Cally Returns!
Artwork by Lee Thompson
LONDON, June 1, 2009: UK-based independent production company, B7 Productions, has announced the next EARLY YEARS audio drama, which also marks the return of Jan Chappell to the role of Cally.
THE EARLY YEARS is a prequel series of stories that explore the origins of key BLAKE’S 7 characters prior to them meeting rebel leader, Roj Blake. The newest prequel story centres on the alien telepath Cally and her clone sisterhood. The two 30-minute adventures Blood & Earth written by Ben Aaronovitch and Flag & Flame written by Marc Platt also mark the return of Jan Chappell (known for her portrayal of Cally in the first three series of the original BLAKE’S 7 series) as the mysterious AUNT, a woman who claims to have been the second Cally ever to be born on Auron. Susannah Doyle (Drop the Dead Donkey), Julian Wadham (Outpost) and Michael Cochrane (Sharpe) also star.
Jan Chappell says of her return to the role of Cally: “It’s a source of utter bewilderment that Cally is still part of my life but delighted to embrace her return. It’s astonishing to be playing the character 30 years on and to know that BLAKE’s 7 still has such an ardent following. Who would have known that back in 1978 we were making television history.”
Executive Producer, Andrew Mark Sewell comments: “It’s remarkable to think that Jan Chappell last played Cally back in 1980 and we’re delighted to welcome Jan back to a role that she is still so closely associated with.”
Previous audio prequels have explored the early lives of Avon, Travis, Vila and Gan with future releases to reveal the origins of Jenna, Zen, Servalan and Blake.
Future confirmed releases are;
CALLY: BLOOD & EARTH (written by Ben Aaronovitch)/FLAG & FLAME (written by Marc Platt)
Cally belongs to the Auron Unity, a society of clones. Fierce, militaristic and always under threat from the Terran Federation. A place of solidarity – or so the people are told – where Unity is paramount and individuals struggle to be heard.
JENNA: THE DUST RUN/THE TRIAL (written by Simon Guerrier)
Jenna Stannis (Carrie Dobro) is a convicted smuggler when she runs into the dissident Roj Blake. She’s a spacer, too – hardly set foot on a planet. Which is why sending her for life on Cygnus Alpha is such an appalling verdict. How did it go so wrong?
ZEN: ESCAPE VELOCITY (written by James Swallow)
The Liberator, a mysterious alien starship controlled by a synthetic intelligence known only as Zen (Alistair Lock). A derelict rescued from the brink of destruction by Roj Blake and his band of dissidents, the ship is their weapon in the war against the corrupt Federation, its origin unknown – until now.
Full details of future releases are;
Story 1.4
CALLY: BLOOD & EARTH / FLAG & FLAME
Written by Ben Aaronovitch/Marc Platt | Directed by Dominic Devine
Release: 24 August 2009 | RRP: 9.95 | ISBN: 978-1-906577-07-0
Featuring Jan Chappell, Susannah Doyle, Michael Cochrane, Julian Wadham, Barbara Joslyn, Natalie Walter and Amy Humphreys
BLOOD & EARTH (written by Ben Aaronovitch) – On Auron, every clone lives in a world buoyed by the constant murmur of telepathic support, gossip and opinions. When Ariane Cally’s plane crashes in the middle of a wilderness park she finds herself cut off not only from rescue, but the voices that have sustained her all her life. Her only hope is the mysterious Aunty, the single voice she can still hear, a woman who claims to have been the second Cally ever to be born on Auron. From Aunty she will learn the true and secret history of her people, but only if the wilderness doesn’t kill her first.
FLAG & FLAME (written by Marc Platt) – Twins are special; Auronar clone twins doubly so. They’re grown that way. Pilot Skate Cally and Operative Merrin Cally are a Flight Team on the Auronar cruiser Flag of Hope. They’ve been in each other’s heads, living each other’s lives, the same feelings, differences, orders and taste buds, since they were first poured out of a vat. But after High Command sends Skate on a one-way mission investigating Federation incursions in the Dancer Cluster, Merrin faces a bleak new future on her own, uncovering the dark half of the sister she thought she knew.
Story 1.5
JENNA: THE DUST RUN / THE TRIAL
Written by Simon Guerrier | Directed by Alistair Lock
Release: 30 November 2009 | RRP: £9.95 | ISBN: 978-1-906577-08-7
Featuring Carrie Dobro (Other cast TBC)
THE DUST RUN – Jenna Stannis has grown up as a spacer, where the normal rules don’t apply. No school, no police, no public imperatives – that’s still all to come. But the situation on Earth is changing and the effects are slowly being felt throughout the Vega system. It’s going to mean trouble for a brash boy called Veldan – who Jenna doesn’t fancy at all. Soon Jenna and Veldan are competing in the Dust Run – racing shuttles through an asteroid field without using computers, making the complex calculations in their heads. It’s dangerous, fool-hardy and really good fun. But they’re playing for the highest of stakes…
THE TRIAL – The election is going to change everything. A man called Roj Blake promises the voters new hope, an end to years of corruption. There are those who can’t let him be heard. But Jenna Stannis is determined to get his message out to the stars. It’s been years since the Dust Run and Jenna’s a changed woman. She’s left the Vega system far behind, using her excellent piloting skills to carve out a life as a smuggler. Blake’s message could earn her a fortune.
Story 1.6
ZEN: ESCAPE VELOCITY
Written by James Swallow | Directed by Andrew Mark Sewell
Release TBC January 2009 | RRP: 9.95 | ISBN: 978-1-906577-09-4
Featuring Alistair Lock (Other cast TBC)
ESCAPE VELOCITY – The Liberator, a mysterious alien starship controlled by a synthetic intelligence known only as Zen; a derelict rescued from the brink of destruction by Roj Blake and his band of dissidents, the ship is their weapon in the war against the corrupt Federation, its origin unknown – until now. What terrible catastrophe left the Liberator drifting and shattered? What drove the ship’s computer to murder its original crew? What dark secrets lie at the heart of this alien machine? For one woman, a pilot in the service of the all-powerful System, these questions will be answered in a desperate search for her own identity… a search that can only end in betrayal and death.
Story 1.7
SERVALAN
Release: TBC 2010 | RRP £9.95 | ISBN: 978-1-906577-10-0
Story 1.8
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Tags: Audio, classic series
