Spoilers. Adrian Hodges' modern twist on the '70s post-apocalyptic drama built to a fitting cliffhanger, with the group facing past enemies from all sides. Oddly though, after making Abby's search for her son Peter the narrative backbone of this six-part series, that particular storyline is restricted to a brief coda in the finale.Instead, the story derived from the return of meddlesome MP Samantha Willis, who has implausibly started recruiting dangerous hoodlums into her "government" mere weeks after firing a bullet through the noggin of someone for petty theft. And who should be her right-hand man? None other than rifle-toting, weasle-faced Dexter from episode 2's forraging-based storyline; hired muscle to enforce her latest wheeze: the creation of a modern Doomsday Book...
Frankly, the finer workings of how the finale draws together past characters and storylines doesn't stand up to scrutiny. Bimbo Sarah's callous decision to leave her injured "boyfriend" to die was returned to -- with Dexter's cronies having unbelievably nursed Bob back to semi-health, apparently intending to reunite him with Sarah as his atoning nursemaid. And can breaking your leg can lead to incontinence? Poor Bob.
Regardless, Sarah's been a hollow, simpering character since her introduction, so exposing her as a selfish cow wasn't a surprise for anyone at home. And her friend's reaction to the news was one of mild confusion, as only Greg even knew about Sarah's history with Bob, and she's hardly endeared herself to the group with her distant demeanour, anyway. As recompense, a moment when Sarah revealed to Dexter's goons that Anya is a valuable doctor worked much better as a means to remove her competition for Tom's affections. Plus, having Anya whisked away to a life of enforced servitude at Samantha's eco-centre necessitated a brief but fun rescue.
But Sarah isn't the only character with a skeleton in the closet, of course. There's escaped felon Tom, who has been a snake in the camp from the very beginning. Sadly, his character has softened in recent weeks, so episode 1's sense of unpredictability regarding his motives has dulled him to lovable bad-boy status. I no longer believed he'd suddenly pose a real danger to Abby's group. Indeed, Abby is happy to be kept in the dark about Tom's criminal past once it's discovered, so long as his actions in the present are honourable -- and, having unofficially accepted the role of protector once trigger happy Dex shows his true colours, Tom's climatic actions confirm he's sided with the goodies.
10-year-old Najid finally got a half-decent story all to himself, as he ran away from the group to became a modern Oliver Twist -- taken in by a gang of street kids who are being manipulated by a cotemporary Fagin called Craig (Ada Kotz). Craig has coerced vulnerable children into stealing cooking oil to power his abandoned Ritz theatre hideout -- which he's outfitted with disco lights and gaming consoles to entertain his infant thieves as payment.
Interestingly, Craig's scheme had parallels to Samantha's own plan (recruiting people, rewarding work with luxuries, and reaping the benefits as their self-appointed leader.) This was hopefully an intentional echo, and not a sign Survivors is running low on angles for its villains to play. It was perhaps unwise to paint Najid as a total brat, sadly, but the Dickens-esque story was fairly diverting and solidified the "father/son" relationship that's formed between Najid and Al, who was compelled to trace Najid's whereabouts. Just a shame Najid didn't earn a slap for the trouble he'd caused.
Thankfully, this finale did provide worthwhile moments of tension, excitement and surprise in its final quarter. The return to the city (assumedly Manchester) enabled more of the post-apocalyptic imagery Survivors can't deliver every week for budgetary reasons (flooded streets, an apartment building on fire), and the sense of abandoment and eerie silence was magnified by this urban setting. The lonely countryside isn't really incongrous enough for a show like this, as so much of Survivors could be mistaken for a particularly awful family holiday, or social experiment. You need the empty city streets, silent motorways and ghost towns to really sell the idea -- and the two episodes that have bookened Survivors delivered, even on a limited budget aping 28 Days Later.
Another mild disappointment was the scientists, whose omnipresent black helicopters were revealed to be reconnaisance; tracking and identifying survivors against a medical database of immune citizens whose blood might provide them with a vaccine. It was quite obvious Abby would be the woman they want around episode 3, and sure enough the last few minutes saw a snatch-and-grab operation dovetail with Dexter shooting Greg in the chest. These stinging developments (is Greg fated to die if Paterson Joseph succeeds David Tennant in Doctor Who?) were the cumulative jolts of excitement that helped the finale earn its stripes.
Overall, I'm sufficiently interested in seeing what happens in season 2, but Survivors will have to get a lot grittier and dirtier to do this concept full justice. Anya, Sarah, Al, Greg and Najid could also benefit from deeper writing, as most of the effort was expelled on Abby and Tom's characters. Even Samantha was a more rounded and interesting person compared to some of the regulars, despite getting half the screen-time. Maybe each episode should have focused on one particular character and simulatenously explained their pre-disaster histories? Still, this was far from a disaster and was actually surprisingly good, particularly considering showrunner Adrian Hodges' primary claim to fame is the CGI-heavy, character-shallow monster romp Primeval. A second series will hopefully improve the formula, now they have six episodes under their belt to be assessed.
23 December 2008
BBC1, 9pm
Writer: Adrian Hodges
Director: Jamie Payne
Cast: Julie Graham (Abby), Max Beesley (Tom), Paterson Joseph (Greg), Zoe Tapper (Anya), Philip Rhys (Al), Robyn Addison (Sarah), Nikki Amuka-Bird (Samantha), Ada Kotz (Craig), Anthony Flanagan (Dexter), Chahak Patel (Najid), Ronny Jhutti (Sami), Daniel Ryan (Bob Murphy), Andrew Tiernan (Gavin), Danny Seward (Robbie), Anthony Hudson (Darren) & Kate Lyons (June)
