Unfortunately the quality of the show decreases as they made the bizarre decisions to get rid of the Abby character from the second series, and it gets a little bogged down in the domestic drama of running an effective farming community. However, it is worth watching all the way to its conclusion as there are always very good episodes that elevate the series far above normal. After Vic attempts suicide, the others discuss how depressed he has become and set about finding useful tasks to give him a sense of purpose, such as teaching the children. Additionally, Greg and Paul go to a nearby town and find Vic a proper wheelchair. Two people turn up at the manor driving a tanker full of petrol. One is a young man, Donny, the other is Anne – the woman who had left Vic to die. Vic tells the others what she did, and Abby decides that Donny can stay but Anne must leave in the morning. That night, Anne attempts to kill Vic, who in turn also tries to kill her in anger. After both break down in tears, they talk. The following morning, a seemingly more positive Anne leaves the house, watched by Vic. Even though the number of organised location visits, and the number of fans joining those visits, has declined quite sharply in recent years, there are still a handful of dedicated enthusiasts determined to nail the whereabouts of the last still-to-be-found Survivors locations. There’s no indication of them giving up the hunt. A plague wipes out 99-point-something percent of the human race and the survivors have to start again from scratch. The quality of the episodes varies but for me it was never less than good and I'd really put the best ones up there with 'I, Claudius' and the original 'Upstairs Downstairs' at the very peak of classic British TV drama - most notably an episode from the first series revolving around capital punishment and one from the third that's like a cross between a western, a horror movie, The 39 Steps and a Breughel winterscape, with philosophical interludes. All the best box sets work on many levels and this is one of the best – it’s a morality tale, it’s a broken mirror to the world we live in, it’s a character study, it’s a battle of humanity against the virus but more than anything this is the story of Carol Baker. A tale of despair, a tale of hope and a tale of the spirit of humanity both good and bad – and its another classic 10/10,”– Planet Mondas Blog

Sam: His fate is nicely foreshadowed, too; Greg was going to make the supply trip, but Paul stops him, knowing Greg has parental responsibilities — an investment in the future. It shows the measure of Paul’s altruism there, in his sacrifice for the common good and the next generation. Nation, Terry. Survivors. An adaptation of certain of his own series one episodes, with a radically different ending While the first series of Survivors was released on VHS video (three times within ten years) and all three series on DVD (between 2003 and 2005), the show has not been made available through any UK TV service since the sign-off on UK Gold.

Greg: We discussed Paul in the last series, and we both said how much we loved Chris Tranchell’s character and performance. One thing Survivors did really well was to punch you in the gut, and this is the first of two occasions it happens in season two. Greg: I’m afraid it marks a downturn for me. I suspect we’re getting to the areas where we may disagree. I’m not a fan of this episode. Basically, a refined man who reads poetry turns up at the community and wants in. Only it’s revealed that he had, years earlier, murdered a child and was imprisoned for his crime.

His work on Doctor Who was the subject of the documentary Terror Nation, a special feature on the BBC DVD release of Destiny of the Daleks. [13] Out of the Unknown [ edit ] Producer Xanna Eve Chown said: “ Ghosts and Demons is set during the first series of the TV show, at about the time of the episode Something of Value, where tensions are running high at the Grange. We also get to meet some new characters from various walks of life and see how they are settling into the new post-plague world. Hint: Some are doing better than others…” I referred to his little exchange with Charles about how many men they’d killed in one of our earlier round-ups. Ian McCulloch is really putting his own spin on Greg Preston as the man of action here. It’s a return to form, but can it last? Having returned to writing for Doctor Who, the BBC commissioned Nation to create a new science-fiction drama series. First broadcast in 1975, Survivors is the post-apocalyptic story of the last humans on Earth after the world's population has been devastated by plague. Although the series was well received, Nation's creative vision conflicted with that of producer Terence Dudley, [1] and the final two seasons were produced without Nation's involvement. Denis Lill's photo collection – Denis Lill's photos taken during the making of Series 2 and Series 3.Eyers, John. Genesis of a Hero. A direct sequel to Nation's book; it bears no relation to events in series two and three The Changes (TV series), a series set in a Britain that is suddenly plunged into a pre-industrial age The Survivors’ flight from the city mirrors the exodus from England towards the southern Mediterranean areas led by Adrian in Mary Shelley’s The Last Man. After the sufferings due to the plague, which devastated the world both materially and emotionally, the escape is at first characterised by a feeling of hope towards the future seen in terms of a chance to build a new and better world, an idealised rebirth from the ruins of the past civilisation.[22] Both Shelley’s and Nation’s survivors must face an analogous disillusion brought about by the realisation that human nature has not been redeemed by the plague devastation. On the contrary, since devastation itself has only enhanced the worst instincts in the survivors, people do not find solidarity in destruction because ruination itself has strengthened and induced a reaction of division, violence and a search for, and an abuse of, power. In Shelley’s The Last Man, the first emigrants reaching France report the presence of several different groups of people, emphasising the divisions between the emigrants. According to their witness,

Two factual books about the series have been published: The Making of Terry Nation's Survivors, edited by Kevin P Marshall, was published by Fourth Horseman Publications in 1995. The End of the World? The Unofficial and Unauthorised Guide to Survivors ( ISBN 978-1845830014) by Rich Cross and Andy Priestner was published by Telos Publishing Ltd. in December 2005. Bignell, Jonathan and O'Day, Andrew: Terry Nation, p.21, Manchester University Press, 2004; ISBN 978-0-71906-547-7. I was fortunate enough to get to watch this when it was first run and I was stationed in England while in the U.S. Air Force. While I missed the first season, I was there in time for seasons two and three and loved them.Mass Movement Magazine‘s Tim Cundle concluded his review: “If you are a fan (and if you’re not, then you should really be asking yourself why not and doing your damndest to rectify that as soon as possible) and you are familiar with the series, then you’re going to love every single second of the rapidly unfolding drama that lives at the heart of Survivors Series Five. Survival is everything…” Events in this box-set happen between the second and third TV series and in parallel with early episodes of the third. In search of the power station specialist, Alec, the group arrives at his settlement. He is extremely hostile, however, and claims to have no more interest in his former career. However, the group discovers that Alec is haunted by the memory of his dead wife. They encourage him to face his fears, which brings him to a breaking point. He attempts suicide but is saved by Charles. Coming to his senses, Alec agrees to help and goes with them. Greg: The Witch is on a par, for me. My beef with it is that the episode centres around a brand new character (Mina). I must say that Delia Paton is excellent in the role – but we’ve never met her before, and suddenly asked to care about her. Not only that but the plot is almost absurdly thin. Hubert is after a bit of fun with Mina, but she rebuffs him. To hurt her feelings, Hubert tells the kids that Mina’s a witch, and it all goes very Hansel and Gretel. Pet gets utterly hysterical, and Charles has to lose his temper and force them all to see sense.

Barker, Dennis. "Obituary: Terry Nation – The Man who Invented the Daleks". The Guardian, 13 March 1997.Bob's efforts would soon be built on and extended by the work of organisers and fellow location hunters such as Chris Barker, Adrian Hulme, Steve Brailsford, Guy Hawley, Colin Wilks and Mark Wheatley. John Eyers’ is the pen name of author Peter Hill, who also wrote the TV tie-in Special Branch: In At The Kill using the same pseudonym that was first published in 1976. The BBC TV series Survivors, produced by and broadcast on BBC1 from 1975 to 1977, stands as a significant example of the post-apocalyptic genre. Created by Terry Nation, a well-known TV author in the 1960s and ‘70s, Survivors is just one of his successful contributions to British television, which also include several popular science fiction drama series, such as Blake’s 7 (as creator) and Doctor Who (as contributing writer). It must be underlined, though, that in the case of television, as opposed to literature, authorship and authority itself does not generally depend exclusively on the role of the creator/writer. Although in the case of Terry Nation, his authorship is reflected in the main idea, the chosen genre and the various main plots of the first Survivors series, it is important to stress that any television production is a combination of different influences, namely, writer, producer, script writer (editor) and, last but not least, director. In this case, the TV series Survivors is no exception and is further enriched by cultural, political and sociological frameworks and subtexts originating not only in the cooperative work of various contributors, but also in the impact the TV programme itself had on its audience at that particular time. As Jonathan Bignell and Andrew O’Day point out, “boundaries are set by generically coded formats and the script must be transferred to the screen by a production team and performers. … In case of television production, that power and authority is in fact, spread out of a number of people … the author(ity) behind television programmes is far from being a unified creator or writer figure.”[1]