First Battlestar Galactica was reinvented as a must-watch TV show and clever allegory for US foreign policy post-9/11. Then the Doctor returned from Gallifrey to make sci-fi cool and revive mainstream family viewing.

Now Sky One is hoping to continue the successful reinvention of the genre with a multimillion-pound remake of the 1970s British favourite Blake's 7. The broadcaster yesterday announced that it had approved the development of two new scripts from the production company that holds the rights to the series.

It will hope to retain the addictive plots, realism and moral ambiguity of the original, which featured Roj Blake and his crew on the run from a totalitarian government called the Federation which rules the galaxy with an iron fist.

But it is likely that it will jettison the shaky sets and 1970s special effects which saw one of the spaceships constructed from hairdryer parts. And there is one other conundrum for the writers to solve: the eponymous Blake died in the final episode of the original series, when he was shot by fellow crew member Avon, and the rest of the main characters appeared to perish too.

As part of a drive to invest more in homegrown drama, Sky One has ordered scripts for two 60-minute pilot episodes. If successful, it will be expanded into a six-part series. The broadcaster said the show would not be a straight remake of the original but a "re-imagining" in the vein of Battlestar Galactica.

Sky said it was too early to talk about the script or casting, but commissioning editor Elaine Pyke said it was likely that Blake would be brought back as the central character.

"We'll be going for a good, broad appeal. I think it's something people are waiting for. The great thing about Blake's 7 was the relationship between the people who were cooped up on that ship. It's about the characters."

She said it would take the old version as a "jumping-off point" and seek to walk the same line as Doctor Who in satisfying the original fanbase while bringing in a new generation. Pyke said it would employ "top, top writers" and tap into "big contemporary themes".

Blake's 7 was created by science fiction guru Terry Nation, who also invented the Daleks, when writing for Doctor Who and created Survivors, another fondly remembered series which is also being remade by the BBC. The show ran from 1978 to 1981 on the BBC, following Blake's adventures as an intergalactic freedom fighter.

A former resistance leader who is brainwashed by the government and forced to betray his comrades, he is framed and convicted on false charges before escaping from his prison ship on to an abandoned spaceship they christen the Liberator.

With five others, and onboard computer Zen, they try to strike back against the Federation and its leader, Servalan. Although the show aired for only three years, it has lived on since with well-attended fan conventions and popular websites.

There have been rumours of an onscreen revival since producer Andrew Sewell bought the rights to the series from the estate of the late Nation, with talk of a movie version as long ago as April 2000.

Recently the company that holds the rights, B7 Media, began producing new audio episodes which have been made available on CD and broadcast on the digital radio station BBC7.

Sky also played a co-production role in the "re-imagining" of Battlestar Galactica, which was made by the Sci-Fi Channel in the US and premiered on Sky One in 2004. It has been widely praised, with Time magazine naming it the best programme on television, and has won a string of Emmys.

Moray Laing, the editor of Doctor Who Adventures magazine, said science fiction was now "mainstream". "With Doctor Who it was always big ideas done on a budget, and now it's big ideas done incredibly well. Blake's 7 was the same. It's really exciting."

He said Blake's 7 was always "more character-led than monster-led", with the ability for characters to teleport on to planets giving its writers freedom.

But Blake's 7 fans will be hoping that the plans for the remake do not go the same way as the last cult series that Sky promised to resurrect. It announced to much fanfare that it planned to remake the 1960s classic The Prisoner but pulled out after clashing with its US production partner. ITV later said it would step in to save the project.

Backstory

Arriving nine years after the moon landing, Blake's 7 proved an instant hit in a world still gripped with space fever. And as Britain struggled through the winter of discontent, the series provided Monday night escapism, the troubles of the fugitive space pirates echoing tensions between government and the public. When the BBC show burst onto screens in 1978 it became a classic, pulling in 11 million viewers.

Created by Terry Nation, inventor of Doctor Who's nemeses the Daleks, the series ran for four years, unravelling the destinies of seven misfits thrown together by chance and forced to combat the totalitarian authorities as well as a galaxy full of other perils. Nation originally pitched Blake's 7 as 'The Dirty Dozen in space'. The final series ended with a cliffhanger - a sure-fire way to guarantee the show's legacy among sci-fi fans: crew member Avon killed Blake, while federation troops murder the entire crew except Avon.

Sarah Knapton