From its first appearance in 1978 to its final episode in 1981, 'Blake's 7' was a series which pushed back the boundaries of what was possible in TV science fiction. Despite the attempts made by critics over the years to deride it for its low-budget special effects, sometimes-dubious costume design and overly middle-class casting, 'Blake's 7' continues to remain popular and to gain new audiences, due to its intelligent treatment of powerful themes of human evil, rebellion, love and death. In this book, Alan Stevens and Fiona Moore go beyond the stereotypes and look at the background to and...

The impact of The Prisoner upon society was explosive, transforming art, storytelling and popular culture like no other television programme before or since. Patrick McGoohan spearheaded the project in his role as an unnamed man, held against his will in a strange isolated Italianate village, tormented by a succession of individuals, each calling themselves Number 2, whose true motivations and intentions towards him remained a constant mystery. The man, known only as Number 6, attempted escape, was befriended and betrayed, underwent hallucinogenic journeys, and experienced many strange...