Survivors... well, dies

Rumours circled yesterday that Survivors had been axed, but I wanted to wait for official confirmation. So here it comes: the BBC have decided to cancel post-apocalyptic drama Survivors, after two series. A spokesman for the BBC said:

"The BBC is committed to making a broad range of varied and ambitious drama, but in order to achieve this we do have to move on from some pieces in order to allow new work to come through -- after two series, Survivors will not be returning."

While series 1 averaged 5.19m viewers, series 2 fell to a low of 3.81m. While that's a great rating for digital channels these days, it's too low to justify its expense as a major primetime series on BBC1. I've already heard people suggest that BBC3 or 4 could take Survivors on (albeit with a reduced budget), but that's very unlikely because Survivors doesn't fit with either channel's demographic.

Of course, Survivors' demise is an added frustration for fans because series 2 didn't end conclusively and instead lay groundwork for a third series that now won't happen. I guess this is where petitioning begins for the BBC to commision a special episode to finish the story, but is there anyone who cares enough to start a campaign? Anyone..?

TV Ratings: Survivors (BBC1)

Tuesday night's finale of Survivors was seen by 3.67m people, having premiered seven weeks ago to 5.16m. Over its six episodes, series 2 of the BBC's end-of-the-world drama attracted an average of 3.81m viewers. This second series wasn't as popular as series 1 (where even the lowest-rated episode managed 4.65m, having premiered with 6.97m), but it was still successful enough for a third series to be practically assured.

SURVIVORS 2.6

WRITER: Adrian Hodges
DIRECTOR: Farren Blackburn
GUEST CAST: Nicholas Gleaves, Geraldine Somerville, Patrick Malahide, Jack Richardson & Robyn Addison

[SPOILERS] Adrian Hodges returned to bookend Survivors' second series with an episode that worked as a decent finale with engaging action sequences and a fun coda, but it was a little disappointing to have so much of the mystery explained as, well, what most people's first thought had been. I guess that's one of the key problems with Survivors as a sci-fi drama: it flirts with potential, sometimes developing a sense of intrigue, but it's ultimately content to tell formulaic end-of-the-world storylines with ruthless scientists creating a vaccine (including the usual "end justifies the means" mentality), a secret Noah's Ark-like project to protect the "great thinkers" of the world, and a mutated virus killing survivors that's spread by birds, etc.

Mild-mannered doc Whitaker (Nicholas Gleaves) has Abby's son Peter (Jack Richardson) in his custody, hoping to be extracted by his superior Landry (Patrick Malahide) now his lab's become infected and his staff are dead, so they can use the boy to create a vaccine. Abby (Julie Graham) and the gang are searching for Peter and come across a naturally-immune scientist called Fiona (Geraldine Somerville) in the abandoned lab, who believes she's close to creating a vaccine but needs to test it on a human subject. Al (Phillip Rhys) volunteers to be her guinea pig. Later, Whittaker is captured as he returns to the facility to make arrangements for his own rescue and tortured by Tom (Max Beesley) over the whereabouts of Peter, who has been stowed in a static caravan at a nearby holiday camp and is under orders to shoot any strangers.

Taken as its own entity, the finale was relatively entertaining, but as the accumulation of so many plot-strands started in series 1 it felt rather flat and unsurprising. It also containing quite a few laughable moments. Chief amongst them was how Peter became, unintentionally, the biggest nuisance imaginable: somehow managing to shoot Fiona clean through the heart from a distance, after mistaking her as trouble; and later being manipulated into shooting Tom in the shoulder. Considering all the strife the gang have been through to find Peter, it was rather hilarious to see him cause them nothing but problems. A few more minutes on-screen and I'm sure he'd have accidentally shot his mum dead, too.

Overall, series 2 wasn't as taught as the first year, but I had more fun with it -- even if that's because it often approaches "so bad it's good" territory. Abby was more agreeable because they subdued her histrionics over her missing son, and the mystery with the scientists and those coded postcards was appealing if eventually exposed as banal. If Survivors has a major fault it's the feeling the writers don't have a firm grasp of the characters and the actors are left to just emote as best they can: Abby barely did anything once she'd escaped from the lab early on; Tom just glowered and told us why he was jailed; sweet Anya's tense relationship with bad-boy Tom doesn't work; Al and Sarah (Robyn Addison) benefited from their union, but romance was short-lived and neither character did much beyond it; Najid (Chahak Patel) did literally nothing of any consequence; and Greg's (Paterson Joseph) past may have been revealed to us, but the fact his family have likely been evacuated to safety is essentially something that won't be explored until series 3.

Not for the first time with a homegrown serialized drama, I got the distinct impression that a lot of Survivors' problems is down to the fact British writers don't work collectively to hammer out each character's arc and the broader storyline. It means there's a certain amount of slack and filler in-between premiere and finale, with writers having to follow a general direction Adrian Hodges decides on -- which has amounted to a mishmash of every "doomsday" trope going. The problem to overcome with series 3 is that it feels like the characters and plot don't have much mileage left to them, although I'm curious to see what Landry's safe haven looks like, who was taken there, and where it's located. But is that really enough to sustain another six episodes?

Asides

-- Did anyone else find it irritating that they never explained how Peter came to be in Whitaker's care? The last time we saw the boy he was about to release evil trucker Billy from the tree trunk he'd been tied to in episode 4. So what happened? It feels like we skipped an episode.

-- Greg guessed Whitaker's password at the first attempt?!

-- Do you really risk shooting a bad guy in the torso with a submachine gun when he's rolling around on the ground on top of your friend?

23 FEBRUARY 2010: BBC1, 9PM

SURVIVORS 2.5

WRITER: Simon Tyrrell
DIRECTOR: Farren Blackburn
GUEST CAST: Morven Christie, Kevin Doyle, Nicholas Gleaves, Theo Barklem-Biggs, Benedict Sandiford, Danielle Henry, Christine Bottomley, Emma Lowndes, Sean Rea, Paul Copley & Jack Richardson

[SPOILERS] I so wish the characters were more developed, because they're often put in situations that would be lot more gripping and emotional than they wind up being. We just don't know much (if anything!) about their lives pre-virus, as the show could have done with some Lost-style flashbacks early in its lifespan...

What we have, at best, is vague information about stubborn mum Abby (Julie Graham), the reason for criminal Tom (Max Beesley) doing time, and recently learned about Greg's (Paterson Joseph) cheating wife. But the majority of the ensemble -- Anya (Zoe Tapper), Sarah (Robyn Addison), Al (Phillip Rhys) and Najid (Chahak Patel) -- are essentially still stuck as "lesbian doctor", "sulky bimbo", "Indian playboy" and "irritating Muslim boy" after nearly 12 hours of television. That said, this fifth episode was a series highlight, if only because it pushed the mytharc on (setting up an area for series 3 to explore, in the process) and gave us a genuine sense of sorrow and lost love...

In the penultimate episode, "The Family" (as press kits annoyingly refer to them) help rescue a small group who were run off the road by raiders, and are rewarded for their actions by being taken to "The Valley" -- a safe haven inaccessible by vehicles where survivors have created their own self-sufficient rural community. The idea of finding a group with an apparently idyllic lifestyle post-virus is nothing new (in fact, it's in danger of becoming shopworn now), but this group really do appear to have found their own Garden Of Eden. However, while the gang are wined and dined as guests of honour, Al and Sarah publicly announce their relationship, and Tom gristles at the fact Anya fancies a lesbian woman (whom we know is gay because she wears a lumberjack shirt and ties her hair back), it's not long before fate swoops to kick over the apple cart.

While visiting a nearby farm to check on the chickens, Sarah discovers the fowl are all dead in their coop, and upon venturing inside the cottage she's told by the sickly farmer inside (Paul Copley) that a mutated strain of the virus has infected and is killing his family. It's a terrible twist of fate, as Sarah realizes she'll have to quarantine herself to prevent this new strain spreading any further, and protecting her friends and the wider community may cost her life. This, naturally, puts a dreadful strain on boyfriend Al, who joins the others to camp outside the cottage and keep a vigil on Sarah's daily health from a safe distance...

In a fun subplot, Greg takes Abby to where he used to live and we return to the storyline about the mysterious postcard marked with numbers and the phrase "Hope Never Dies." Greg suddenly realizes the numbers are coordinates and they trace the location to an airfield, where they discover a very anxious man called Mr. Stevens (Kevin Doyle) who's been patiently waiting inside and mistakes Greg for the pilot who'll whisk him to safety away from the killer 'flu pandemic. Apparently, others who were given the postcard (with an accompanying e-mail Greg didn't receive), have already been flown to safety, and it crosses Greg's mind that maybe his wife, her new civil servant boyfriend, and his children managed to escape the virus this way...

Both stories had their good and bad points. It was about time we got back to the mystery of Greg's postcard, which itself indicates a fresh branch of the Survivors mythology that appears to indicate the government were aware of the doomsday scenario that was unfolding and have flown a chosen few to sanctuary. Those evacuees are probably the ones relying on Dr. Whitaker's team to find a vaccine so they can all return home, which explains the mysterious man Whitaker has been seen giving updates to on his computer. Anyway, it's arrived so late in the series that I think we'll have to wait for the next series to fully explore this new avenue.

The more emotional moments obviously involved Sarah's predicament, which was quite a distressing example of extreme bad luck, even if the cynic in me began to question the likelihood of Sarah and Al existing as a couple for very long the moment they started canoodling. Tearing a happy, fledgling relationship apart with a shock death is just too irresistible in a drama like Survivors. I thought Addison and Rhys did a commendable job with the script, which didn't quite manage to wring every ounce of emotion from the event. And as I mentioned earlier, both characters are too anemic to feel that pit in your stomach the episode shoots for. Even this series' continuing redemption of Sarah after her mistakes last year didn't land any kind of cumulative punch. But it did enough to elicit some emotion, as the circumstances were so regretful and the final sequence, with Abby entering the cottage after a few days of silence, to burn the deceased Sarah in her bed and torch the cottage to destroy the contagion, was very well handled.

Overall, while it's a crying shame Survivors characters aren't complex or developed enough to make threats to their lives anything but a kink in the plot to stumble over, episode 5 handled things as best it could, and it was a relief to see they haven't forgotten about some of the background mysteries. I know it's only been three episodes since Greg's postcard was introduced as a clue to something bigger, but for some reason three weeks seems a lot longer in the slow-burn world of British six-part drama.

This episode ended with Abby deciding to return to the sinister lab to be tested on (with certain conditions), now that there's a mutated strain of the virus that's threatening survivors of "the first wave". But once there the gang found the building deserted, before noticing her son Peter (Jack Richardson) being hurriedly led away outside on CCTV. Quite how Peter came to be in their possession is anyone's guess, as he was last seen with trucker Billy last week, but hopefully next week's finale will reveal what we've missed.

Asides

-- It was strange that the gang's latest member, Sally (Emma Lowndes), was pushed so far into the background here that you'd be forgiven for forgetting she's now part of the team. I do wish there was a stronger sense of cohesion between episodes.

-- Why must Anya be bisexual? Oh yes, to give Tom someone to fancy who isn't totally off-limits. It still feels like Anya's sexuality is just a way to give her character an unusual flourish, but the writers can't quite bring themselves to deny Tom's character some lovin' by making her purely lesbian, so bisexuality covers all bases.

-- Please, please, please, we've come this far and Julie Graham's been largely tolerable as Abby compared to series 1, but this episode ended with her once again screeching "Peter! Peter!" I got flashbacks.

16 FEBRUARY 2010: BBC1, 9PM / BBC HD, 10PM

SURVIVORS 2.4

WRITER: Jimmy Gardner
DIRECTOR: David Evans
GUEST CAST: Roger Lloyd Pack, Emma Lowndes, Al Weaver, Christopher Fulford, Robin Pearce & Jack Richardson

[SPOILERS] There are actually some good ideas in Survivors, which tackles its doomsday scenario with the practical no-frills attitude that befits its British breeding and limited budget. It often hits upon some daft yet strangely plausible ideas; like this episode's notion of a former-history teacher using his knowledge of ancient civilizations' dependence on slavery to setup a coal mining business using people entrapped by a trucker. Yeah, okay, it sounds silly when you write it down like that. I even enjoyed the predictable development that Greg (Paterson Joseph), the token black man of the show, became the instrument of slave rebellion by faking knowledge of geology and being placed in a trusted position to cause a mutiny.

This fourth episode was at its best when it focused on Greg and Tom (Max Beesley) trying to escape from the horror of being sent down an old mine to dig for coal to provide fuel for a looming winter -- although I still don't understand why coal's suddenly in short supply, because the tonnes that currently exist in the world aren't exactly going to hit an expiry date! Still, it gave us an episode that tackled the concept of slavery, while also giving us a fun prison break -- that proved laughably easy once it actually got underway, relying on the old "fake a stomach ache, steal the investigating guard's keys" ploy.

Everything else was slightly tedious, as Abby (Julie Graham), Sara (Robyn Addison), Najid (Chahak Patel), Anya (Zoe Tapper) and Al (Phillip Rhys) became flies trapped in the web of trucker Billy Stringer (Roger Lloyd-Pack), who delivered them to his kindly wife Sally (Emma Lowndes), blissfully unaware that they're essentially in a holding pen for enforced conscription to Smithson's mine. Fortunately, Sally swiftly cracked under the pressure of having to let such nice people become slaves, so told them the truth and allowed them to plot a way to infiltrate Smithson's operation and free their friends. This basically resulted in Abby and Anya arriving to barter with Smithson for coal supplies, leading to them all having dinner together involving a grandiose debate about the necessity of slavery to rebuild society versus the need to rise above mistakes of humanity's past and find alternative ways to survive.

For decent stretches of time, this episode was pretty good, but a lot of its good work was undone by some disappointing moments and a chronic sense of silliness that flows through most Survivors episodes. I mean, the moment when a lynch mob's leader committed suicide by hanging himself just seemed to come out of nowhere for a blunt, unearned shock... and a sickly prisoner called Kevin just wasn't given enough screentime to make us care about his predicament (although the moment when Tom suffocated Kevin to spare his pain from a ruptured spleen was handled well, and ghoulish enough that it worked on that level[*])

Overall, a mixed episode with a strong backbone; it kept me entertained and ended on a sequence of highs to make it all feel worthwhile. The final scene was particularly amusing, as it saw the return of Abby's missing son Peter (Jack Richardson), who it's revealed was one of the kids Billy had captured for the coal mine -- but, as Peter's unaware of what Billy had in store for him and his friends, he's set to release Billy from the tree Tom tied him to. And as Billy knows Peter is Abby's son, he'll predictably be back to use Peter as leverage to get revenge on Abby's group.

9 FEBRUARY 2010: BBC1 (HD), 9PM

[*] Incidentally, is it feasible you can kill someone by clamping a hand over their mouth and nose for, like, 10 seconds? Any doctors out there? Is this just something peculiar to the word of TV and movies, or is it genuine? I always imagine it's sanitized shorthand for an act of murder that would be far more difficult to perform and horrific in practice.

SURVIVORS 2.3

WRITER: Simon Tyrrell
DIRECTOR: David Evans
GUEST CAST: Nikki Amuka-Bird, Anthony Flanagan, Christopher Fulford, Roger Lloyd Pack, Marlene Sidaway, Gary Pillai, Al Weaver & Gary Dunnington

[SPOILERS] I wasn't expecting much from this third episode, mainly because I didn't see the need to return to the Samantha Willis (Nikki Amuka-Bird) storyline, which was of limited appeal last series. But now she's back for a courtroom-based sequel, as her enforcer Dexter (Anthony Flanagan) kidnaps Tom (Max Beesley) and takes him back to her compound to stand trial for murder...

It has to be said, both Amuka-Bird and Flanagan were on fine form throughout this episode, both utterly despicable characters in very different ways. Samantha's convinced the fact she was an MP pre-virus means she's a natural leader, and while she appears to always have reasonable motives for her actions, they're ultimately ways for her to satisfy a despotic streak deep inside her. She may claim she's changed since we first met her (where petty thieves were executed), because convicts will now be dealt with humanely, but it's her desire to trial Tom is less about maintaining order and more about getting her own way. Only, we eventually realize she only really targeted Tom so she could manipulate him into killing her right-hand man Dexter (who's becoming more trouble than he's worth), by offering to let him escape if he kills again.

The trial idea was also a nice way to explore people's feelings towards Tom himself; Abby (Julie Graham) and Anya (Zoe Tapper) both have a strong connection with the brooding felon because he's "one of them", while Greg (Paterson Joseph) is convinced he's nothing but trouble and will eventually get them all killed. I wasn't convinced by Samantha's selection of a five-man jury (comprised of two of Tom's gang and his brazen enemy Dexter), but that was perhaps the only way to get some of the regulars more actively involved. Al (Phillip Rhys) and Sarah (Robyn Addison) were left to sleep together back at the survivors' country pile, with Najid (Chahak Patel) overhearing their love-making.

We also had the introduction of good-humoured trucker Billy Stringer (Roger Lloyd Pack), who at first appeared to be a benevolent guy happy to dispense provisions and goods to the less fortunate from the back of his lorry. But his role was actually a lot more sinister, as he proved to be allied to Mr. Smithson (Christopher Fulford), an opportunist who's reopened a disused coal mine and intends to use vagrants and convicts like Tom as slave labour. A lot of this story is just setup for next week's focused continuation, really, but I did have to wonder how Smithson intends to process the coal his workforce dig out. And is there really a shortage of coal on a planet where there's assumedly bags of the stuff unsold in shops everywhere? I guess we'll have to put questions like this to one side until next week.

Overall, I thought this episode was better than it could have been, mainly because the villains were so juicily played. You know you have villains when you want to reach into the TV and throttle someone to take the smug grin off their face. Anthony Flanagan was particularly great as the sinewy equivalent of Max Beesley's character , and their life-or-death fight towards the end felt surprisingly realistic and brutal. It was also great to finally learn why Tom was jailed (he shot two security guards dead during a raid), and it was perhaps the biggest sign yet that he's beginning to let down his barriers. I mean, there's only so long we'll be able to stomach Beesley's furrowed brows and middle-distance stares, isn't there. I think it's time the writers opened his character up a bit.

Right now, I think Survivors still has issues with its actors being stronger than their characters (if that makes sense), and it lacks a certain finesse with its ideas, but there's a raw confidence about it that I quite like. It knows it's daft hokum deep down, really, so you can kind of just go with the flow and enjoy each week's highlights. Abby's also been less annoying now they've toned down her mother hen clucking and pining for her son. And as I've mentioned before, I think the production's nicely put together and the end-of-the-world emptiness convincingly achieved on a limited budget. The final scene of a lone truck travelling across a barren motorway junction was a good example this week.

2 FEBRUARY 2010: BBC1 / BBC HD, 9PM

SURVIVORS 2.2

WRITER: Gaby Chiappe
DIRECTOR: Jamie Payne
GUEST CAST: Fiona Douglas, Patrick Malahide, Alisa Arnah, Aleksandar Mikic, Mia Fernandez & Barry Aird

[SPOILERS] I appear to be enjoying Survivors' second series more than most people are, which is interesting to me. I don't concur with claims there's been a lack of action this year, either; in two episodes we've had people trapped under a burning hospital, a life-or-death gunshot operation, foot chases from drifters, and some escapes from an underground lab! That's enough for me. The show also feels more enjoyable now it's taking place in a big city (the production team are doing a fantastic job replicating 28 Days Later's aesthetic and eerily empty streets on a TV budget), and there's a decent mystery to the scientists over their back-story and future plans are. So, while I agree Survivors can be silly and most of the characters aren't particularly well-crafted by the writers, I'm not ashamed to admit I find it entertaining...

This week, Tom (Max Beesley) has been ostracized from the group, but after robbing a gang of fellow survivors of their food and water, he returns to his own party with this stolen "peace offering" to try and make his usefulness to them more apparent. His plan seems to work, helped by the fact Najid (Chahak Patel) and Anya (Zoe Tapper) both want him to stick around, but Tom's deception with the provisions causes nothing but problems when those he robbed seek revenge and go after Tom's friends.

Meanwhile, Abby (Julie Graham) proves to have a stunning natural ability to defeat the 'flu virus that wiped out most of the population, even when the scientists re-infect her with a more virulent dosage. That said, Whitaker (Nicholas Gleaves) realizes they may have to induce a vegetative state in order to continuously harvest Abby's body as a source for their vaccine -- because it's the least painful, "humane" thing to do. Abby must irritate him, too.

Elsewhere, trouble was brewing in a secret area of the facility where Whitaker's wife Jill (Alisa Arnah) has been locked away from the prying eyes of her husband's staff with their young son Lucas. Jill's been fed lies about the state of things above ground and her husband's role in helping the government defeat the contagion, but she's starting to grow suspicious of his soothing words and has been trying to escape...

Okay, so this episode didn't really amount to much in the cold light of day -– beyond a lot of running around, chased by the foreign actor who appeared in Doctor Who's "Waters Of Mars". I was never really convinced by Jill's situation (can a woman be that stupid?), and I was rather hoping Abby would remain locked up for a few more episodes – not least because I'm not a fan of Julie Graham in this role. I confidently predict she'll be moaning about her missing son Peter in the next episode. Oh, joy. It was also bizarre how easily Abby made her escape once Jill got wise to what was really going on and released her -- but that's again down to Survivors having a tough time making its action plausible.

Overall, a mild disappointment consider how enjoyable the first part was, but I like the idea that Abby is the Holy Grail for the surviving scientists, who make for good bad guys whenever they turn up in gas masks and HazMat suits, or scour the countryside in their black helicopters. I'm hoping there's going to be a fun explanation for why Greg (Paterson Joseph) has heard of their pharmaceutical company (did his wife run off with an employee?), and I have my fingers crossed that there's more to the scientists' story than meets the eye. But then I remember Primeval's Adrian Hodges is the showrunner, so I revise my expectations accordingly. Still, if Survivors can keep up the action and pace, the crew continue doing great work making this end-of-the-world scenario feel right[*], and the stories keep enough of a grip so the sillier moments melt away, I'll be happy.

26 JANUARY 2010: BBC1 / BBC HD, 9PM

[*] That said, I'm still perplexed by why everyone keeps saying they have to leave the city because there's no food or water. I mean, the average city must have hundreds of supermarkets, and each one must be full of bottled water and canned food... so, why the alarm? Have they all been looted? Just how many survivors are there?

SURVIVORS 2.1

[SPOILERS] A very strong premiere for Survivors' second series, the remake of the '70s post-apocalyptic drama from Primeval's Adrian Hodges. I quite enjoyed the first series, although it undoubtedly had some problems, but this episode provided everything you could want from an opener: it reminded you of the show's premise and characters, answered a few questions leftover from the previous series, posed plenty more, and wrapped it all up in an action-packed hour with opportunities for the cast to shine...

Picking up immediately after series 1's finale, Greg (Paterson Joseph) has been shot in the chest and the gang race to an abandoned building so that doctor Anya (Zoe Tapper) can operate to remove the bullet. Unfortunately, to complete the procedure she needs vital medical supplies and drugs, which results in a quick trip to a nearby hospital with Al (Philip Rhys) and Tom (Max Beesley). Unfortunately, the building's dangerously unstable because it's been set alight and soon collapses, trapping Al and Anya beneath the rubble. Tom organizes a desperate rescue effort with Sarah (Robyn Addison) and Najid (Chahak Patel) -- which means Greg's left alone with buckshot dangerously close to a vital artery, remembering his recent split from his wife in a fevered haze...

Elsewhere, Abby (Julie Graham) has been captured by the creepy scientists who have been protected from the pandemic inside their high-tech building, and is told by tranquil Dr. Whitaker (Nicholas Gleaves) that they need to perform various tests on her because she's a "beautiful freak" whose body was able to produce antibodies that defeated the killer 'flu. It seems reasonable that Abby should help the team create a vaccine, to prevent the extinction of mankind if the virus mutates again, but she remains uncertain about their motives... particularly when outspoken Dr. Masood (Ronny Jhutti) attempts to break her out, claiming she's being lied to.

I hd a lot of fun with this episode. Every character had a dilemma to deal with, and there was certainly some nailbiting moments for viewers. The scenes of Anya and Al trapped beneath debris were well-handled, too -- in fact, the moment when Al apparently "died", regretting that he's never been in love, was very touching. Tapper was also very good; in fact, much better than I remember her being last series, for some reason.

Sarah's subplot was less gripping, but it had its moments, as she visited a man who's in a position of power in the city and has access to specialist equipment to lift heavy masonry. Of course, the man turned out to be the clichéd scumbag who wants sexual favours in return for his "kindness", and Sarah was put into the frightening position of going through with his demands to save her friend's lives. It was a pity this story couldn't have been given a few twists, as it's such a worn-out idea, but Addison's performance just about rescued it as Sarah redeemed herself in everyone's eyes.

The mystery surrounding Greg's history was also made less opaque -- well, to us, not his fellow survivors. Thanks to flashbacks, it was explained that Greg's wife fell in love with a civil servant who works for the government, and left him. It was news Greg didn't take very well, later interrupting his wife and her new lover's meal in a fancy restaurant with an act of violence that sealed the end of their marriage.

Again, this wasn't a very unique piece of back-story in drama terms, which was quite disappointing, but it did include a few puzzling clues to a greater mystery behind Survivors: Greg received a postcard marked with a sequence of numbers on the reverse, an identical version of which was later seen on Whitaker's office desk. I'm willing to bet that the civil servant Greg's wife ran away with is linked to the company Whitaker works for, so was Greg's marriage ruined on purpose? If so, for what reason? Is it possible that the 'flu virus was engineered and released on purpose, with certain people somehow selected to survive? But if so, why can't the scientists make themselves immune? Did it mutate beyond their control?

Overall, this was a great re-introduction to the series -- primarily a character piece, but with enough action and effects to keep things balanced between introspection and crowd-pleasing. I'm also pleased to see events taking place in the city, which is a much better environment for end-of-the-world stories like this -- mainly because it's genuinely strange to see empty streets and burning hospitals. The show spent too much time in the countryside last year (perhaps for budgetary reasons), but it's less obvious that 99% of the population have died when you're in the great outdoors. But a once-bustling city, formerly home to millions of people, suddenly turned into a ghost town populated by opportunists and gun-toting maniacs? That's a far more inciting backdrop, and one the majority of viewers will enjoy seeing presented on-screen.


12 January 2010
BBC1/BBC HD, 9pm

written by: Adrian Hodges directed by: Jamie Payne starring: Julie Graham (Abby), Max Beesley (Tom), Paterson Joseph (Greg), Zoe Tapper (Anya), Philip Rhys (Al), Robyn Addison (Sarah), Chahak Patel (Najid), Ronny Jhutti (Sami Masood), Geraldine Somerville (Fiona Douglas), Nicholas Gleaves (James Whitaker), Patrick Malahide (Landry), Sarah Paul (Natalie Preston), Ray Ashcroft (Don), Simon Lenagan (Tony Johnson) & Alisa Arnah (Jill Whitaker)

Coming Soon: Survivors, series 2

The BBC Press Office have released details on Survivors' second series, which comes to BBC1 and BBC HD in January 2010. The first series wasn't too bad, but I grew less interested as it trundled on. The fact there's no chance of reversing the damage is a problem most post-apocalyptic stories face, unless the daily struggle to survive is inherently gripping and intense. Survivors wasn't, really.

It was all a bit modest in its execution after the first episode, with villains that included a ratty man with a shotgun and a female MP running a high-tech kibbutz who had zero tolerance for criminals. Maybe the sinister laboratory of scientists intending to create a vaccine will be a better nemesis this year? But can someone remind me why wanting to create a vaccine from the blood of immune survivors makes them the bad guys..? I've forgotten.

The full press release is below, after the jump:

Survivors by Adrian Hodges returns to BBC One for a second series in January 2010 picking up moments after the thrilling cliff-hanger to season one.

Abby (Julie Graham) and her mismatched family of Survivors are in disarray, now struggling not just with the difficulties of day-to-day life amidst the ruins of the post-virus apocalypse, but also with the threat of other emerging communities and the machinations of the sinister Lab.

Series two opens with Abby now being held by Whitaker (Nicholas Gleaves) and Fiona (Geraldine Somerville) at the Lab.

There she learns that the scientists have avoided infection and are looking desperately for a vaccine which they believe her unique immune system alone will generate.

Meanwhile, the family race to save Greg's (Paterson Joseph) life as he lies dying from a gunshot wound.

Drawn into a burning hospital by their search for the necessary medical equipment, Al (Phillip Rhys) and Anya (Zoe Tapper) are caught in an avalanche of rubble as the building collapses around them.

Tom (Max Beesley) is faced with the stark challenge of rescuing his friends from a seemingly insurmountable disaster with only Sarah (Robyn Addison) and Naj (Chahak Patel) to help him.

Returning for this high-octane second series are Abby (Julie Graham), a devoted mother with a missing son; Greg (Paterson Joseph), a loner, hiding the pain of his past; Anya (Zoe Tapper), a doctor who has seen too much; Al (Phillip Rhys), a playboy who becomes surrogate father to young and headstrong Najid (Chahak Patel); Sarah (Robyn Addison), a hedonist used to getting her own way; Tom Price (Max Beesley), handsome, dangerous and a high security prisoner before the virus hit; and Samantha Willis (Nikki Amuka–Bird), the last surviving member of the British Government.

Nicholas Gleaves plays Whitaker; the scientist in charge of the Lab, who – together with fellow scientists Fiona (Geraldine Somerville) and Sami Masood (Ronny Jhutti) – continues to search for a vaccine.

Patrick Malahide features as Landrey, a mysterious figure linked to the Lab.

Witten by Adrian Hodges (Ruby In The Smoke, Shadow In The North, Charles II and Primeval), the producer is Hugh Warren (Frankenstein; The Chase), the directors are Jamie Payne (Primeval), David Evans (Unforgiven, Wild At Heart, Shameless) and Farren Blackburn (Holby, Doctors). The executive producers are Susan Hogg (Lark Rise To Candleford; Waking The Dead) and Adrian Hodges.

Survivors was recommissioned by Jay Hunt, Controller, BBC One, and Ben Stephenson, Controller, BBC Drama Commissioning.

BBC America: Being Human, Survivors & Primeval + Torchwood Season 3 Trailer

BBC America have revealed their latest acquisitions from the UK: Survivors (the post-apocalyptic remake of Terry Nation's '70s drama), Being Human (the comedy-horror about a housesharing vampire, werewolf and ghost; currently airing on BBC3 in the UK), and Primeval's ten-part third series (which has yet to air in the UK, but is imminent.)

In related news, a trailer for Torchwood's five-part third series ("Children Of Earth") is scheduled to air simultaneously in the UK and US. The minute-long tease will be made available on Torchwood's website at 9pm (GMT) tomorrow (5 Feb), and will be shown at New York's Comic Con at the exact same time -- where star Eve Myles and director Euros Lyn are appearing. Confusingly, Comic Con doesn't actually open until 6 February, so maybe the trailer will play to an empty room?

SURVIVORS 1.6

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)

Survivors survives for a second season

Post-apocalyptic drama Survivors has been recommissioned for another season by the BBC, ahead of next week's finale. Adrian Hodges' remake of the '70s show has averaged 5.9 million viewers (a 23% share of the Tuesday 9pm audience) over the past five weeks.

SURVIVORS 1.5

Spoilers. The best episode since the double-bill start, by a country mile. Adrian Hodges' script finally makes Survivors' group feel like a living, breathing, cohesive entity -- not just a rag-tag collection of archetypes and shallow characters.

Episode 5 focuses on John (Kieran O'Brien), bearded preacher to a religious group who have appointed him their spiritual leader in these dark times. Claiming he can converse with God, see mysterious patterns in his environment, and lead them to ultimate salvation, John's become a compelling beacon of light for his traumatized followers -- who include heavily-pregnant Linda (Claire Keelan). Najid (Chahak Patel) finds John giving a sermon in the woods, and takes them back to his own friend's house, where they can eat and find shelter.

Abby (Julie Graham), secular leader of her own merry band, isn't sure they can trust John's people, but a democratic vote sways the decision in their favour. The health of pregnant Linda is a particular concern, particularly when she goes into labour and forces Anya (Zoë Tapper) to admit to everyone she's a qualified doctor. Turns out Anya's traumatized over her inability to help the victims of the 'flu virus, especially when her friend/lover Jenny died in her arms. Yes, it transpires that Anya is a lesbian (or possibly bisexual), which draws out an ugly, homophobic reaction in Tom (Max Beesley).

Meanwhile, Al (Phillip Rhys) grows close one of John's "disciples", a young woman called Louis (Louise Dylan), before discovering she has a boyfriend and is using Al to get pregnant and repopulate the planet. Sarah (Robyn Addison) continues to sleepwalk through the whole episode; now sleeping with Tom, but jealous of his unspoken feelings for Anya. Addison's playing the role as written, but it's a shame Sarah's such an awfully bland and irritating personality. The justification for her becoming a regular after her introduction in episode 2 still isn't clear, such is her vapid uselessness.

While it's a cliché to stumble on a religious fanatic in post-apocalyptic times, it's a rich source for drama. Anya begins to suspect John is actually a paranoid schizophrenic, after he begins acting very strangely and suspecting people of wanting to steal or harm Linda's newborn baby. Kieran O'Brien is excellent in the role, and manages to make a rather jarring descent into full-on lunacy somehow work. Keelan (fresh from superhero sitcom No Heroics) also gives a good performance in a dramatic role, proving she's quite adept at both disciplines.

Greg (Paterson Joseph) almost sits this episode out, but it's made clear that his character has become invested in the group Abby helped create, and seems to symbolically act as the father figure, with Abby as his platonic other half. Tom has been one of the more interesting characters (if only by virtue of having an enjoyable dark side), and his selfish relationship with Sarah and bigoted views on Anya's lesbianism helped deepen him some more.

The real standout here was Tapper, whose character Anya has been pushed aside since episode 1. This episode capitalizes on Anya's only mentionable set-up (her secrecy over her doctorate), and Tapper manages to draw out some good, believable moments -- from her fear of getting involved with Linda's pregnancy, her suspicion that John is mentally unwell, and a standout clash with Beesley's Tom over her true sexuality. An actress on the precipice of big things (she co-stars in spooky drama Affinity this Christmas, and is the female lead in fantasy series Demons in January), this episode proves she's more than a diminutive, tomboy cutie.

Overall, episode 5 (why no titles?) put the emphasis on its characters and saw them open up to each other. It's this kind of human interaction that will keep us invested in Survivors, so I'd like to see more done with Greg, Najid and Al. Disappointingly, the mysterious scientist storyline (briefly returned to here) appears to be simple and straight-forward: they're after a 'flu vaccine so they can safely leave their facility. In the last scene, Sami (Ronny Jhutti) finds the video plea Abby made in episode 3, which mentions she survived the virus' full effects. As I predicted, Abby is who they've been looking for. Of course, there must be something more to their scheme, because I don't think Abby would have a problem helping scientists perfect a vaccine. Do you? I guess we'll find out what the full story is in next week's finale, when the survivors return to the big city…


16 December 2008
BBC1, 9pm

Writer: Adrian Hodges
Director: Iain B. MacDonald

Cast: Julie Graham (Abby), Max Beesley (Tom), Paterson Joseph (Greg), Zoe Tapper (Anya), Phillip Rhys (Al), Robyn Addison (Sarah), Kieran O'Brien (John), Claire Keelan (Linda), Nicholas Greaves (Whitaker), Ronny Jhutti (Sami), Chahak Patel (Najid), Andrew Grose (Mike), Louise Dylan (Louise), Bryony Afferson (Patricia Kelly), Heather Brady (Fiona Murray) & Robert Maxfield (William Arnott)

SURVIVORS 1.4

"Dear Diary; went skinny-dipping in a freezing lake, before having sex with a man under a tree, after eating roasted courgettes in his secret cave, weeks after burning the body of my dead husband in a rolled-up carpet…" Welcome to the crazy, post-apocalyptic world of Abby Grant (Julie Graham)...

I'm enjoying this series so far, even if the characters are still paper thin. Abby's the lead, given most of the screen-time, but all we really know about her is she's extremely driven to find her son. A good mother, then. Commendable, but can you give us anything else? Other characters get by on the charisma of the actors playing them, but are otherwise empty vessels. Tom is a possible exception, as his criminal history is being left intentionally vague, but some movement would be appreciated as we head into the last half of the season.

Lost got around Survivors' problem by having flashbacks to the lives of its survivors before their disaster. We learned about someone's past each episode, in a subplot that ran parallel to the contemporary story that developed our understanding of them. Survivors doesn't have that narrative trick up its sleeve (and would be pilloried for copying Lost if it did), and is more collective in its structure, anyway. Trouble is, the first episode set-up each character rather broadly (Abby the mother, Anya the doctor, Al the playboy, Tom the criminal, Naj the kid, etc), and the they haven't progressed from those archetypes. Greg and Sarah were introduced a little later, so feel even less realized.

Still, the fourth episode was diverting, even if most of the subplots were rather boring. Abby once again sets off alone to locate Peter, acting on the advice of Samantha, and finds a mansion overrun by teenage delinquents. The building's owner, Jimmy Garland (Sarah Jane Adventures' Joseph Millson), has been forced out by the teens and now spends his days trying to scare them away. Abby is caught in the middle of this violent dispute, and finds herself drawn to nice-guy Jimmy, while suspecting her son is party of the gang in his house…

Following last week's discovery of Samantha's (Nikki Amuka-Bird) eco-centre, most of the survivors decide to join her commune. Despite the fact it's been proven she kills thieves. Tom (Max Beesley), Al (Phillip Rhys), Sarah (Robyn Addison) and Naj (Chahak Patel) all arrive, seeking refuge as friends of Abby. Initially impressed and excited by their upgrade in living (hot water, electricity), Al is the first to grow disenchanted -- frustrated by the back-breaking work, basic dormitories and strict rules. Contrarily, Tom is trying very hard to endear himself to Sam, although he draws suspicion from tough-guy Gavin (Andrew Tiernan), who senses Tom's murky past…

Back at the house, remaining survivors Greg (Paterson Joseph) and Anya (Zoe Tapper) find themselves threatened by two goons, who initially back down when Greg and Anya don't invite them in, but later returns to steal the house (kinda echoing the main story.) It was difficult to see why these men would want their house (seeing as the housing market has become a free-for-all, and there are more palatial residences around), while the threat from antisocial idiots is something Survivors is already in danger of making a cliché. While amusing to see the diminutive Anya hold her own against the thugs, and actually save Greg's skin with relative ease, this subplot reeked of filler.

The mansion situation started promisingly (with a Lord Of The Flies tone in a forest), but eventually revealed its rather silly dispute and an unconvincing "romance" for Abby. The story failed to grip once the situation was explained, and I didn't really buy into the resolution suggested by Abby the peacemaker. It was a bit too neat and idealistic for my taste.

The eco-centre story wasn't particularly convincing, either -- mainly because Al's bad reaction to hard-work and punctuality had me siding with Sam. She may be a strict utilitarian, but there's a centre full of people who have no problem working for their luxuries. As the spoilt rich kid, Al came across as the misguided one -- Tom, Naj and Sarah were all getting on fine! I could believe in Abby deciding to leave after witnessing Sam kill a thief last week, but the reasons for this group's about-turn didn't convince me. It might have been better if they'd led a mass revolt, when it became clear everyone is unhappy with Sam's leadership… but too scared to say anything. On some level, it felt like this story existed to make continued use of the excellent location, and didn't really have anything to say that wasn't said better in episode 3.

However, Al's dismissal from the eco-centre and decision to return covertly and whisk Najid away with him, was a nice touch -- showing us how he's becoming less selfish and a genuinely caring surrogate parent. More character development like that would be appreciated -- particularly for Robyn Addison's Sarah, who has drifted through both episodes since her introduction just looking for a shag…


9 December 2008
BBC1, 9pm

Writer: Simon Tyrrell
Director: Iain B. Macdonald

Cast: Julie Graham (Abby), Max Beesley (Tom), Paterson Joseph (Greg), Phillip Rhys (Al), Zoe Tapper (Anya), Robyn Addison (Sarah), Nikki Amuka-Bird (Samantha), Joseph Millson (Jimmy Garland), Andrew Tiernan (Gavin), Chahak Patel (Najid), Danny Seward (Robbie), Madlena Nedeva (Janine), James Varley (Billy), Ryan Hawley (Will), Aidan Parsons (Peter), Reece Beaumont (Spud), Stefan Gumbs (Theo), Naveed Choudhry (Jason), John Seaward (Luke), James Hillier (Mick) & Alice North (Lily)

SURVIVORS 1.3

Okay, so most of its characters are politically-correct clichés and the situation is unoriginal (not least because it's a remake), but I'm still enjoying Survivors '08 as a post-apocalyptic romp. This week, Greg (Paterson Joseph) and Tom (Max Beesley) bond while out foraging, stumbling upon a farmhouse where an overprotective father called Sean (Neil Dudgeon) is keeping his daughter and son locked up indoors…

There was a nice unpredictability to the farmhouse story, as we first think Sean is overreacting to the threat of contamination, and possibily suffering from cabin fever. Frightened of infection, he has his daughter Kate (Sacha Parkinson) scare away crows by flicking pebbles at them from a window, burns dead rats in an oil drum, soaks himself in an outside bath full of disinfectant, and won't let his kids play outside.

Greg and Tom are greeted with molotov cocktails, forcing them to take refuge in a cowshed as their vehicle explodes into flames. Then, in a neat development, Sacha sneaks outside to speak with Greg and Tom, but finds they agree with her controlling father -- if she's uninfected, she's probably caught the killer 'flu from them now, and therefore can't return home!

Meanwhile, Abby (Julie Graham) ventures out alone and finds a high-tech eco-centre, where surviving MP Samantha (Nikki Amuka-Bird) has created a self-sustaining commune with food, water, light and heat. It seems like paradise, and Abby is initially impressed with what Samantha has achieved (they seem to share the same ideals, too), but Abby soon witnesses the cost of this Eden: a zero-tolerance for "raiders" who break their perimeter, who are quickly put on trial in a kangaroo court and sentenced to death.

In a weak supporting story (that nevertheless kept the episode rooted in more plausible, everyday fare), Al (Phillip Rhys) and Anya (Zoe Tapper) help Najid (Chahak Patel) build a chicken run in the garden, watched by distant newcomer Sarah (Robyn Addison). Elsewhere, the mysterious scientists are given a proper storyline, as they're about to test a vaccine for the killer 'flu. A few notable pieces of information are divulged here: a scientist called Sami (Ronny Jhutti) blames himself for the outbreak (possibly meaning the incident wasn't planned), and the death toll is revised from 90% to 99% of the populace. That means there are an estimated 650,000 survivors in the UK, and 60 million worldwide. A more sobering thought.

It's still difficult to care about Abby's search for her son, owing to the fact we've never seen them together and have no sense of their relationship. Peter is just an unseen, almost symbolic name for hope right now. Samantha's idea of survivors video-recording pleas for help finding lost relatives, encouraging people to share stories and spread the word, was a nice idea. Indeed, the more unique looks at how a post-apocalyptic society would cope after such a disaster, is one facet of Survivors that clicks nicely, and deserves further development.

Abby's situation was engaging, if a bit heavy-handed, but it's the farmhouse storyline that works surprisingly well. Teenage actress Sacha Parkinson was especially strong and naturalistic as Kate, bouncing well off screen father Dudgeon, and drawing you into her family's predicament thanks to her understated, delicate performance. Tom's speech to Sean through a locked door, about accepting a prison-like existence or risking death to embrace life, was also very good.

Overall, episode 3 was an enjoyable look at a few scenarios, but the characters haven't yet taken on their own life. The only character with a tangible goal and sense of purpose is Abby, which doesn't help. As a victim of the 'flu who survived its effects, what's the betting Abby's blood holds the key to a vaccination, too?


2 December 2008
BBC1, 9pm

Writer: Gaby Chiappe
Director: Andrew Gunn

Cast: Julie Graham (Abby), Zoe Tapper (Anya), Chahak Patel (Najid), Nikki Amuka Bird (Samantha Willis), Paterson Joseph (Greg Preston), Max Beesley (Tom Price), Phillip Rhys (Al), Robyn Addison (Sarah), Neil Dudgeon (Sean), Nicholas Gleaves (Whitaker), Ronny Jhutti (Sami Masood), Sacha Parkinson (Kate), Dylan Tomkins (Davy), Andrew Tiernan (Gavin), Danny Seward (Robbie), Madlena Nedeva (Janine), James Varley (Billy), Pip Chapman (Sinead), Robert Maxfield (William Arnott), Suraj Dass (Amandeep Singh), Heather Brady (Fiona Murray) & Alice North (Lily)

TV Week 27: Survivors & 24: Redemption

I've already reviewed these shows in greater details earlier in the week, but my twenty-seventh column for Newslite.tv takes a quick look at BBC sci-fi remake Survivors and Sky1's 24: Redemption. It's new material, so you may still appreciate it.

SURVIVORS 1.2

As expected, episode 2 wasn't as enjoyable as the feature-length opening, but despite some wobbles and the odd misfiring idea, there was enough here to keep me invested in the survivors' plight. But, one question stuck in my mind throughout: it's the end of the world and money is no object, so why in God's name would you decide to loot from Netto?

Snobbery aside, this episode finds the characters tackling the essential business of simply living and eating. They draw up a rota to forage for food in supermarkets and houses, particularly items in danger of going past their sell-by date. But it's not long before they're involved in a territorial clash with a gun-toting goon called Dexter (Anthony Flanagan) who has staked his claim on the local supermarket where the survivors go to replenish supplies.

This idea of sitting on valuable goods carries over into the main subplot, where a portly middle-aged man called Bob (Daniel Ryan) has found a food-storage depot containing enough provisions to last a lifetime. He's partnered by Sarah Boyer (Robyn Addison), a useless twentysomething, incapable of surviving on her own, with a pipe dream of becoming a wealthy businesswoman now that she "owns" the depot. Give me strength. To help her, she keeps besotted Bob around for company and the heavy-lifting, in return for sex.

Unfortunately, Bob breaks his leg in a forklift truck accident one night, so Sarah finds help when Greg (Paterson Joseph) arrives looking for food -- quickly identifying him as a significant improvement over chubby Bob, if she can only persuade him to stay with her. Time to lose some clothing.

Elsewhere, Al (Phillip Rhys) and Najid (Chahak Patel) get into a tangle when a shopkeeper tries to stop Najid looting his sweet shop, resulting in Al accidentally killing the elderly man in the ensuing struggle. Later, Al grows closer to Anya (Zoe Tapper), who politely turns him down, but his actions haven't gone unnoticed by Tom (Max Beesley), who also a soft spot for the cute doctor and threatens Al into keeping his distance.

Abby's (Julie Graham) search for her son also continues, when she notices one of Dexter's gang is in a recent photo taken with her son. It's a huge stretch to accept this coincidence, and her investigation doesn't really get very far, anyway, but it does result in a few tense scenes when Abby gambles her safety to approach Dexter, despite the fact he's threatened to kill trespassers.

There's some good stuff here, but it's coated in a thick blanket of awkward plotting and dry spots. I'm still struggling with the idea that 90% of the UK's population have died, as that still leaves 6 million people. Indeed, global numbers must still be comparable to that of the 16th-century -- so, mathematically, it's not really the near-extinction we're supposed to believe in.

I liked the idea of an idiot latching onto a naïve survivor in the Sarah/Bob story, and it was a surprise to see such a dumb character join the gang by the end. If Sarah strips to her underwear some more, I'll be happy to ignore her negative IQ. Similarly, the villainous Dexter resembled an oily trainspotter who's achieved power in the aftermath of the pandemic, by simply grabbing a gun and surrounding himself with loyal dopes. I wouldn't be surprised if the dead body his gang strung up in the supermarket as a warning to looters was just a random 'flu victim they used to their advantage, too.

Of course, a real killer is an accepted part of the gang, in the shape of Tom. Max Beesley is again the best reason to keep watching, as the character's gameplan is hard to pin down. He seems reasonable and likeable around Abby and Greg, takes the time to flirt with Anya, and has only showed his darker side to Al. He's not a raving psychopath, but I hope the writers don't make him too sympathetic and smooth his edges. Not yet, anyway. He's undoubtedly the most mysterious and engaging presence so far -- although I'm enjoying Joseph and Rhys' subtle work, too. Zoe Tapper has yet to make much of an impression.

Julie Graham's charms are lost on me, too. My mildly positive reaction to her only extends to: well, at least she's not as annoyingly officious as her Bonekickers character. Abby's optimistic streak and dreary search for her son (who I couldn't care less about) could begin to grate after awhile. Young Chahak Patel is fine, but I'm not convinced a little boy would be this resilient -- I would have gone to pieces if my entire family had died when I was 11 years old, let alone then be taken in by strangers and have to deal with the end of civilisation!

A better child actor may have been given more heartfelt material to tackle; or maybe writer Adrian Hodges just doesn't want Survivors to get too bogged down by realism? Whatever the reason, I don't think Najid should be chasing chickens and playing football on day 2.

Overall; Survivors is off to a half-decent start, but could quickly nosedive if it's not to careful. Right now, events are fresh and the characters mostly unexplored, so it still has something to offer. But I'm not convinced this series has real legs beyond one season, if it's the intention of the BBC to make this a recurring drama and not a glorified mini-series.

A lot of my interest could be determined by the government scientist subplot, which reappears in the last five minutes again. Here it's made clear they they're not immune to the virus and will only venture outside in haz-mat suits and gas-masks -- which means there must be other survivors who are safely quarantined, too. We're still not sure if they orchestrated the whole event as part of a typically diabolic scheme to purge the world and repopulate it, or suchlike, but I doubt they're benign...


25 November 2008
BBC1, 9pm

Writer: Adrian Hodges
Director: Andrew Gunn

Cast: Julie Graham (Abby Grant), Phillip Rhys (Al Sadiq), Zoe Tapper (Dr. Anya Raczynski), Paterson Joseph (Greg Preston), Chahak Patel (Najid), Max Beesley (Tom Price), Bryony Afferson (Patricia), Robyn Addison (Sarah Boyer), Daniel Ryan (Bob) & Anthony Flanagan (Dexter)

SURVIVORS 1.1

Spoilers. The end. There's nothing like the apocalypse to fire the imagination. Even though we're eight years past the Y2K "disaster", we're just four years away from alleged doom in 2012. There's just no escaping it. Post-apocalyptic fiction has always been popular because of our morbid fascination with humanity's extinction. In 1975, Doctor Who writer Terry Nation created a cult end-of-the-world series called Survivors, which the BBC have now remade with the help of Primeval showrunner Adrian Hodges…

Survivors '08 finds the world in the grip of a devastating killer 'flu that has affected 90% of the population. It's a global pandemic, but our attention is on Britain, where MP Samantha Willis (Nikki Amuka-Bird) is trying to calm the situation with media spin, as the UKs travel infrastructure goes into meltdown, the water and electricity supplies fail, and panic threatens to engulf the country…

The opening half-hour introduces the ensemble: Abby Grant (Julie Graham), a woman struck down by the 'flu who survives and goes on a quest to find her missing son; her loving husband David (Shaun Dinghwall); Al Sadiq (Phillip Rhys), a rich, womanizing playboy whose latest conquest dies in his bed; Dr. Anya Raczynski (Zoe Tapper), an inexperienced doctor coping with a hospital full of dying people; Najid (Chahak Patel), an 11-year-old Muslim boy whose family are killed; Jenny Collins (Freema Agyeman), a primary school teacher who contracts the 'flu; Tom Price (Max Beesley), a murderer who survives the contagion and escapes from prison; and Greg Preston (Paterson Joseph), a fully-prepared loner…

The biggest challenge facing Survivors is audience fatigue with the concept, as we've recently seen similar scenarios play out in 28 Days Later, I Am Legend, Shaun Of The Dead, the Dawn Of The Dead remake, etc. And those movies had the added bonus of monsters to punctuate all the ghost town survivalism. But, there are no zombies or Triffids here.

However, Survivors holds its own against its big-budget brethren -- forgiving its use of stock footage, and what looked like the opening credits of Planet Earth! The empty roads and motorways were on a big scale, the I Am Legend-inspired aerial shot of a sports car tearing up barren streets was surprisingly good, while the small, nightmarish touches impressed (dead neighbours discovered in bed, the suddenly loud twittering of birds, etc.) Not sure if people would start decomposing so soon, though.

The actors all did a good job, even if most characters had personal predicaments that were difficult to care about. Julie Graham's unmistakable Scottish burr caused flashbacks to the hated Bonekickers, which was difficult to shake, but her character here was thankfully less volatile and irritating than her archaeologist bitch. Still, how could we care about Abby's search for a missing son we hadn't even met?

Everyone else served their purpose well, but only Max Beesley's villainous Tom Price brought an air of unpredictability and excitement to proceedings. Having a murderer in the mix should keep things interesting, and it's the one element that seemed fresh and different. The scene where he viciously kills his prison guard was particularly striking, and Beesley appears to have found his calling as a sour anti-hero.

Another success was the unexpected death of two main characers (played by two of the more recognizable actors), whose presence in the Survivors marketing campaign led us to believe they'd be around for the full run. For fans of the original Survivors, one character's '70s-counterpart survived the virus, which added to the surprise here.

After a confident 30-minute set-up to doomsday, and the 30-minutes of immediate fallout, Survivors was shaping up very nicely. It only really began to falter in the last half hour, once the inherent excitement was over and we had to focus on the characters post-apocalypse. Abby's search for her son was plodding and dull, Anya just wandered around looking dazed, and Samantha disappeared from the show.

The late-arrival of Paterson Joseph as the pragmatic Greg was encouraging (even making you forget the poor FX and editing of a petrol station explosion), but he ultimately heralded a slew of silliness -- like Al and Najid deciding to have a kickabout with a football to inappropriate music on the soundtrack. Remember, this came hours after Najid found out his entire family and most of the world are dead -- a traumatic experience writer Adrian Hodges didn't get close to reflecting.

In fact, Survivors was trying to look on the positive side a bit too much. Abby shrugged off her husband's death after a big scream, focusing on the possibility her son survived, to eventually deliver a speech asking for cooperation and mutual support from the fellow survivors. Greg sounded almost pleased to have a chance to live off the land in isolation. Tom relished escaping his prison sentence to embrace his newfound freedom. Al didn't seem too concerned by anything (loitering in his luxury flat eating caviar and drinking.) Najid found himself in a Mosque full of dead worshippers (didn't he notice them all dying around him?), but seemed content hook up with Al and scoff junk food.

Still, while I'd have preferred a more nihilistic tone (if only for this opener), episode 1 was plausible and well-crafted sci-fi that delivered the goods. Adrian Hodges Primeval isn't known for its characterization, plotting and dialogue, but this was a world away from his ITV dinosaur silliness. Unexpectedly gripping and without too much flab, Survivors '08 takes Terry Nation's classic and imbues it with contemporary issues, slick production values and a likeable cast.

I was also worried about how Survivors could sustain itself, once the empty landscapes and glib atmosphere begins to wear thin, but Hodges includes a coda with a secret bunker full of white-coated scientists. Has this been a government conspiracy to usher in a "new world order", or a twist about the pandemic's cause? Whatever, it's a wise move to add another layer to the mythology, and gives us a potential group of antagonists for our survivors to grapple with.


23 November 2008

Writer: Adrian Hodges (based on the novel by Terry Nation)
Director: John Alexander

Cast: Julie Graham (Abby Grant), Phillip Rhys (Al Sadiq), Zoe Tapper (Dr. Anya Raczynski), Shaun Dingwall (David Grant), Paterson Joseph (Greg Preston), Freema Agyeman (Jenny Collins), Chahak Patel (Najid), Nikki Amuka-Bird (Samantha Willis MP), Max Beesley (Tom Price) & Bryony Afferson (Patricia)