Survivors

This speculative drama starts each episode with one of the greatest title sequence ever devised for television : A Chinese scientist accidentally drops a glass tube . Cut to the scientist collapse at an airport where planes are arriving then taking off again then the camera focuses on passports of Moscow , Madrid , Madrid , Paris and London being stamped as the picture dissolves . It doesn`t sound very exciting and it`s probably not but it is very very effective because it`s so simple . The whole premise of the series and its consequences of a lab borne virus escaping and being carried around the world sums up what has happened to humanity - the survivors - in the opening credits . Not a lot of programmes do that . And credit too for Anthony Isaacs title music which is understated , bleak and haunting

Written by Terry Nation the first couple of episodes introduce us to the main characters of Abby Grant , Jenny Richards and Greg Preston , three people who have survived a superflu like virus that has wiped out 99 % of the world`s population . The trio meet more characters on their travels , not all of them good . One thing season one was good at was showing us that a worldwide calamity will not bring out the best in people and in some episodes like " Garland`s war " and " Something of value " that people may have to turn to violence if they want to survive at all . One outstanding episode " Law and order " centres around the premise of how will people deal with someone within in the group who harms another person in the sanctum

Unfortunately as soon as Nation left to create BLAKES 7 at the end of the first season he took many of his Wyndham / Christopher inspired ideas with him . Seasons two and three are far less interesting than the first . Charles Vaughn who wouldn`t be out of place on a hippy or Greenpeace commune becomes the central character and SURVIVORS becomes a sort of BBC post apocalypse rival of EMMERDALE FARM with the only episodes worth watching being " Lights of London " , " Mad dog " and the absolutely outstanding " Last laugh "

All in all a fairly good mature intelligent drama series but it should have been an unforgettable masterpiece from the golden age of British television. And if only Terry Nation had been given more control I`m certain it would have been . So if you`re going to watch SURVIVORS make sure you watch the whole of the first season and the episodes I mentioned above . Ignore the rest

When an enigmatic unnamed scientist accidentally infects himself with a lethal engineered virus he unwittingly spreads it world wide via air travel. Focusing on London, England we see the effects of the virus as millions succumb and civilization collapses accordingly. The story hones in on a handful of emotionally scarred survivors who come together and attempt the difficult and painful reconstruction of a new society no longer able to depend on supplied science and technology. In one episode entitled "Law and order" the survivor's group are faced with a rape and murder of one of their number following a raucous celebration. An intellectually disabled member is falsely accused and sentenced to death with the killer himself voting for the man's execution. After one of the group leaders carries out the killing, he learns the identity of the real killer and is forced to allow him to stay in the group and withhold the information as the news of the tragic error would permanently splinter and destroy what they fought, against enormous odds, to create. Survivors is gripping stuff; well acted, cleverly written and creatively directed - if you like character driven Sci - Fi drama then this is for you.

Survivors is the first post doomsday drama on British television, echoing the pessimistic world view of 70s science fiction feature films such as The Andromeda Strain, The Omega Man or Planet of the Apes. Of course Survivors obviously also owes a lot to the grandmaster of British Science Fiction, John Wyndham with some dialogues almost verbatim taken from the day of the Triffids. But that does not have an impact on the quality of the programme. Like in Romero's Crazies the bureaucracy just fails terribly and the world becomes overrun by a deadly virus. Helpless attempts at stopping it are made but it all ends with a whimper. So a group of survivors from all different walks of life meet and group together. The disaster brings out the best and the worst in people: the hamprered housewife turns into a leader, the leader into a fascist and a rich woman into the bitch from hell. So a lot of the drama comes from the dynamics between the people and all the dilemmas you face in this situation. For viewers of todaya it takes a while getting used to the much slower pace of narration of the 70s. Long scenes, no hand camera and sparingly used music. That makes it look dated but once you accept it, it really makes very good viewing because the pace matches the helplesness of the people. Theonly drawback for me is that as with a lot of 70s and especially 80s British TV the outdoor scenes and the studio scenes were shot on different material so that as a viewer you experience really harsh differences in term of the picture.

Survivors is a show about the aftermath of a deadly plague. The title of the show indicates the plague originated in a lab in the Far East, and was accidentally released after a beaker was dropped. Air travel helped the flu-like disease spread around the world quickly and wipe out most of the population.

In England scattered survivors of every age, race and creed band together in small communities, learning to become self sufficient. The survivors often discuss the future, struggling to preserve a sense of normality and trying to plan ahead for building a new world.

This series was created by Terry Nation, better known as the creator of Doctor Who's most deadly enemies the Daleks. I suspect Terry Nation got a lot of his inspiration from such books as Earth Abides and The Day of the Triffids. Particularly the parts about new societies. I've only seen the first series of this show. It was made the year before I was born. Apparently after the first series it started to go downhill, as writers were running out of ideas. Terry Nation was unhappy with the path the show was taking and disowned the later episodes. I think he wanted an ending more like Earth Abides, where post-plague society slips into primitive illiteracy.

Survivors is popular enough to have its own website, created by fans of the show. It has some interesting discussions and speculation about what it would be like to live in the post-apocalypse world, and recommends books with the same theme.

Aside from the occasional inexplicably stupid decision, flares, dubious supporting cast, flares, horrendous interior decoration and flares this is very good BBC SF. The story, if slow, is certainly plausible and is much better than the atrocity of the remake.