With cinemas of the early to mid 70's being full of films predicting grim futures for Mankind - such as 'Zardoz' and 'Soylent Green' - it was predictable that television would get in on the act eventually. Terry Nation's 'Survivors' begins with one of the most memorably scary title sequences ever filmed; to the accompaniment of Anthony Issac's powerful theme, a Chinese scientist accidentally smashes a flask. Some time later, he collapses at an airport and dies. Within hours, the terrible plague he has inadvertently unleashed spreads across the world. Millions perish. Only a handful survive - and they band together in an attempt to rebuild civilisation...
At the time of its original screening, I remember thinking: "What if this came true? Could I live in a world without electricity and all the other comforts we take for granted?". The main characters were 'Abby Grant' ( Carolyn Seymour ), a strong-willed middle-class housewife, 'Jenny Richards' ( Lucy Fleming ), secretary, and Greg Preston ( Ian McCulloch ), engineer. All were excellent. Other memorable characters to cross their paths included 'Tom Price' ( Talfryn Thomas ), a work-shy tramp, 'Ruth' ( Celia Gregory ), and 'Jimmy Garland' ( Richard Heffer ). Initially, the story lines combined action and adventure with thought-provoking drama. In the best episode of the series, 'Law & Order', a retarded man is put on trial for the murder of a young woman. His fate is to put to the vote. He is found guilty, and executed. Then its discovered that he was innocent. It remains the finest indictment of capital punishment I have come across. Another good episode was 'Something Of Value' in which a petrol tanker becomes the centre of an ownership dispute.
After an excellent first series, the show went slightly downhill in the second, as Carolyn Seymour was fired by the producer. Terence Dudley was notorious for rubbing people up the wrong way - Kit Pedler and Gerry Davis took their names off his previous B.B.C. sci-fi series 'Doomwatch'. Her departure was a huge blow for the show. Denis Lill's 'Charles Vaughan' was brought in as a regular. Then Ian McCulloch left in the third, and when power was restored in the very last episode, the series ended on an upbeat note. U.K. Gold repeated it in the '90's, and in 2003, D.D. Video put it out on D.V.D. In 2008, the B.B.C. attempted a remake with Julie Graham as 'Abby' and Paterson Joseph as 'Greg', but it was an unmitigated disaster, and was dropped after only two seasons. The producers failed to grasp that 'Survivors' was about people having to get by without technology, and had characters accessing the Internet. Furthermore, the women often looked as if they had stepped straight from 'Sex & The City'. Terry Nation would have hated it.
At the time of its original screening, I remember thinking: "What if this came true? Could I live in a world without electricity and all the other comforts we take for granted?". The main characters were 'Abby Grant' ( Carolyn Seymour ), a strong-willed middle-class housewife, 'Jenny Richards' ( Lucy Fleming ), secretary, and Greg Preston ( Ian McCulloch ), engineer. All were excellent. Other memorable characters to cross their paths included 'Tom Price' ( Talfryn Thomas ), a work-shy tramp, 'Ruth' ( Celia Gregory ), and 'Jimmy Garland' ( Richard Heffer ). Initially, the story lines combined action and adventure with thought-provoking drama. In the best episode of the series, 'Law & Order', a retarded man is put on trial for the murder of a young woman. His fate is to put to the vote. He is found guilty, and executed. Then its discovered that he was innocent. It remains the finest indictment of capital punishment I have come across. Another good episode was 'Something Of Value' in which a petrol tanker becomes the centre of an ownership dispute.
After an excellent first series, the show went slightly downhill in the second, as Carolyn Seymour was fired by the producer. Terence Dudley was notorious for rubbing people up the wrong way - Kit Pedler and Gerry Davis took their names off his previous B.B.C. sci-fi series 'Doomwatch'. Her departure was a huge blow for the show. Denis Lill's 'Charles Vaughan' was brought in as a regular. Then Ian McCulloch left in the third, and when power was restored in the very last episode, the series ended on an upbeat note. U.K. Gold repeated it in the '90's, and in 2003, D.D. Video put it out on D.V.D. In 2008, the B.B.C. attempted a remake with Julie Graham as 'Abby' and Paterson Joseph as 'Greg', but it was an unmitigated disaster, and was dropped after only two seasons. The producers failed to grasp that 'Survivors' was about people having to get by without technology, and had characters accessing the Internet. Furthermore, the women often looked as if they had stepped straight from 'Sex & The City'. Terry Nation would have hated it.