Survivors
This 2009-10 remake of the famous BBC thriller from 1975-77 is alternately chilling, thoughtful, banal and exciting, depending on when you’ve turned in.
The original series was written by the late Terry Nation (developed later as a novel). Nation (1930-1997) was better known as creating the villainous Daleks in the original DOCTOR WHO, as well as creating another successful Sci-Fi series, BLAKE’S 7.
The new release of seasons one and two, based on Nation’s original storyline, showcases the enhancement of the fantastic progress in Computer Generated Imagery (CGI). As before, this go-round spells out what a post-apocalyptic England would look like after a plague wipes out 90% of the world’s population. Does savagery dominate the few thousand survivors of this 21st Century plague, or will uncommon grace-under-pressure win out? In the twelve episodes (around 730 minutes on the DVD, including some excellent bonuses), we meet some of the survivors and follow their character arcs: Abby (Julie Graham), the only one of them who actually got the virus and survived, is a mother searching for her 13-year-old son, Peter; Tom (Max Beesley), a killer who fights his natural inclinations to better serve his friends; Greg (Patterson Joseph), a loner who discovers in time that his inner needs will be met by banding with others, etc. Some former British government leaders are a villainous band (perhaps they caused the outbreak of a flu that got away), with one, Samantha (Nikki Amuka-Bird), ready to become a tyrant if it holds her tribe together.
The writing is taut, with the character delineations crisp and the acting following suit. Sometimes, however, the plots go off on some wild gyrations that don’t ring true, but for the most part this solid series makes more sense than LOST and is as sturdy as TRUE BLOOD.
The writing by Adrian Hodges, Gaby Chiappe, Simon Tyrell and Jimmy Gardner and the direction of John Alexander, Andrew Gunn, Iain B. Macdonald, Jamie Payne, David Evans and Farren Blackburn are soundly professional, keeping the excitement high and the visuals stimulating. And Season Two ends with a cliff-hanger-bang that jolly-well guarantees a third and maybe more seasons. Well, they’d better!