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" Oh, Blake&amp;#039;s 7 - it&amp;#039;s been a rocky road to revival-dom. A new series based on Terry Nation&amp;#039;s cult classic was first mooted back in 2008, when Sky1 expressed an interest in producing two 60-minute specials... The broadcaster ultimately backed out, following an extensive development process, in 2010. Reports of a US network remake then surfaced in mid-2012, solidifying in April this year when cable channel Syfy announced that it had ordered 13 hour-long episodes...  But now the project&amp;#039;s fate has been thrown into question *again*. Despite initial reports claiming that it would air the remake on its Xbox Live digital network, Microsoft now appears to have denied any involvement in bringing Blake back to our screens. Will Blake&amp;#039;s 7ever find The Way Back to television? Perhaps previous attempts to revive cult TV classics could provide us with a clue? Join the Week in Geek for a look back at the best and worst of sci-fi telly revamps... Week in Geek - Star Trek: Should it boldly return to TV or stay at the cinema?Week in Geek - Batman on TV: Best and worst of the Dark Knight on the small screen DOCTOR WHO  The Original: For years a cornerstone of the BBC&amp;#039;s Saturday night, Doctor Who launched in November 1963 and changed the face of UK sci-fi forever. But after an unmatched run, the show faced tougher times towards the tail-end of the 1980s. Shifted around the schedules and facing apathy from commissioners, Who appeared to bow out for good in late 1989. The Revamp: Russell T Davies achieved the seemingly impossible in 2005 when he transformed a &amp;#039;dead&amp;#039; show - one that had become a joke in the eyes of many - into a hit TV drama and legitimate money-spinner once more. Since then, many shows have attempted to replicate the success of the revamped Doctor Who - some successfully, some less so - but any TV exec looking to revive an existing property for a contemporary audience could learn a lot from RTD. BATTLESTAR GALACTICA  The Original: The first Battlestar Galactica was a Star Wars-inspired ABC series that ran - you may be surprised to learn - for just one season in 1978. A similarly short-lived sequel, Galactica 1980, followed two years later. The Revamp: The planned Blake&amp;#039;s 7 remake could learn a lot from Ron Moore&amp;#039;s BSG reinterpretation - taking only the bare bones of the original, Moore created a show that worked for a modern audience. The new Battlestar not only accumulated a rabid cult following but also achieved a degree of mainstream success. There were naysayers, of course, who balked at the changes imposed on familiar characters, but rarely in television has a remake justified its existence so powerfully. BIONIC WOMAN  The Original: A spinoff from popular sci-fi series The Six Million Dollar Man, The Bionic Woman starred &amp;#039;70s pin-up Lindsay Wagner and ran for three seasons - first on ABC and later on rival network NBC. The Revamp: Frequently found on lists compiling the worst TV remakes, Bionic Woman lacked not only a definite article but also any of the charm or humour that made the original work. Despite what many would have you believe, series lead Michelle Ryan was blameless - a po-faced tone, lack of compelling characters and muddled story arc were what killed this new Jaime Sommers after just eight episodes. THE PRISONER  The Original: A true &amp;#039;60s gem, Patrick McGoohan&amp;#039;s 17-part ITV series started life as a surreal spy thriller before descending into truly oddball territory - The Prisoner&amp;#039;s baffling final episode is still debated and discussed to this day. The Revamp: Long before it became known as a home for quality cable drama like Mad Men and Breaking Bad, AMC produced this dud - a deathly-dull remake that utterly lacked the spark of the original. Even Sir Ian McKellen couldn&amp;#039;t compensate for the charisma void that occurred when the compelling McGoohan was replaced by human stonewall Jim Caviezel. THE TOMORROW PEOPLE  The Original: Oft billed as ITV&amp;#039;s answer to Doctor Who - this children&amp;#039;s sci-fi series, which ran for an impressive eight series between 1973 and 1979, boasted a strong central concept and a genuinely weird and unsettling title sequence... The Revamp(s): The cult classic so good they remade it twice - The Tomorrow People first returned to our screens in the early &amp;#039;90s for a reboot that bore little resemblance to the original and divided hardcore fans. It&amp;#039;s too early to judge the relative quality of the new US remake - starring Robbie Amell and debuting this October on The CW - but the early buzz is good, with TV critics giving the pilot episode the thumbs-up at least. It remains to be seen though if this latest generation of Homo Superior will be able to win over the original&amp;#039;s fanbase too. Do you want to see a Blake&amp;#039;s 7 remake? What could the project learn from cult TV revamps of the past? Share your thoughts below! "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.digitalspy.com/tv/week-in-geek/news/a510095/blakes-7-and-the-perils-of-reviving-a-tv-cult-classic/>