Sad news
I was going to post something happy but I thought I should acknowledge the death of Paul Darrow, announced yesterday, first. I can't even really put into words what Blake's 7 meant to me at one time. It sounds melodramatic but it is certainly true to say that without it I would be a different person and have lived a different life. Paul Darrow as Avon wasn't my first TV crush, Blake's 7 wasn't my first TV obsession but it was the first show that meant I discovered fandom and fanfic. Even though I'm not active at the moment fandom has been a huge part of my life at different times and without it I certainly wouldn't have been on LJ.
Some tweets just to remind me of the affection with which Avon was held.
We're absolutely devastated to learn that Paul Darrow, our friend and colleague, known to many as Avon from Blake's 7, passed away this morning. #RIPPaulDarrow pic.twitter.com/uZproik1Oa
- Big Finish (@bigfinish) June 3, 2019
Not #PaulDarrow. He was so good in Blake's 7. 100% committed to his complex characterisation of Avon: a cynical good guy who might also be a psychopath. PD oozed cunning & danger from behind an inscrutable visage. In real life he was an absolute hoot, very entertaining. #RIP
- Toby Hadoke (@TobyHadoke) June 3, 2019
SERVALAN: Stay quite still.
AVON: Servalan.
SERVALAN: You don't sound surprised.
AVON: Why should I be? It has a perverse kind of logic to it. Our meeting is the most unlikely happening I could imagine. Therefore we meet. Surprise seems inappropriate somehow. pic.twitter.com/6eUkcMfDE5
- Mark Wright (@mwrightwriter) June 3, 2019
Paul Darrow, the best anti-hero in sci-fi history and the man who made the most memorable last stand this side of Butch & Sundance, is gone.
So long Avon, you glorious bastard
RIP pic.twitter.com/CqiKZdIhX4
- Mitch Benn 🇪🇺 (@MitchBenn) June 3, 2019
Blake's 7 was inevitably what Paul Darrow was best known for but he was also a memorable Sheriff of Nottingham in a BBC version of Robin Hood, appeared in Doctor Who twice and was a very nasty villain in Dombey and Son. He did a lot of voiceover work too and I was particularly thrilled to discover that there is a copy of a radio play that he did The Silver Sky by Tanith Lee on YouTube (I think I still have my awful cassett copy somewhere).
Goodbye Paul Darrow, thank you for Avon and everything else.
ETA: This is a really nice piece about him.
Some tweets just to remind me of the affection with which Avon was held.
We're absolutely devastated to learn that Paul Darrow, our friend and colleague, known to many as Avon from Blake's 7, passed away this morning. #RIPPaulDarrow pic.twitter.com/uZproik1Oa
- Big Finish (@bigfinish) June 3, 2019
Not #PaulDarrow. He was so good in Blake's 7. 100% committed to his complex characterisation of Avon: a cynical good guy who might also be a psychopath. PD oozed cunning & danger from behind an inscrutable visage. In real life he was an absolute hoot, very entertaining. #RIP
- Toby Hadoke (@TobyHadoke) June 3, 2019
SERVALAN: Stay quite still.
AVON: Servalan.
SERVALAN: You don't sound surprised.
AVON: Why should I be? It has a perverse kind of logic to it. Our meeting is the most unlikely happening I could imagine. Therefore we meet. Surprise seems inappropriate somehow. pic.twitter.com/6eUkcMfDE5
- Mark Wright (@mwrightwriter) June 3, 2019
Paul Darrow, the best anti-hero in sci-fi history and the man who made the most memorable last stand this side of Butch & Sundance, is gone.
So long Avon, you glorious bastard
RIP pic.twitter.com/CqiKZdIhX4
- Mitch Benn 🇪🇺 (@MitchBenn) June 3, 2019
Blake's 7 was inevitably what Paul Darrow was best known for but he was also a memorable Sheriff of Nottingham in a BBC version of Robin Hood, appeared in Doctor Who twice and was a very nasty villain in Dombey and Son. He did a lot of voiceover work too and I was particularly thrilled to discover that there is a copy of a radio play that he did The Silver Sky by Tanith Lee on YouTube (I think I still have my awful cassett copy somewhere).
Goodbye Paul Darrow, thank you for Avon and everything else.
ETA: This is a really nice piece about him.