Apparently Microsoft has taken over the funding of the Americanised Blake's 7 remake to have it on their own Xbox Live network.
Let me guess. Orac will now keep turning blue and stopping mid-sentence at the most urgent moment, and Blake has hop on one leg with a finger in one ear and humming the Telly-tubbies theme tune (note-perfectly) during the entire six hour re-install of Orac's programming from a pile of DVDs, then he spends another 12 hours downloading various patches and updates ... and then Orac works for five minutes before turning blue and stopping again.
Microsoft to fund remake of BBC's sci-fi cult classic Blake's 7
Microsoft has agreed to finance a remake of the cult BBC TV science fiction series Blake's 7 for its Xbox Live digital network, according to people familiar with the situation.
The deal represents the latest move by the technology company to create new video programming for the Xbox, which it has repositioned as an entertainment hub. It has sold 76 million Xbox consoles and has close to 50 million subscribers to Xbox Live, a digital media network that allows users to compete against each other and download video.
Microsoft declined to comment, but a person familiar with the deal said the company had agreed to finance development and production of the show, although it had not committed to a full series.
Microsoft has replaced the Syfy cable channel, part of Comcast's NBCUniversal group, which was originally lined to up to remake Blake's 7.
Best known for its shaky sets and improbable storylines, Blake's 7 ran for four series on BBC TV in the late 1970s and early 1980s - surviving the departure of its eponymous hero halfway through, and culminating in the apparent demise of almost all its other characters in a final episode slow-motion shoot out. It was devised by Terry Nation - creator of Doctor Who's Daleks - who pitched it to the BBC as "The Dirty Dozen in space".
The series will be redeveloped for 21st-century viewers by Motion Picture Capital, a London-based film and television company backed by Reliance, the Indian conglomerate controlled by Anil Ambani. Martin Campbell, the director of Casino Royale has been enlisted to direct the series. MPC declined to comment.
Microsoft has already struck a deal with Steven Spielberg to produce a live-action series of its hit game series Halo, with the show to be distributed on the Xbox Live platform.
In acquiring rights to premium content that would have appeared on TV, Microsoft is pursuing a similar strategy to Amazon and Netflix.
Netflix won plaudits this year for its remake of the BBC series House of Cards, starring Kevin Spacey, while Amazon has commissioned five original series, including Alpha House, a political comedy starring John Goodman. All of the programmes will be streamed to viewers over the internet.
Microsoft is also making a push into Hollywood, hiring Nancy Tellem, the former president of CBS Television Studios, to launch Xbox Entertainment Studios in Los Angeles.
Ms Tellem could not be reached for comment but she told the Fortune Brainstorm conference in Aspen recently that Microsoft wanted to create a "different kind of TV experience" for the Xbox which would be more interactive. "Instead of it being a passive experience you can choose to either passively watch or connect in real time with your friends or across the US or globally - with the content on our platform," she said.
Microsoft recently launched the Xbox One, a new version of its flagship games console, with greater video capability. Users can use or stream a variety of services on the Xbox, including Netflix, the BBC iPlayer and SkyGo, the streaming service.
Looks like TV as we know it is going to be disappearing (eventually), and you'll have to own lots of different and incompatible boxes plugged into your TV set so you can watch stupidly "exclusive" programmes.
![Sad :(](./images/smilies/sad.gif)