDIO ADVENTURES

Blake’s 7 – The Audio Adventures

This trilogy of adventures is a 21st Century retelling of Blake’s 7.  It approximately covers the same ground as the first few TV episodes, with some exceptions, and some omissions to make it fit the new pacier format.  The one-hour adventures are full-cast presentations and, as such, are perhaps the more rewarding stories in this set.

Blake’s 7: Rebel (2007)
Blake’s 7: Traitor (2007)
Blake’s 7: Liberator (2007)

Featuring Derek Riddell, Daniela Nardini, Colin Salmon, Carrie Dobro, Craig Kelly, India Fisher, Michael Praed, Rula Lenska and Doug Bradley.

There was to be a season 2, and a season 3 was also planned.  However, when Sky Television planned to make a new television series of Blake’s 7 (2008), those plans were shelved.  Instead, b7media opted to take a different route and look to the characters before they became part of the Liberator’s crew.  Sky’s TV series never materialised, and so we were denied what would, no doubt, have been a great continuing series.

BLAKE’S 7 – THE EARLY YEARS

Blake’s 7 – The Early Years

These eight adventures (in reality just six, as two of them are effectively two-parters) focus on one (or two) primary characters in order to tell their story, together with a minimal supporting cast (usually just one other character).  Except for the Travis and Cally stories, they’re told mostly in flashback to allow multiple histories to be told at the same time.  This can get a little confusing until you get used to it.

Each adventure is approximately 30 minutes, with the final one being the full hour.  They’re not in any particular sequence and, except for The Trial which follows on from The Dust Run, they don’t follow on from each other, so there’s no necessity to listen to them all.

Blake’s 7: When Vila Met Gan [Vila and Gan] (2008)
Blake’s 7: Point of No Return [Travis] (2008)
Blake’s 7: Eye of the Machine [Avon] (2008)
Blake’s 7: Blood & Earth [Cally] (2009)
Blake’s 7: Flag & Flame [Cally] (2009)
Blake’s 7: The Dust Run [Jenna] (2009)
Blake’s 7: The Trial [Jenna] (2009)
Blake’s 7: Escape Velocity [Zen] (2010)

Featuring Michael Keating, Jan Chappell, Colin Salmon, Keeley Hawes, Geoffrey Palmer, Carrie Dobro, Craig Kelly, Benedict Cumberbatch, Jake Maskall, Peter Guinness, Susannah Doyle, Zoë Tapper, Jason Merrells, Tracy-Ann Oberman, Owen Aaronovitch, Amy Humphreys, Michael Cochrane, Julian Wadham, Stephen Lord, Natalie Walter and Alistair Lock as ZEN

These adventures are more of a mixed bag than the former trilogy, with the Cally adventures being the most difficult to get through, and the Zen and Avon ones being the best.