One of the best TV SF series of the moment is a remake of an old one- Battlestar Galactica. An interesting concept, but its execution was frankly cheesy.
The new Doctor Who also shows how a loved classic can be updated and become even better than before.
So, what else would benefit from the treatment? Any other oldies that could be improved on? Is it a case of a worthwhile concept that never lived up to its potential, or something that was well-written but the special effects make it difficult to take seriously?
I nominate Blake's Seven. The concept- A citizen in a totalitarian world is contacted by the resistance, who inform him he is their leader- captured and brainwashed into renouncing and then forgetting his rebellion. Unfortunately, his first meeting with the rebels ends in a massacre and his arrest. In order to discredit him, the government implant false memories in children, making Blake appear to be a paedophile. He is sent to a prison colony. On the way, he is one of a number of prisoners sent to check out an abandoned alien ship, which killed the soliders sent aboard it. Luckily, the ship's defence system works by messing with people's minds, and Blake is resistant to that sort of thing due to the all the previous messing-with he endured.
Blake and his fellow prisoners take control of the ship, and carry out a rescue mission on the prison planet. Blake vows to use this super-ship to take on the Federation. However, his crew consists not of fellow pricipled rebels, but largely of criminals who are only with him because they don't want to go back to prison. In particular, the criminal mastermind/computer expert/bastard Avon will give him a lot of trouble.
Meanwhile, the military are in pursuit, led by the sexy sociopath Servalan.
Great concept, eh? But let down by an ever-increasing lack of direction, plots that became plodding as the series outstayed its welcome, the departure of its main charcter halfway through (though his eventual return did lead to the best final few moments any TV SF show has ever had) and of course the crappy special effects only 70s Brit SF can provide.
Now, surely doing a BSG on this would be worthwhile...