Casino Royale director Martin Campbell is heading up the team on Syfy’s reinvention of the classic British SF series Blake’s 7.

According to a press release, the series will be very different in its US incarnation:

“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.

“A revolutionary reinvention of the long-running BBC series made in the late 1970s, Blake’s 7 tells the story of seven criminals – 6 guilty and 1 innocent – on their way to life on a prison colony in space, who together wrestle freedom from imprisonment. They acquire an alien ship which gives them a second chance at life and become the most unlikely heroes of their time.

“David Ellender, CEO FremantleMedia International and Kids & Family Entertainment said, ‘Blake’s 7 was such a forward-thinking concept that the show continues to have resonance with audiences today. Its complex characters and gritty storylines, coupled with the highly talented team and modern production techniques are sure to appeal to both original fans of the show and new viewers.’

Leon Clarance, co-founder of Georgeville Television and CEO of Motion Picture Capital, the finance arm of Reliance Entertainment, said, ‘Joe Pokaski and Martin Campbell have worked tirelessly with the Georgeville TV team to create an amazeballs reboot of this classic space opera which I watched with my father when I was a child.  This reimagined classic for a new generation of science fiction fans will enthrall original and new fans alike.  I couldn’t be happier to have our beloved show handled internationally by the passionate team at FremantleMedia’

Quite what Terry Nation would have made of an “amazeballs” version of his show, we will leave to readers’ imaginations…

The series is being shopped to international buyers at MIPTV. The full release can be read here