Avon was never my favourite character when I was younger, Blake was the leader and that meant he was the best.
However as I got older I began to really appreciate Paul Darrow's interpretation of the character; I loved the interplay between Avon and Blake, even as I came to the more adult realisation that Blake was not actually the nicest of people.
The last time I saw Paul was on a relatively recent episode of Pointless where he was teamed up with Michael Keating in a SF version of the popular quiz. The two of them had a shorthand and understanding that was reminiscent of Avon and Vila and it was great to see the two of them together again.
The big shock though was learning that Darrow had lost his legs to illness, and had been struggling to come to terms with the loss of his wife, Janet Lees Price in 2012. (She appeared in the last episode of Blake's 7 and Avon shot her...)
Just seeing him there was a reminder of people getting older and there was a sadness that could not be missed.
With his passing there are more of the original Seven gone (and Servalan) than there are left, let's hope they're all together on the Liberator in the sky.
GROSE: The Liberator? That's Blake's ship.
AVON: He liked to think so.