A reboot of the British science-fiction series “Blake’s 7” is in development, led by Emmy-nominated director Peter Hoar and executive producer Matthew Bouch. Hoar, whose recent work includes the “Long, Long Time” episode of HBO’s “The Last of Us,” has formed the production company Multitude Productions with Bouch and West End producer Jason Haigh-Ellery.
The trio have acquired the rights to “Blake’s 7,” a series created by Terry Nation that originally aired on the BBC from 1978 to 1981 across four seasons. The show followed the character Roj Blake, a political dissident who leads a small group of rebels opposing the Terran Federation, the totalitarian government controlling Earth and its colonies. The original series drew on traditional space opera conventions and was produced with limited resources, often using a single set supplemented by a few location shoots.
Hoar is lined up to direct the new “Blake’s 7” series, which will soon be shopped around to potential buyers. Bouch has said he would like the show to return to the BBC, while also exploring co-production deals with American streaming platforms and European broadcasters, including RTL. Multitude Productions confirmed that casting and writing discussions will begin once the deal with Terry Nation’s estate is finalised.
Reflecting on the original series, Hoar pointed out that its limited budget shaped both what the show could do and how it approached storytelling. He went on to draw comparisons with the Disney+ series, “Andor,” noting that its success comes not from big spending, but from the integrity of the writing and the care put into the narrative.
Bouch has underlined that the new take on “Blake’s 7” is intended to fill a gap in the UK market for genre-based drama, particularly following the scaling back of “Doctor Who”. Multitude Productions plans to adopt a multi-writer model, aiming to bring a more collaborative approach to the series, one that has been less common in recent British television production.
The company is also developing other projects, including a television adaptation of Luke Rhinehart’s The Search for the Dice Man, an adaptation of Patrick Carman’s Skeleton Creek series, and additional sci-fi and crime projects in collaboration with UK broadcasters.
