Costume Design Archive: Nicholas Rocker

Costume Design by:

- Nicholas Rocker ( notable efforts: Twiggy (1975), The Musical Time Machine (1975 - 1977), Orion (1977) )

Costume Design Genre: futuristic

'Rescue'

The fourth series of Blake's 7 differed from the previous ones in many ways, one of which involved only one costume designer overseeing the entire series, resulting in perhaps a slightly more coherent style to the various outfits. The first episode of the series picks up from the end of the last one, with the former Liberator crew being picked up by the scientist Dorian (Geoffrey Burridge) in his spaceship 'Scorpio' (replacing the Liberator from the previous series) who in his underground lair sports a burgundy outfit covered in golden studs, as well as striped golden trim over the waist and elbows - the tunic is also worn over a golden shirt.

Also with Dorian is his companion Soolin (Glynis Barber), who would end up joining Avon's crew of the former Liberator - in this episode, she sports the first of the two jumpsuits she would sport in this series, this one being a grey jumpsuit with shinier patches over the chest in a v-shape pattern, as well as on the cuffs and knees too. The jumpsuit is also cut to have a hole around the chest, as well as a choker that has a medallion attached to it - makes me think of a dog collar, honestly.

Soolin's second outfit, worn in later episodes, is a more simple light grey jumpsuit adorned with blue lining as well as a shiny blue diagonal strip on the front, with the same material also adorning the cuffs as well.

Avon's first new outfit is again fitting in with the colourscheme established at the end of the previous series, being black with silver and white lining, as well as being fixed with patches of black vinyl and studs. This particular costume comes with a 'vest' of sorts, that shows the undershirt that is fixed with white panels around the collar.

Avon's second outfit opts out of the black vinyl patches, instead being entirely black and silver with the undershirt having a collar of circular silver strips, also lined with studs - both the undershirt and vest have silver lining going down from the shoulders to the cuffs. It should be worth noting that, presumably due to budget constraints, the main cast usually wore just two main costumes throughout the whole of this series, rather than the more varied wardrobe in earlier seasons.

Dayna in this episode wears a surprisingly utilitarian outfit of light grey with red-lined dark patches over the shoulders and waist, which goes against the various more relaxed looking jumpsuits she wore in the previous series.

Dayna's second outfit, worn in later episodes, feels more in line with the character's previous attire, utilizing golden trim especially around the large shiulders which are covered in golden strips, which are also connected with a golden-lined choker as well

Tarrant only has one notable costume in this series, a blue-lined grey jumpsuit with white and grey panelling over the front.

Tarrant's second outfit is a grey tunic with white lining and studs around the chest as well.

Vila typically didn't really wear anything worth covering in previous seasons, as they were usually just shirts or similarly loose garments in usually plain colours - here he instead wears a set of grey overalls and vest, both of which have pale yellow circular lining around the shoulders and elbows on both the jumpsuit and vest.

Vila's second outfit worn in the series is this grey tunic that has panelling over the shoulders, with yellow lining around it as well.

'Power'

The former Liberator crew end up in the power struggles of a group of primitives in this episode, with the leader Gunn Sar (Dicken Ashworth) wearing a silver studded top and black tights, which is sometimes worn with a silvery sash as well.

Gunn Sar's wife, Nina (Jenny Oulton), sports a red dress with a bodice made of a similar studded silver material as Gunn Sar's armor.

'Traitor'

This episode would make the first appearance of Servalan in his series, with her still wearing black as established in the previous episodes too - most of her costumes in this series tended to be typical black dresses, often not being futuristic much at all, but the one she sports here is definitely striking enough to warrant inclusion - a black shirt worn with a fur-lined jacket, worn with pants and boots no less.

The Federation also seem to have a new uniform thats different to the ones they sported back in the second series' episode 'Trial', being a black tunic made of a course material, fitted with thick silver lining over the bottom of its cut and chest as well, with even the epaulettes having glittery trim hanging down. The tunic is meanwhile just worn with tight black trousers.

The rebel militia opposing the Federation are meanwhile clad in brown overalls with tubing around the shoulders to make them look 'futuristic' - one of these jumpsuits was worn in the Doctor Who serial 'Resurrection of the Daleks'.

'Stardrive'

In this episode, Avon's crew have to steal a special form of spaceship drive system from the scientist Plaxton (Barbara Shelley), who has been kept working on more advanced drives by a group of captors - Plaxton sports a white tunic with a glittery chevron marking on the front, with cut sleeves showing the blue shirt's sleeves underneath. Briefly, she wears a blue cape with white lining.

Plaxton's captors are the Space Rats, a group of intergalactic bandits who are also dressed in some of the most outlandish costumes in any science-fiction show ever! All of the Space Rats wear green and white jumpsuits (possibly actual racing jumpsuits?) worn with shiny studded green shoulder pads, as well as padding over the sleeves too, and of course worn with massive mohawk hairdos - their leader, Atlan (Damien Thomas) is only distinguished by wearing a pink jumpsuit with pink shoulder pads!

'Animals'

Servalan appears again in this episode, wearing another black dress adorned with black feathers around the chest and shoulders, fixed with a brooch, and with shiny lining going down to the bottom of the dress as well.

This episode involved Dayna meeting up with a friend of her father's, the scientist Justin (Peter Byrne), who sports a surprisingly very colourful labcoat with bold red and black lining over one side of the shoulders, as well as the edges of the coat as well - it's even worn with red shoes as well!

'Headhunter'

This episode involved Avon's crew bringing the cyberneticist Muller (John Westbrook) on their ship, after which things begin to go wrong - Muller spends the whole episode dressed in a hooded blue cloack made up of blue strips hanging from it, adorned with grey and red strips all over it as well as tubing around the shoulder pads too. Oddly, this is worn with beige trousers which don't really complement it, in my opinion.

Muller's wife Vena (Lynda Bellingham) sports a no less colourful outfit, being a grey tunic with bold red and white lining over the shoulders and chest - I've seen this costume be described as a teacake wrapper, and it's not an inaccurate description!

There are also assistants of Muller who sport blue shirts with red lining around the shoulders and back, worn with tan trousers.

This episode also had the Scorpio crew don spacesuits of rather cheesy 'space age' type designs, with golden panelling over the gloves and pointed shoulders, as well as the helmets (obviously motorbike helmets) having large golden fins mounted on the top as well no less. These spacesuits would be reused a few years later in the Doctor Who serial 'Delta and the Bannermen', but painted bright green to stand in for alien soldiers.

'Assassin'

In this episode the Scorpio crew end up on a slave-trading planet when on the hunt for the mysterious assassin 'Cancer', and end up in an auction held by Verlis (Betty Marsden), who is sported an oddly Ancient Egyptian themed dress with a silver collar and a little 'crown' of sorts over her silver wig - also note her servants wearing rainbow-coloured headdresses too! Were these from the historical wardrobe or actually made for the production, I wonder? I have to mention the auctioneer who wears a conical hat here, if only because again I have to wonder if it was made for the production or reused!

The various slavedrivers also make me wonder, being clad in a variety of two-tone brown vests with golden studs, and worn with conical helmets.

There is also an assassin waiting onboard the spacecraft owned by 'Cancer', thought his assassin isn't the same one! To help in the illusion that he is 'Cancer', he wears a bulky jacket with large shoulder pads over a heavy leather vest with tubing around the collar.

'Cancer' is none other than the supposed slave girl Piri (Caroline Holdaway), who for most of the episode in her disguise as a blubbering ditz wears a sparkly purple blue top worn with deep purple trousers and shoes, and opts for the same outfit but in black (and with a huge beehive hairdo!) when back in her true guise as Cancer.

'Games'

In this episode, the Scorpio crew end up in the midst of a plan by the unscrupulous Belkov (Stratford Johns), a mining contractor working for the Federation that wishes to keep the rewards for himself, who sports a green (or brown, depending on how the shot looks) with ridged panelling over the shoulders (that of course have pointed lining), with studs over the top of the sleeves as well - the tunic itself is loose, fixed with buckles too.

On the hunt for Belkov's treasures is Gerren (David Neal), who sports a black jacket with bright yellow lining over the shoulders and chest in a sort of chevron marking as well - this jacket is worn with grey trousers and boots. Also note Gerren's two assistants are dressed in uniforms reused from the Doctor Who serial 'The Power of Kroll'.

Servalan appears once again in this episode, sporting a rather elaborate feathered dress that sadly isn't seen in detail very well thanks to the dark lighting and unpleasant quality that video recording allows - it seems to be made up of a slightly translucent fabric with feathers stuck on, fixed with a silvery collar as well.

'Sand'

In this episode Servalan is on the search for a group of Federation researchers that vanished on a mysterious desert planet, assisted by the Federation investigator Reeve (Stephen Yardley) who sports a shiny silver tunic fitted with studs over the shoulders, and worn with grey trousers and black boots as well - a fair few of these later episodes' costumes tended to only have the top halves designed, I notice.

There is also the long dead researcher Keller (Jonathan David) who wears a blue and black patterned jacket with white lining - seemingly just worn with trousers, as it is only seen in close-up.

In this episode, Servalan sports a beautiful silver-lined black dress with a flower-like silver brooch over one shoulder, and some of the material being translucent as well, with one shoulder being exposed.

'Gold'

In this episode, the Scorpio crew partake in a heist, assisted by the untrustworthy Keiller (Roy Kinnear), a steward of a luxury passenger ship who is always sported a uniform consisting of a curved red tunic made of a rough synthetic material, with golden lining and worn with black pants as well - the tunic also has a red star badge stuck on it as well.

The guards of the passenger ship are in uniforms of a similar colour scheme, sporting red jackets with black patches around the shoulders and golden lining.

'Orbit'

Servalan appears in this episode, wearing a rather fetching sparkly black dress with a small split cape trailing behind her.

'Warlord'

In this episode, Avon tries to set up an alliance to fight off the Federation, which is briefly joined by the warlord Zukan (Roy Boyd), who sports a black jumpsuit with black vinyl diamond shapes over the front, with golden striped shoulder boards as well as a golden belt - of course, I have to also mention how his hair is dyed pink as well! Also of note are the other delegates, who are all in costumes originally made for Doctor Who serials such as 'Revenge of the Cybermen', 'The Pirate Planet', and 'The Horns of Nimon'.

Zukan's daughter Zeeona (Bobbie Brown) is dressed no less memorable, wearing a black and golden vinyl dress with large shoulders and a belt, and of course worn with a large pink hairstyle that just screams of the decade it was made in - pretty endearing that this is meant to be the daughter of a fierce warlord though!

Zukan's soldiers are also dressed in black jumpsuits with golden trim, the trim coming in the form of panels over the collar and shoulders meant to resemble armor I'm assuming - still with lining over the front, as well as a golden banded belt.

Avon and Soolin also briefly wear the overalls for the Scorpio crew, which are dark green with tan patches over the elbows and shoulders, and golden strips on the collars.

'Blake'

The very last episode of the series (and entire show), which featured a final showdown between the Scorpio crew and Federation soldiers, was set on the planet Geidi Prime whose security forces all wear white tunics with black, brown and silver strips over the front in a similar manner to Justin's labcoat in 'Animals' - the tunics are worn with black trousers and boots.