Microsoft to fund Blake's 7 return as Xbox Live exclusive

Report says Redmond raring to resuscitate classic Brit SciFi

Microsoft is reportedly backing a reboot of Blake's 7, the seminal British science fiction show.

The Finanacial Times' reports Microsoft feels Blake's 7 is just the kind of content it needs to encourage Xbox owners to deploy the device as an entertainment hub that deposits rivers of subscription revenue into Redmond's coffers, instead of just using it to play games.

The FT's report says Microsoft has replaced cable outfit Syfy as the series' backer. Syfy's involvement was revealed just last April, when Fremantle Media announced 13-part series penned by Joe Pokaski and directed by Casino Royale helmsman Martin Campbell .

Fremantle's announcement offered the following scenario for the show:

“The year is 2136, Blake wakes up on one side of the bed.  He reaches for the other side. There’s nobody there. As reality sets in, this handsome ex-soldier sits up, and looks at a photo of his wife Rachel. Beautiful. Deceased.”

There's no word on when the reboot might emerge and no details of cast or creative team. Whether the series will be the reboot Syfy planned or a direct sequelisn't known.

Vulture South hopes it is the latter: we've been dying to know whether Avon escapes the ring of Federation goons for years. ®