Fallen Hero

Paul Darrow passed away on June 3rd. 

Paul Darrow is best known for playing the character Avon on the British science fiction show Blake’s 7. I remember clearly that one of the first times I genuinely wanted to write was watching that show. 

I had that feeling repeatedly watching that series, and it usually came watching Darrow’s performance and delivering some of the snappiest lines I’d ever heard. That show made me want to do that. Not to act, I knew by then that wasn’t anything I’d be interested in, I had taken drama and every time I had to go on stage I felt like my stomach was going to eat itself in fear. No. I wanted to write the words that characters like Avon would say. And while a lot of that is a testament to the shows writers, I think a fair amount of it is due to the performance Darrow gave. 

Being American I didn’t see a lot of Darrow’s other work, though I always kept an eye out for it. I think I’ve caught all the Doctor Who episodes he was in. He played the lead in a… I’m guessing direct to video movie I saw called HP Lovecraft: Dreams of Cthulhu, which while uneven, the concept was pretty much “what can we make that Ian would like.” He also played the Sheriff of Nottingham in a 1970s tv series version of Robin Hood, where Prince John was the guy that played Ford Prefect in the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy tv series, and Robin Hood came off as sort of a drip to the point that it was sort of difficult not to root for the bad guys. 

I recently watched Blake’s 7 again. I had remembered that the special effects are horrible, I’d forgotten how weird the costumes are. But despite the shoestring budget and low production values I still love the show even if I recognize that a lot of what made that show ground breaking: the crew that genuinely didn’t get along and the high quality of banter are almost standard in this era of peak television which I think has benefitted from the contributions of shows like Blake’s 7. I think Paul Darrow said it very well himself. On the DVD extras for Blake’s 7, he says, “People ask about rebooting Blake’s 7, I think largely Firefly already has.” 

Ordinarily when people get to a certain age, somewhere over seventy, I’m less phased by their loss. I think this is partially because my mother died when she was 46. A very good friend of mine died when he was 46. A friend I knew in my youth recently died… I think he may have been 47… no need to contribute to my “what the hell is up with 46?” irrational thinking, but still, my point is ordinarily people like Paul Darrow who get into their latter 70s, strike me as having lived a full life and while I might be sad, it’s lessened by the number of years they had.

Reading about Paul Darrow’s passing though, genuinely makes me sad. I think a lot of what once inspired me to be a writer is gone now, and while it’s important to find new inspirations, I think it’s important to acknowledge now what is lost.