Illuminating Blake’s 7 – The lamps of a sci-fi classic.

For those who have dipped into the blog posts within this website, you will have noticed that I am full of admiration for the visual aesthetic of Blake’s 7 – both in terms of the actual tone and style, and also the miracle in getting it on to the screen to such a high quality.

In the same vein as ‘The Chairs of Blake’s 7‘, here is a guide to the visible lamps seen in Blake’s 7 – whether they are floor, desk, or wall lights. These 30 or so examples are either commercially available or custom built and/or only accessible via prop stores and hire companies.

Let’s shine a light, place a spotlight on, illuminate ourselves etc etc… Yeah, I’ll shut up now.

‘The Web’ (BBC, 1978)
‘Animals’ (BBC, 1981)
T443 table lamp,
Designed by Mario Faggian. Produced by Luci.
Italy, 1970s

‘Children of Auron’ (BBC, 1980)
A marble and steel 3-light floor lamp.
Goffredo Reggiani
Italy, 1960s.

‘Voice From the Past’ (BBC, 1979)
‘Death-Watch’ (BBC, 1980)
Very likely a Goffredo Reggiani chrome wall lamp
Italy, 1970’s.

‘Aftermath’ (BBC, 1980)
Metal and perspex floor lamp.
Date and manufacturer unknown.

‘Countdown’ (BBC, 1979)
‘Aftermath’ (BBC, 1980)
‘Poliedra’ project (Progetto Poliedra).
Felice Ragazzo for the Harvey Guzzini design house.
Italy, 1970

This modular lighting design system was the brainchild of Italian designer Felice Ragazzo (b. 1944) for the Harvey Guzzini design house. Each module is 26 x 31 x 37 cm. It was designed in 1970, and manufactured until 1974.

(Ragazzo) “One sunny morning, clear and serene air, it wasn’t spring yet, I found myself reluctantly designing chandeliers. Luckily it was always a failure. But before I let it go, an unexpected sketch came out of my pencil: a cusp of reticular tetrahedrons intertwined with a cluster of spotlights. I knew instantly that the thing was big.”

‘Gambit’ (BBC, 1979)
Quadrifoglio floor lamp
Studio 6G/Luigi Massoni for Harvey Guzzini,
Italy, 1970’s

‘Seek-Locate-Destroy’ (BBC, 1978)
Luci T442 Table Lamp
Luci Italia,
Italy, 1970s

‘Moloch’ (BBC, 1980)
Metal and brass floor lamp.
Goffredo Reggiani.
Italy, 1970’s

‘Children of Auron’ (BBC, 1980)
‘City at the Edge of the World’ (BBC, 1980)
‘Stardrive’ (BBC, 1981)
Square perspex wall light.
Designer currently unknown.
1970’s.

‘Gambit’ (BBC, 1979)
The ‘468’ – a 1970s five-bulb steel wall light
Salvi for Italian lighting designer Goffredo Reggiani.
Spain/Italy, 1970’s

‘Killer’ (BBC, 1979)
Lampione floor lamp
Fabio Lenci
Italy, 1968

‘Rumours of Death’ (BBC, 1980)
Black desk lamp
Targetti Sankey,
Italy, late 1970’s.
If you look really, really, closely at the episode, you can just make out the green ‘study’ lettering.

‘Sarcophagus’ (BBC, 1980)
‘Animals’ (BBC, 1981)
Table lamp
Anders Pehrson for Ateljé Lyktan,
Sweden, 1973.

‘Rumours of Death’ (BBC, 1980)
Chrome desk lamp.
Designer and date unknown.

‘Star One’ (BBC, 1979)
‘Dawn of the Gods’ (BBC, 1980)
Stainless steel and metal floor lamp
Designer – Gio Ponti Manufacturer – Reggiani.
Italy, 1974

‘Voice from the Past’ (BBC, 1979)
15″ Steel and perspex wall light.
Designer and date unknown.

‘Powerplay’ (BBC, 1980)
‘Traitor’ (BBC, 1981)
Very likely to be a wall lamp equivalent of a White Swirl Glass Chandelier.
Paolo Venini, for Murano.
Italy, likely 1960’s

‘Sarcophagus’ (BBC, 1980)
‘Torpedo’ wall light .
White Murano glass and nickel wall bracket.
Designed by Carlo Nason and manufactured by Mazzega.
Italy, 1960s.

‘Mission to Destiny’ (BBC, 1978)
‘Killer’ (BBC, 1979)
Lucite wall lights mounted on polished chrome frames.
Designer unknown
Italy, 1960s

‘Rumours of Death’ (BBC, 1980)
Architects desk lamp
Valenti Luce
Italy , 1970s

‘Aftermath’ (BBC, 1980)
Convex disc wall lamp (XL version)
Goffredo Reggiani and manufactured by Studio Reggiani.
Italy, 1970.

‘Gambit’ (BBC, 1979)
‘Sarcophagus’ (BBC, 1980)
Bud Grande floor lamp.
Harvey Guzzini for Melbo / Iguzzini.
Italy, 1968.

‘Animals’ (BBC, 1981)
‘Assassin (BBC, 1981)
Aluminium wall lamp
Bent Karlby for Lyfa,
Denmark, 1960s.

‘Gambit’ (BBC, 1979)
‘Moloch’ (BBC, 1980)
‘Bellini’ floor lamp.
Tony Paul, for the Mutual Sunset lamp company,
USA, 1970’s.

‘Countdown’ (BBC, 1979)
Steel wall light,
Designer Unknown,
1970’s.

‘Killer’ (BBC, 1979)
Pileo floor lamp
Gae Aulenti for Artemide
Italy, 1972

‘Weapon’ (BBC, 1979)
Sorella lamp
Harvey Guzzini
Italy, 1972

‘Killer’ (BBC, 1979)
17″ bronzed three-tubular design. Six lights. Opal glass.
Goffredo Reggiani
Italy, 1960’s

‘Project Avalon’ (BBC, 1978)
‘Sand’ (BBC, 1981)
7″ Chrome wall lamp, dome shaped, with twin opening.
Designer and date unknown.

POSTSCRIPT

Here is a discussion of the lamps of Blake’s 7, taken from a Twitter thread published in November 2023.

1/ For the last few weeks the spotlight has been on the wall, table and floor lamps seen in Blake’s 7. Here are some final thoughts, now I have run out of examples and enthusiasm.

2/ It’s fun picking out details as a member of the audience. For example, the Pileo or Sorella lamps feel like part of the telefantasy family, from ITC, to the BBC.

3/ But this trip to the design department of Blake’s 7 is reminder of how carefully the amazing BBC production designers and directors thought about the visual ingredients that make up the series. (Pic. Ken Ledsham (Red collar), Robert Berk (leaning), Sally Hulke (in black and white), Gerry Scott.

4/ Sometimes, the lamps are a fragrantly aesthetic choice, complementing their surroundings. Take the triangular wall lamps that are perfectly aligned with the bold shapes seen in the set design of ‘Countdown’.

5/ Sometimes the lamps say something about the characters, such as Justin’s ‘boy’s bedroom’ table lamp by Swedish designer Anders Pehrson, seen in ‘Animals’, or Servalan’s swanky chrome desk lamp.

6/ Sometimes it’s the setting/situation, such as the black, ominous Luci T442 seen in Travis’ hideaway, the decedent Quadrifoglio seen in Freedom City, or the Lampione floor lamp, used to illuminate the cadaver in ‘Killer’.

7/ Sometimes the lamps are there as decoration or embellishments, but boy, they are crackers! That’s right, Michael E. Briant, get that T443 table lamp right in the foreground – put the money up on the screen!

8/ Then there are details that can only amuse those who enjoy a bit of telefantasy and interior design, like how clinical spaces of Chenga and Helotrix incorporate expensive twisted Murano glass.

9/ Or how lamps are flipped, turned upside down, to avoid immediate detection, such as these distinctive perspex squares, or Pileo lamps being repurposed as water fountains in ‘Killer’.

10/ Or how there is a game of Tetris being played in front of our eyes, with duel chrome desk lamps becoming wall lamps – yes, I’m looking at you, Gerry Scott.

11/ Or that particular designers had their favourites, such as Ken Ledsham’s use of Trumpets and Quadrifoglio’s.

12/ Or Ray London’s use of Gio Ponti’s 1974 floor lamp.

13/ The interior design contexts are always of interest, and it’s fun to draw out parallels between the fiction on the screen and the realities of biography/influence/context. E.g failed chandelier = Albian aesthetic!

14/ Although not used in B7, Targetti Sankey’s ‘Structura’ (1972) was, on paper, a lighting designers dream, allowing lights to be positioned at any point. As it was commercially available, it could be potentially integrated into set design as a prop. Cue demarkation disputes!

15/ Or the irony in how Anders Pehrson integrated colour following a trip to a Volkswagen factory, witnessing all the colourful cars in a row. Yet, in ‘Animals’ we see his lamp in white on a beige background.

16/ Or how this photo of the ‘Focus’ lighting family, by Italian designer Fabio Lenci, looks like concept art for where Zil, and all the other ‘onenesses’ would emerge from, on the unnamed planet in ’Trial’

17/ But looking back, perhaps the ultimate Blake’s 7 designer is Goffredo Reggiani, whose chrome, space age, Sputnik themed possibilities feel at home with B7’s visual aesthetic. His convex disc lamp even has seven disks, how apt!

18/ Details on Reggiani (1929-2004) are surprisingly scarce. Born in Italy, he founded Studio Reggiani in 1957. His designs evolved from wood and glass, to chrome. His company is now worldwide.

20/ There are so many examples of the brave new world possibilities of chrome, glass and steel lamps from the mid-20th century. They’re a decadent addition to the Blake’s 7 live-fast-die-young brand of ‘bonhomie and party atmosphere’.

21/ Yet, Blake’s 7 feels like the aftermath of the festivities. The joyous multitudes have retreated, and you’re left with the hangover, the emotional insecurity, and nobody to clear up the debris.

And the lights are too bright.

22/ This juxtaposition of brave new world design, alongside faded, jaded, and post-party fictional universe gives Blake’s 7 a uniqueness – not to dissimilar to the description offered by Una McCormack – “Tinsel and Nihilism”.

23/ And yes, ‘The Lamps of Blake’s 7’ is now a thing, including references, lamps from old, the lamps from the last few weeks, and three new discoveries. There’s more to find, I’m sure.