10 Doctor Who Actors Who Have Appeared In Blake's 7
2. Paul Darrow
Paul Darrows Avon is undoubtedly the most iconic character from Blake's 7. Darrow has embodied the character so much so that he became a regular contributor and advisor to Marvel Comics' Blakes 7 magazine. Darrow then went on to pen his own adventure chronicling Avons story post-Blake. He made a valiant yet unsuccessful attempt to revive the show in the late 90s, even purchasing the rights to the show. Having recently written two Blakes 7 novels for Big Finish, he is clearly not ready to let go of the character any time soon. Before landing the role of Avon, Darrow made a guest appearance as Captain Hawkins, a member of UNIT, in Doctor Who and the Silurians. A minor character, Hawkins is killed at the hands - or rather, the third eye - of the Silurians. Perhaps because of his later fame as Avon, the UNIT officer was later given a back story in the novel The Scales of Injustice. Following Blakes 7, Darrow returned to Doctor Who in a misjudged and over the top performance as Tekker in the Colin Baker story Timelash. Not one of his best moves, but thankfully Darrow redeemed himself within the Doctor Who universe both as Iago in the Kaldor City audios and as Guidance in the audio story The Next Life. Speculation has it that Iago is in fact a pseudonym for Avon, such are the similarities between the two characters. Guidance is the Father of the Eighth Doctors companion Crizz and is a spiritual leader of The Church Of The Foundation in a divergent universe. Turns out he is being manipulated by Rassilon to help him escape into our universe. As an experienced voice artist, Darrows talents are well suited to this medium and its unlikely fans have seen the last of him in the worlds of Doctor Who.
Paul Driscoll is a freelance writer and author across a range of subjects from Cult TV to religion and social policy. He is a passionate Doctor Who fan and January 2017 will see the publication of his first extended study of the series (based on Toby Whithouse's series six episode, The God Complex) in the critically acclaimed Black Archive range by Obverse Books. He is a regular writer for the fan site Doctor Who Worldwide and has contributed several essays to Watching Books' You and Who range. Recently he has branched out into fiction writing, with two short stories in the charity Doctor Who anthology Seasons of War (Chinbeard Books). Paul's work will also feature in the forthcoming Iris Wildthyme collection (A Clockwork Iris, Obverse Books) and Chinbeard Books' collection of drabbles, A Time Lord for Change.
