 The series was originally to have ended with the climax to the third  season. However, the BBC Director General of that time, Bill Cotton,  was so impressed by the quality of the series that he had the  continuity announcer declare that Blakes 7 would return for a new  series the following year, which caused some surprise amongst the  cast and crew. Chief of the problems this caused was that producer  David Maloney (qv) had become producer on  _Day of the Triffids, The (1981) (TV)_ (qv), meaning that a new  producer was needed for the show. After Terence Dudley (I) (qv)  turned the job down due to his intending to retire,  Vere Lorrimer (qv) was made producer.