Blake's 7 - Music and Sound Effects

Music and Sound Effects

Blake's 7's signature music was written by Australian composer Dudley Simpson, who had composed music for Doctor Who for over ten years. The same recording of Simpson's theme was used for the opening titles of all four series of the programme. For the fourth series, a new recording was made for the closing credits that used an easy listening-style arrangement. Simpson also provided the incidental music for all of the episodes except for the Series One episode "Duel" and the Series Two episode "Gambit". "Duel" was directed by Douglas Camfield, who bore a personal grudge against Simpson and refused to work with him, and so Camfield used library music. Elizabeth Parker provided the music and sound effects for "Gambit". Blake's 7 made considerable use of audio effects that are described in the credits as "special sound". Many electronically-generated sound effects were used, ranging from foley-style effects for props including handguns, teleport sounds, spacecraft engines, flight console buttons and background atmospheres. The special sounds for Blake's 7 were provided by the BBC Radiophonic Workshop composers Richard Yeoman-Clark and Elizabeth Parker.