HELLOOOOO and a Happy New Year! We made it to 2013. Thanks to Josh Garcia, as well all know, on this blog. As I now officially enter my post-Joshua Files writing life, I’m going to be featuring some different kind of stuff on the blog for a while. It might get biographical. There could be recipes. We’re going off-piste for a bit. And I’m working on four, count ’em – FOUR projects. Two – JAGUAR’S REALM and THE PRINCE are manuscripts I’ve been cooking for years. And two are Brand New and Very Super Top Secret.
Like all Blake’s 7 fans I’m brimming with excitement at the prospect of the Syfy channel’s reboot of the classic seventies BBC TV series, Blake’s 7. I loved that show so much, words can barely express it. All my early stories were Blake’s 7 stories. My latest one is too – Big Finish have commissioned new Blake’s 7 novellas from three authors, to be published in November in an anthology. To celebrate my finishing the story – COLD REVOLUTION – and in honour of the upcoming new Blake’s 7 series, I thought readers might enjoy an excerpt from a novel (BETWEEN LIFE AND DEATH) I wrote in 1996.
In this chapter, Jemima, a Blake’s 7 fan (ardent would be too mild an adjective), travels to Sausalito, California, to meet Greville Davis, the British-born Hollywood screenwriter who’s been commissioned to write the blockbuster Blake’s 7 movie. She’s none too pleased with the idea that this new writer might go off-piste and decides to confront him.
Here’s an excerpt:
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From the diary of Greville Davis
Tuesday 18th
Without any doubt, the ideal way to begin the morning is with a cup of black espresso, charred plum tomatoes with eggs over easy; at least two Marlboro Lights. I followed my own advice this morning as on others. Reading material: Variety. Music: Schubert symphony number 5, first movement only. I read that Gabriel Byrne has just finished shooting another picture; I make a note to tell Sonja to call him to read for Travis. Or Blake. Or, just possibly, Avon. On second thoughts, score that; he’s perfect for Travis; remember him as the Nazi in “The Keep”, or the Irish gangster in “Miller’s Crossing”. He could bring a real subtlety to the role; I’d have to write him closer to the original but with the disturbing self-containment of the second Travis. I wonder if the Coens would be interested in being involved? No; they’d want a hand in the writing, which no-one is going to have but me. Put down same for Quentin Tarantino; don’t be tempted!
Second cup of coffee, third cigarette; music change: three minutes and twenty seconds only, J.J Cale.
Standing on my balcony I look right across the marina; I can’t quite see my own boat from here; it’s too small. After the picture, I’ll buy a bigger one. I’m convinced, at last, that the opening scene is right. I’m not out to shock but then again I don’t want anyone to sit there thinking that they’ve walked into yet another spaceship blockbuster. Its strength always was the interior lives of the characters; let’s stick to that, dialogue and psychological thriller.
I’m still unsure that we made the right decision to do this as a post-Gauda Prime. There are so many constraints; Blake’s 7 in a fundamentally Blake-less universe. Alternative Universe Seven might be easier but it would never be accepted as canonical. Never-before-told stories are just a waste of time; we need a cash cow. Something to continue the adventures. We could bring Blake back as the original Blake and say that Avon shot the clone…but would that be stretching credibility? Perhaps I’ve too much respect for Chris to do that; no, the impact of the final episode must not be compromised. Ideally.
Another minor victory; Terry finally came around about not using his story outline. For a while there, I thought he’d never speak to me again, which would have been a shame because even though I resent some of his comments about my landing this deal, he’s still a great man and one of my all-time heroes. Plus, he has a great wine cellar.
Fourth Marlboro; reading; ‘Vanity Fair’ music; Simon and Garfunkel – ‘Mrs Robinson’.
Sailors are early risers; I can see them spilling out onto the wharf as I write, all decked out in Gortex and Reeboks. There’s a girl on the deck of one of the nearer boats. She’s been there for an hour at least; just reading; not wearing sailing clothes; doesn’t seem to have plans to go anywhere today. I wonder what she’s reading?
If only I knew whom they were going to cast as Avon, it would make my job a good deal easier. It’s a role that has to be defined in a large part by the actor. If we want him played like first or second season Avon then we have to get someone who can bring out that heroic element whilst still retaining the cynical wit. Or maybe we want the angst-ridden Avon of the third series? He could never vocalize those feelings so we’d have to get someone who can say it all with The Look. David Duchovny is interested, I know, but are we interested in him? Is there anyone out there who doesn’t see him as Mulder? Certainly our audience does. In any event, he’s too young; too whiny; doesn’t have the gravitas to pull it off. I still like Alan Rickman for the part. Like David, he’ll appeal to all the right impulses in the Avon-groupie brigade. Even now he still has that expression, that voice that just says: sex. But then…if Alan could do it then why not Paul? They’re of an age, for sure. Sometimes I just want to get on the phone to Fox and tell that producer what I think of his casting plans!
Memo to the producer; Rick; let’s get David Duchovny in to read. He has just the right deadpan wit; let’s see if he can do the temper and the angst.
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If you’d like to read this whole chapter, you can download it here: THE SCREENWRITER excerpt from Between Life And Death