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Blake's 7 is set in the future, in a time when the Earth and many other planets are ruled by the totalitarian Terran Federation. Roj Blake, played by Gareth Thomas, is a political dissident convicted on a trumped-up charge and sentenced to deportation to a penal colony on a remote planet. Escaping while being transported, with the assistance of his fellow prisoners, he obtains an advanced alien spacecraft, the Liberator which he uses to strike back against the Federation. He receives somewhat reluctant support from the rest of his crew, who are fellow escapees, especially Kerr Avon, played by Paul Darrow, a technical genius more interested in saving his own skin and seeking personal wealth than striking a blow for freedom. Later on in the series, when Blake is separated from his crew, Avon takes over, but remains a target for the forces of the Federation.

The series was originally due to conclude at the end of its third season, but was unexpectedly renewed for a further season at the last moment. This made some changes to the format of the show necessary, including introducing a new spacecraft, the Scorpio. Aware that renewal for a fifth season was unlikely, the production team decided to devise a memorable conclusion for the series, leaving the final fate of the main characters highly ambiguous. For this reason, what happened after the final episode has been the subject of much debate and fan fiction among aficionados of the series.