# RIP Gareth Thomas **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 14, 2016, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-gareth-thomas/752177 "2016-04-14T12:30:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Ace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/6bbea6/32.png) [@Johnny\_Ace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Ace)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2016, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-gareth-thomas/752177/1 "2016-04-14T12:30:24Z")
Probably about three of you have ever heard of him or his series, Blake’s 7, but anyway… [http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-36041534](http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-36041534) ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Mapp](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miss_mapp/32/369_2.png) [@Miss\_Mapp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Mapp)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2016, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-gareth-thomas/752177/2 "2016-04-14T12:39:10Z")
I remember him from the creepy _Children of the Stones_. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2016, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-gareth-thomas/752177/3 "2016-04-14T12:39:23Z")
> [@Johnny\_Ace](#): > > Probably about three of you have ever heard of him or his series, Blake’s 7, but anyway… > > [http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-36041534](http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-36041534) Heard of him, and the series, but have never seen it. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2016, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-gareth-thomas/752177/4 "2016-04-14T12:48:38Z")
I’m not one of the three. ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2016, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-gareth-thomas/752177/5 "2016-04-14T12:52:01Z")
Thread relocated to Cafe Society from IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![Sefton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Sefton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sefton)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2016, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-gareth-thomas/752177/6 "2016-04-14T13:44:20Z")
I remember him from _Children of the Stones_, as well. Very well done, as I recall. ---
**Author:** ![GythaOgg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/49beb7/32.png) [@GythaOgg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GythaOgg)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2016, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-gareth-thomas/752177/7 "2016-04-14T13:50:52Z")
Saw the series - it had a run on PBS during the late 1980s and developed something of an American fandom for a little while. Saw him at a few conventions, and unlike some of his costars he was very modest and warm with the fans and was not hung up on being the ‘STAR of the SHOW’. The American fandom all but died off after PBS stopped airing the show, due to various factors including general lack of interest, as well as one of the other actors in the show doing silly things like trying to stir up fan wars and threatening lawsuits over trivialities. This was all pre-internet, so it’s largely forgotten. Those were the days… ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Mapp](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miss_mapp/32/369_2.png) [@Miss\_Mapp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Mapp)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2016, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-gareth-thomas/752177/8 "2016-04-14T13:54:21Z")
I had an idea he was on _Upstairs, Downstairs_ in the later seasons as well, but I’ve checked on IMDB and that was Gareth Hunt, who died in 2007. They did look similar back in the '70s. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Ace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/6bbea6/32.png) [@Johnny\_Ace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Ace)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2016, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-gareth-thomas/752177/9 "2016-04-14T13:54:29Z")
> [@GythaOgg](#): > > Saw the series - it had a run on PBS during the late 1980s and developed something of an American fandom for a little while. Saw him at a few conventions, and unlike some of his costars he was very modest and warm with the fans and was not hung up on being the ‘STAR of the SHOW’. > The American fandom all but died off after PBS stopped airing the show, due to various factors including general lack of interest, as well as one of the other actors in the show doing silly things like trying to stir up fan wars and threatening lawsuits over trivialities. This was all pre-internet, so it’s largely forgotten. Those were the days… A friend of mine was a fanatic and had taped them all, and we’d have a weekly ritual of watching a few episodes at a time. I’m pretty sure I’ve only seen the PBS ones. I liked the fact that it was really more character- than story-driven, and not bad for being low budget. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2016, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-gareth-thomas/752177/10 "2016-04-14T15:21:24Z")
I did like **Blakes 7** a lot (though Thomas, despite being the title character, left the show halfway through); its pessimistic worldview was pretty revolutionary for the time (it’s common now). At the time it was aired, it was generally considered as the best SF on TV. His Blake was less interesting than several of the other crew members, but he handled it all very well. ---
**Author:** ![bonzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/45deac/32.png) [@bonzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bonzer)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2016, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-gareth-thomas/752177/11 "2016-04-14T15:51:08Z")
An [old, old thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=161773) on _Blake’s 7_. > [@Miss\_Mapp](#): > > I’ve checked on IMDB and that was Gareth Hunt, who died in 2007. Nah, that’s the guy off the coffee ads. ---
**Author:** ![Meurglys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/258eb7/32.png) [@Meurglys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meurglys)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2016, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-gareth-thomas/752177/12 "2016-04-14T16:51:26Z")
That’s a shame. I never missed an episode when it was first being shown, although I’ll admit it probably looks a bit ropey now. Must track down some to re-watch. ---
**Author:** ![lisiate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f05b48/32.png) [@lisiate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisiate)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2016, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-gareth-thomas/752177/13 "2016-04-15T02:06:42Z")
I thought Blake’s 7 was great, although I haven’t seen it in decades. Sad to hear of Thomas’ death. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2016, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-gareth-thomas/752177/14 "2016-04-15T04:02:58Z")
The early ones were great but then it went off the rails. My brothers and I were hugely into the show when it first came out. My brother had a t-shirt with you-know-who standing behind a door he had obviously just kicked down with the caption “Avon calling!” ---
**Author:** ![Penfeather](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penfeather/32/384_2.png) [@Penfeather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Penfeather)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2016, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-gareth-thomas/752177/15 "2016-04-15T05:12:38Z")
_Blake’s 7_ is one of those shows that really cries out for a modern reboot with a better budget: with its premise of criminals versus galactic tyranny on a small spaceship, certainly _Firefly_ owes it a beer. Plus it had New Wave bondage queen [Servalan](http://40.media.tumblr.com/97eebf512e72a9ed27061736479ea505/tumblr_mie3f0lej41s46mcoo5_r1_1280.jpg) on scheming duties. Rest in peace, Gareth Thomas, you did well. ---
**Author:** ![Walker\_in\_Eternity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/46a35a/32.png) [@Walker\_in\_Eternity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walker_in_Eternity)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2016, 8:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-gareth-thomas/752177/16 "2016-04-15T08:17:10Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > I did like **Blakes 7** a lot (though Thomas, despite being the title character, left the show halfway through); its pessimistic worldview was pretty revolutionary for the time (it’s common now). At the time it was aired, it was generally considered as the best SF on TV. > > His Blake was less interesting than several of the other crew members, but he handled it all very well. Agreed. I always thought that this type of future is far more likely than a Star Trek type. Especially in the world we currently live in. I bought all 4 seasons on DVD for a reasonable price. RIP Gareth. You will be missed. For the record Blake’s 7 was created by Terry Nation, who also brought us Survivors and the Daleks. ---
**Author:** ![Penfeather](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penfeather/32/384_2.png) [@Penfeather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Penfeather)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2016, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-gareth-thomas/752177/17 "2016-04-15T22:44:51Z")
> [@Walker\_in\_Eternity](#): > > For the record Blake’s 7 was created by Terry Nation, who also brought us Survivors and the Daleks. It was also killed off by Hitchhikers Guide because the BBC couldn’t afford three SF shows. So the last episode of Blake’s 7 killed off _everybody_ no backsies in a bloody massacre in the most nihilistic bit of TV ever. ---
**Author:** ![Lochdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/edb3f5/32.png) [@Lochdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lochdale)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2016, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-gareth-thomas/752177/18 "2016-04-18T04:44:49Z")
Think I was 9 or so when I watched the last episode of Blake’s 7. Amazing viewing back then. ---
**Author:** ![Walker\_in\_Eternity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/46a35a/32.png) [@Walker\_in\_Eternity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walker_in_Eternity)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2016, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-gareth-thomas/752177/19 "2016-04-18T08:01:40Z")
> [@Penfeather](#): > > It was also killed off by Hitchhikers Guide because the BBC couldn’t afford three SF shows. So the last episode of Blake’s 7 killed off _everybody_ no backsies in a bloody massacre in the most nihilistic bit of TV ever. It seems they forgot to tell Paul Darrow (Avon). He’s still writing sequels where Avon survived. Sadly they are not well written and the plots are very predictable and also scientifically implausible (even within the realms of a Science fiction show). ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2016, 10:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-gareth-thomas/752177/20 "2016-04-18T10:16:26Z")
I remember watching and liking Blake’s 7 as a ~6 year old boy, but I don’t remember much about it.