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Politics is perhaps one of the central themes of "Blake's 7" but, oddly, one that is rarely discussed. Why, I asked myself, as I began to think about something to write on this theme? No immediately enlightening answers sprang to mind, unless it is a reflection of a general disinterest in politics as a topic for discussion.
This could very well be the case. As a rule, these days, I find myself almost indifferent to politics. Once, when I was young, I cared enough to be involved, but now I find politics at worst uninspiring and annoying, at best nothing to be greatly bothered about. What 'they' do has little impact upon me, or so I perceive. Though in this I am, probably, quite wrong.
Upon further reflection I began to see that only those of us who live in countries with an unintrusive form of government have this rare luxury of being able to be quite so obliviously sanguine about what government does. Such was not the fortunate lot of the citizens of the Federation. In Terry Nation's vision of our future the populace--the few that we see anyway--do seem equally blasé, but their indifference is not a free choice. It is the indifference of clouded, suppressed, minds; the indifference of intellects drugged in subservience. And this brings my train of thought squarely on to the central place that politics and the consequences of politics and forms of government has to the story of the Seven.
"Blake's 7" is, essentially, about politics; about the larger issues of politics which we in free societies rarely have to think about. It is about forms of government; about order versus freedom; about governmental integrity; about the function of government. And it is about the very deep questions revolving around resistance to governments perceived, by some within a society, to be bad. And as the series is so much about politics I thought it might be interesting to look at the politics of it all generally and more specifically at Blake's politics.
Terry Nation set "Blake's 7" in a definite political context. The opening story, "The Way Back," is quite unambiguous. It is very political and very definite about the sort of political angle we might subsequently expect. It shows us a government, which is quite unmistakably a repressive tyranny, in ugly, disturbing detail. Drugged citizens stroll vacantly along featureless corridors; resistance of any kind is ruthlessly crushed; justice is manipulated casually by urbane, amoralistic leaders; terror stalks everywhere in its name in the form of black clad troopers who have no face. This is not a government we might be expected to approve of. We are introduced also to the individual face of resistance to this reprehensible tyranny, the likeable Roj Blake, and as we learn what he has suffered for his opposition to this unacceptable government we cannot but sympathise and approve of his resistance. So the context is set. The evils of tyrannical government are to be exposed and opposed by one who is justified in his opposition because the government is so demonstrably evil. It is to be about the politics of repression and the politics of resistance; always interesting, and controversial as the endless and seemingly unresolvable debate over Blake terrorist or freedom fighter perhaps suggests. And it is in this context that subsequent writers wrote. There is very little recognition of any opposing viewpoint. Few instances of anyone expressing approval for the Federation come to mind readily. The only one I thought of was Professor Kayn ("Breakdown"). Likewise, there is never any discussion about what might have produced such a repressive government, as there often is in other science fiction. The writers took Nation's concept and stuck to it perhaps rather too simplistically.
It has to be said also that, having set up the context, Mr. Nation and the writers who followed him did little to enlarge upon it, or fill in the detail, which perhaps, is why it evokes so little discussion. You have to think, hard, to remember what political material there was. But it's there. As the seasons rolled by something of the detail began to be suggested.
We found out a little more about this repressive government. We came to know that it ruled a vast empire divided into the Inner Worlds, presumably, though this is never clearly shown, those closest to Earth and the Outer Worlds, based largely perhaps on the idea of Britain and her empire. We discovered that Earth is the centre of power and the acknowledged leader of the Federation ("Voice from the Past"). We gleaned something too of the structure of government. At the pinnacle of power was the President, whether elected or appointed, we did not discover that I can remember, and the High Council, again we did not learn whether it was elected or appointed. There was never any mention of parliaments, assemblies of citizens, voting on decisions, so we can only assume that the President and High Council were the unchallenged and unopposed, generally, decision makers. What sort of power structure exactly existed at the top we also never discovered. Whether the President was all powerful and the High Council was similar to those of medieval kingdoms where the councillors merely advised and attended to the implementation of royal decisions, or whether the Council had a more proactive role in it all, we did not see. But we have a few examples of Councillors, apparently at the behest of the President, delivering directives ("Trial" and "Weapon") and Rontane and Bercol seem to have had a fairly close working relationship with the President. At the very least they were trusted enough to deliver a pointed reprimand to the powerful Supreme Commander of Space Command in his/her name.
There also seems to have been some sort of arrangement beneath the top level which allowed a Council of Governors of the Federated Worlds to have some sort of input to government. Just what this was exactly is not clear. Whether it was just a token gesture by the Federation to be ignored, or not, as it pleased we do not discover. Although the fact that Glynd and LeGrand thought they could topple the Federation by presenting evidence of the Federation's crimes to the meeting of these Governors at Atlay perhaps suggests that its role was rather more than a token one. Oh to have known more!
The sorts of people who held the positions of power within this framework is suggested by the few we ever saw. Alta Morag and Ven Glynd, for example, are a chilling couple, who sit at their ease arranging to frame Blake for such an awful crime as child molestation as though they are arranging the time for their next committee meeting. They sit on their comfortable lounge with Blake's agony 'writ large' on a screen behind them and they seem totally oblivious to it. This is one scene in "Blake's 7" I will never forget. It is awful! Those few minutes suggest so much about those who made the decisions in the Federation. Then there are Bercol and Rontane. Men clearly familiar from long usage in the practice of subtle, and effective, threatening; threats that are clearly understood and respected, for the Supreme Commander of the military to be very obliging. None of these government minions suggest a benevolent government, or a government with any redeeming features.
The decisions made by the rulers, or ruler, seem, very largely, to have been enforced by the military. The military structure is equally unexplored in any detail. From what we saw it was a single service, Space Command, directed by a Supreme Commander who is very powerful. Able to call upon vast resources easily, but who is, at least until Star One, constrained by being somewhat answerable, at least when found out to be exceeding her authority, to the civilian government. It was Space Command that was the Federation government's primary tool of repression. It had a seemingly endless supply of terrifyingly black-clad troopers. They it was who maintained order. They who shot down resisters in cold blood. They who inflicted mindless violence on those who escaped gunning down. They who garrisoned the worlds the Federation had conquered and kept the far flung empire in check. There also seems to have been a security force of some kind; the Central Security which investigated Avon and used men like Shrinker to inflict torture on those who fell into its clutches. Whether it was part of the military setup or a civilian organisation is not explained that I can remember.
So we can infer, from the little we do know something of the structure of government. There was some form of executive, some form of legislative process, although it may just have been by Presidential decree with no actual legislature other than the High Council. And there was also a judicial system.
The judicial system we saw, interestingly, paid lip service to the concepts of fair trial and impartial justice for all. This may suggest that the whole facade of government was also framed with a more liberal face to disguise the reality of the tyranny it actually was. But for all the outward show the judicial system was, as we saw it, just another tool of repression; used quite unscrupulously and quite casually implying that it was often used in just such a way as it was used against Blake. We do see that there are people of integrity still working within the system, Blake's defence counsel, but they are shown to be naive and end up dead, silenced, when they being to suspect what is really going on. The conclusions to be drawn about Federation 'justice' are moderately obvious, as is Mr. Nation's wont.
So the Federation government we infer from what we saw is autocratic, tyrannical in the extreme and all powerful, backed by the military, a security force and a tame justice system. And its every action just underlines this very negative impression. This is one area of the political process for which we do have copious examples. There is all that Blake's treatment suggests about the callous and utterly ruthless repression of opposition. The mind manipulation which, while made much of, in a way is never really explored in depth. When you think about it it is the most horrific concept to have your identity completely stripped away and a new, completely alien, one replace it. Suppressants are, apparently as normal practice, placed into food and water supplies to keep the populace acquiescent and mindlessly working for the Federation's idea of the good of the Federation. Resistance is ferreted out. And when discovered, resistance is dealt with brutally, so as to evoke the maximum terror effect. Slavery is not only condoned but is also used by the Federation as another instrument of terror. Any Space Command soldier thinking of deserting would obviously think twice knowing his family would be sold into slavery as a result.It generally kills its citizens casually and often. It expands consciously and methodically, either wiping out populations in the way, Saurian Major, or using them as expendable slave labour for the extracting of wanted minerals, Horizon. It destabilises neutral governments, Lindor. It turns a blind eye, unless expedient to do otherwise, to the actions ofits military such as Travis' massacre on Zercasta. You could go on and on ... by its actions shall you know it, and we came to know much about the evil and repression practised by the Federation and we could not but draw the conclusion that this was a government which had to be resisted by any person with any morality or integrity who somehow still had possession of their mind.
While clearly there was no 'official' opposition to the Federation, opposition there was. There was the Freedom Party, once led by Blake and still active and if the concern evident within the Federation to Blake's renewed attachment to it is anything to go by it must have been seen as a real threat. We see some people within the Dome society who have managed, somehow, to keep their minds clear enough to oppose. There are groups who have escaped the domes to live outside and oppose as best they can. There are resistance groups within the empire, such as Avalon's, although it is never established how widespread or numerous, or not, they are. There is even one or two shining examples of planets which throws off the Federation yoke, Albian (subtle the naming was not!) and Horizon. Perhaps a real basis of support existed for a crusade such as Blake's, although this is not explored much, if at all.
Which brings us then to the man himself, the symbol of justified resistance, Roj Blake.
WhatBlake is opposed to is clear enough but what he is offering as an alternative is not and this is where the series fails markedly to address this central theme and which leads, perhaps, though you might disagree, to the thought that the politics of Blake 7 is rather simplistic. The problem is defined but not the solution, or even any alternative strategies leading to a possible solution.
This may be because Terry Nation's conception of it all included no solution. I may be wrong, but I have the impression that he believed the Seven had no chance from the beginning; that the Federation was too powerful, too firmly entrenched, and would never be toppled so no afterwards needed to be thought about and given what we saw it is view that is reasonable enough. But this does not excuse the lack of any discussion about Blake's vision for the afterwards. A revolutionary without a conception of the 'brave new world' its hoped will be the end result of the drastic path of revolt is almost a contradiction in terms. They dare the impossible because they believe passionately, as Blake so obviously does, in the hope of a better life, but usually it is a life with a few specifics, not just a nebulous, formless, 'better'. But we never hear what Blake envisioned other than a few vague platitudes like all men (what about the gender equality Blake?) being free to think, which is a very fine aim but how do you implement it in a society unused for who knows how long, maybe never, to thinking for themselves. We never hear a battle plan, a manifesto, which is a real pity for Blake in saviour of the people mode is compelling! And it occurs that much of the negativity which seems to attach to the character of Blake may derive from just such omissions. What is he doing? Where is he heading? What does he intend?--specifically! His failure to mention anything about it suggests he either has not thought about it or does not know and that diminishes the character, quite unfairly, I think, because despite the lack of it spelt out it is impossible to believe the passionate, driven, Blake we saw had no plans for the better world he was prepared to die for.
And then there is the associated question of Blake's political capacity, perhaps not so relevant if Blake was just to be the bringer-down of the evil government, to clear the way for the new age of free thought. But we are told that his role was seen as much more than that. In 'Voice from the past' it is suggested that he is the 'only' one that can unite all the factions of opposition; the only viable leader, and this does then make his political capacity of some importance. Again there is little attention paid to this fundamental question. His charisma as a leader is clearly enough established, even Avon recognises it (some of the time). But is there any substance behind the populist rabble rouser? One episode that does look at this, if all to briefly, is 'Voice from the past' and this is not such a useful guide as it might be as Blake's mind is being influenced, to what extent we do not know, by the control device Glynd is using. But it is just about all we have. In it Blake is shown to be rather naive and very easily manipulated by the more experienced politician Glynd. He is fed a few lines about a new beginning and he accepts it all without any apparent thought or hesitation. I know his mind was being controlled, but when he demands the bracelets from Avon and Jenna so the group on PK118 can teleport onto Liberator I couldn't help contrast this innocent naiviete with Avon's much more sensible caution. It is not one of Blake's brightest decisions. Here is the man who organised the destruction of his reputation and he just accepts his word and lets him onto Liberator! He should have been just a trifle more circumspect, you would imagine, and should have had at least a thought, or several, about Glynd's sudden conversion to the faith. The episode suggests that Glynd intended to use Blake as a figurehead only for a government effectively controlled by the 'eminence gris', Glynd himself, and that far from a new beginning this was just to be a change of top management in the Federation, no doubt appropriately renamed, but in essence the same. Blake apparently has not the slightest inkling that this might even be a possibility, just accepts all he is told, so trustingly it makes you worry very much about his innocence cast among such wolves. But as Blake was not in full possession of his mind not much can really be made of this, I suppose.
Also through all the stories involving Blake there is very little sign of him attempting to do what should have been the obvious thing--unite all the singularly weak, but perhaps united a force to reckoned with, rebel groups. His plans seem invariably just one off hits at the Federation, useful irritants true, well directed at what would hurt, at communications especially, but were they part of an ongoing strategy of some kind? It is not until he conceives of the plan to strike at the Federation's heart, the Central Control complex, that there is even a glimmer of direction to it all and even then it is never really explained fully or set into a context of a detailed plan to defeat the Federation. It is all very well to infer that if the Complex is taken the Federation will just collapse. We know from what happened after Star One that it did not. It is too simplistic altogether. And in some ways again a diminishing of the character. For the Blake we came to know was much too intelligent to be so simplistic. He is shown to be very skilled at tactical thinking, quick and sure and usually right. He is well educated, knowledgeable and to imagine that he had no plans, good plans, is to suggest a contradiction to the man we came to know.
Perhaps, like me, the writers found political discussion boring. But I think I would have enjoyed, very much, hearing a 'discussion' between Blake and Avon about the ideal and reality of the 'small' difficulties which might arise when a populace always enslaved is suddenly freed to a liberty they have no experience of; about measures to deal with an entire population suffering drug withdrawal symptoms; about dealing with a vast governmental structure (as the Federation must have had) predicated upon and designed specifically to perpetuate total repression now asked to administer freedom. And if it comes right down to it, I would have liked to have seen Blake spell it out, do it! and then cope with the aftermath. Ever the rose coloured glasses, I know!
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