Several Unlimited
| Fan Club | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Several Unlimited (originally "Blake's Several") |
| Dates: | 1987 to early 2000s |
| Founder(s): | Jackie Horgan, Ann McKannan |
| Leadership: | Dee Beetem |
| Country based in: | Houston, Texas |
| Focus: | Blake's 7 and other media |
| External Links: | |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Several Unlimited was a fan club. Meetings were held monthly in various places in Houston, Texas.
This club was originally a Blake's 7 fan club titled Blake's Several.
Around 1995, it expanded its fandom base and became Several Unlimited, a multifandom club.
The fan club handled the orphan zine table at RevelCon. See Sample Text of a 2000 Orphan Zine Table Letter and the Several Unlimited Internet Zine Sale.
Some club news can be seen here: Message from the President: 1997-2000, Archived version.
Its Zines
The club published several zines:
Its Cons
The club hosted several cons:
- Destiny (US multifandom con) (1988)
- Rebellion (1990)
Description from a Flyer
Blake's Several is the Gulf Coast area Blake's 7 non-profit fan club and social group. Blake's 7 is a British science fiction series that ran from January 1 978 to December 1981.
It was created by Terry Nation, who also created Doctor Who's most famous adversaries, the Daleks. The final episode was seen by more than 10 million people, an astonishing figure considering the size of the population of England. It has now been shown in more than 32 countries, including Australia, New Zealand, and the United States.
Blakes's 7 is a space-opera of love, hate, vengeance, political intrigue and personal honor, wrapped around a framework of adventure and danger. The story begins on a future Earth whose inhabitants live in domed cities because they believe the surface to be a radioactive wasteland. The military controls the population through drugs and fear. Roj Blake, a political leader, is framed and sentenced to life on a prison planet.
On the prison ship, Blake leads a take-over attempt. He and his followers eventually comnandeer an abandoned super-spaceship that they name the "Liberator" and use it to try to defeat the corrupt Terran Federation.
Blake's 7 is more realistic than the usual science fiction series. The crew of the Liberator is made up of escaped criminals thieves, and smugglers. Their reactions to each other and their situation are not always predictable. The "good guys" don't always win. Blake's 7 is the only television show which has generated a cult following the the U.S. BEFORE IT WAS EVER SHOWN HERE. Now that it is finally airing here, it is creating a fierce and enthusiastic following.
Blake's Several is devoted to promoting Blake's 7 in the Gulf Coast area and want to bring together those who are equally fascinated. We publish a newsletter, "Notes from the Underground" and hold regular Houston meetings. We also sponsor the "Travelling Blake Show" at local conventions, consisting of video tapes, costumes, magazines, stills, shooting scripts and props.
We held a two-day convention here in Houston in March, 1987, and will be sponsoring a three-day convention in March, 1988 where our special guests will be Paul Darrow and Michael Keating, Avon and Vila of Blake's 7.
A Millennium Party
A fan recounts a 1999/2000 New Year's Eve party hosted by the club:
Fans of The Sentinel welcomed the new year with a room party that ran concurrent with the Several Unlimited Millennium Party. Since we were just across the hall from the main event, lots of back and forth celebrating was going on.
Laurie Haynes, Jan Meeks, and Kelly Gatewood helped me host an evening of Sentinel songvids and blooper reels. Kelly brought along some great photos of the cast she had taken at various Sentinel conventions. Lots of fellow TS fans dropped in throughout the evening for some lively discussion, which also branched out into X-Files. At midnight, we joined the main contingent in the boardroom for the obligatory bubbly and noise-making. After mingling awhile, most of us retired back to the Sentinel Sanctuary for more songvids. At around 3:30AM, we decided that the New Year was well and truly started, so we were done, or rather done-in for the night.
The next morning, we joined everyone for the Ritual Breakfast, splitting up on our separate ways after that. The fans who joined me all said they had a great time and expressed an interest in doing this again next year. It wasn't just a party, it was a chance once again to get together for some fun with old friends and new. Like the defining theme of our favorite television show, "It's about friendship". [1]