From: Alison Page alison_page@becta.org.uk
So, I often find ideas, milieux and plots more interesting than fictional characters, because I frequently think that fictional characters are simplistic, rigid, and implausible. They reflect the author's prejudices, and reinforce the readers'.
This might underlie the appeal of the characters in B7. They are real enough to warrant interest and attention, but at the same time not real enough to completely satisfy. Solution: write lots of fanfic that fills in the gaps and pads them out to a more satisfying degree of wholeness.
I think it was Steven Pacey, in some interview or other, who observed that ninety per cent of the lines for the regular cast could have been given to just about any of the characters. I think he's got a point. (Actually, you can have fun with this - take a script and swap lines about. It works most of the time. Having just tried it with a few bits of Deliverance, I would say Avon's lines can be handed over to Blake relatively intact, but Blake's lines don't work half so well for Avon.)
I suppose the character junkies' retort would be that although you keep the same words, they get delivered in a completely different way. What's more important - the words, or their delivery? The relative importance of each might differ from character to character, I suppose.
Neil