BBC Warner | 1975 | 1879 mins. | Not Rated
I first heard about Survivors as a college student about twenty years ago. I took a film class with a guy from Great Britain who talked about watching the series as a young kid. Apparently his family never missed an episode, and that’s not hard to believe, since Survivors was a huge hit, even spawning a recent remake. Anyway, my college friend’s high regard for the series made eager to see it. Though I wasn’t able to track it down until the recent DVD release, it was well worth the wait. Created by Terry Nation (the guy who brought us many of the best Doctor Who adventures), Survivors is both original and full of surprises.
As is conveyed during the opening credits, a scientist accidentally drops a flask and breaks it, and gets unknowingly contaminated with an artificial, yet deadly virus. Traveling to a conference in another country, he soon infects enough people to spread the disease across the globe. People soon start dying all over the world. Though scientists try to come up with a cure or vaccine, there just isn’t enough time. In a matter of days 99% of the world has died; only a select few have the natural immunity to survive.
For those who survive, life as they knew it no longer exists. With no electricity, water system, or police people have to learn to fend for themselves without many of the amenities their used to. While it’s easy to find canned and preserved food in stores and in the houses of the dead that soon starts to run out. As a result, people band together for protection, comfort, and to share the load of surviving off the land.
Abby Grant (Carolyn Seymour) is a privileged corporate wife living in a nearby village. Though Abby initially contracts the disease, she miraculously survives. With her husband dead, Abby becomes convinced that her son Peter, who’s away at boarding school, is still alive. As she begins to search for him, she meets up with Greg Preston (Ian McCulloch) an engineer, and a young working girl from London, Jenny Richards (Lucy Fleming). After encountering paramilitary groups, and a man obsessed with repopulating the Earth by impregnating every woman he encounters, the group realizes they must find a place where they can farm the land, raise animals, and defend themselves, if necessary. They eventually find a large estate house with land, called The Grange, which is perfect for their needs.
As the first series continues, more people join the new community. A self-centered woman, Anne Tranter (Myra Francis), a hobo with a fondness for alcohol, Tom Price (Talfryn Thomas), a retarded man named Barney (John Hallett), and the attractive and kind Wendy (Julie Neubert). While it’s likely this group of people wouldn’t have gotten along in the pre-plague society, or even have met, they’ve all put aside their differences for the common goal of surviving in this new world.
With Terry Nation leaving the show after the first series over a dispute with the producers, Survivors wasn’t quite as sharp during series two, but the decline wasn’t enough to keep the story from being compelling.
Things begin with an absolute disaster: the Grange burns down. There are some casualties, but life has to go on. With no place to stay, the group decides to join another community, though it will take them several days to get there. While that community is another small one, a larger group of survivors is discovered in London.
The series ends with Greg leaving the new community, bound for Norway in a hot air balloon bound for Norway. His hope is to re-establish worldwide contact.
The third series deals with the survivors attempts to build a new technologically connected world. With Greg rumored to have returned to England, two others set out in search of him. It quickly becomes clear that society hasn’t died out, but is in fact, making a comeback. Societies are reestablishing themselves with federated communities, market bartering and a old fashion form of railway travel. The end of the series even sees the return of law and order.
Survivors is a great series that asks a lot of tough questions. The best episodes deal with the characters having to be their own moral judges since there isn’t a system of laws to dictate right or wrong. As I watched each episode, I found myself wondering, what I would do if I were in that situation. I finally realized, it’s impossible to imagine, because it’s so far from any reality I know. That’s what makes Survivors so good.
The full frame color image looked better than I expected. The picture was quite clear and the level of detail was fine. The colors weren’t bright but realistic and the flesh tones looked good. There weren’t any print defects or digital anomalies. Overall it’s a good looking collection.
The show is presented with its original mono soundtrack that sounds very good given the shows age. The dialogue is clear though sometime American viewers might have trouble with the accents, mainly with the minor characters. The range is adequate, though not spectacular. There are subtitles for the hearing impaired.
The Special features are limited:
• Photo Galleries: Series one comes with a pair of photo galleries, one being a set of BBC publicity stills, the other coming from Lucy Fleming’s personal collection. Series two’s gallery is labeled as BBC publicity stills, though a fan site claims these were mislabeled and again come from Lucy Fleming’s on-set photos. Series three’s gallery consists mainly of stills from early in the season, and plays as a silent video montage.
• The Cult of Survivors: Made in 2006 as part of BBC4’s “The Cult of…” series (this is an informative half-hour look back at the series. Seymour, McCulloch and Fleming are all interviewed, along with director Pennant Roberts, writer Martin Worth and SFX magazine news editor Steve O’Brien. All are candid about the ups and downs of the series, with Seymour open about the circumstances of her departure from the show, while McCulloch bluntly shares his dislike of the second season.
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