Blake's 7, Fans 0.

Just read this interview with the folks behind the new Blake's 7 project, which apparently is still going forward, despite the absence of Paul Darrow. And, you know... The purpose behind giving the interview seems to be to mollify the fans and to "clear up the misconceptions," but all it's done in my case is to make me feel worse and worse about the directions this thing seems to be going in, and less and less well-disposed to the people who are taking it there.

The big news is that they're going to be re-casting Avon. And, I'm sorry, but for anybody who's at all familiar with the original series, there is absolutely, categorically, no way in hell that that is going to work. Avon is one of those iconic characters who is in large measure defined by the appearance, speech, and mannerisms of the actor who played him. I have some problems with Darrow's attitudes towards the series, and I was far from thrilled at the idea of him having creative input into the script, but as far as acting goes, Darrow is utterly indispensable. The man is Avon, or no one is. (They're also going to be re-designing Orac, and may or may not be getting Peter Tuddenham back to do his voice, but that seems almost trivial by comparison.)

There were a number of other things they had to say that really kind of pissed me off, too, but I'm going to forbear ranting about them here. All I can say is, I started out thinking that, even if it probably wasn't going to be a worthy successor to the original, the new version might well be entertaining or at least amusing to watch. In a way, I was actually kind of looking forward to it. Increasingly, though -- and certainly every time I hear something new about it -- I find myself slipping more into what seems to be the mainstream fannish reaction of wanting to screw my eyes shut, stick my fingers in my ears, and chant, "It's not going to happen. It's not going to happen. Please, god, it's not going to happen."

Sigh.