THE NEXT STEPS FOR HUMANITY. A NEW DAWN FOR THE 'SURVIVORS'

The end of the world begins in a laboratory, during the opening moments of SURVIVORS. Images: BBC.

The Mayans prophecy for the destruction of the Earth today (21st December 2012) thankfully hasn't happened yet at this time of writing (just my luck, it will probably all kick off when I'm on the toilet!), but in the imaginative and drama-packed realms of science fiction and fantasy TV the planet and its populace have always been easy pickings for what many have called The Armageddon Factor. One of the most memorable of these was from the seventies: Terry Nation's enduring and acclaimed 1975 BBC 1 series SURVIVORS, which saw humankind almost back to the stone age after a devastating virus is accidentally and chillingly let loose from a Chinese laboratory and quickly spreads via infected air passengers across the entire world (courtesy of a classic and now iconic main titles sequence), where only 1 in 5 people manages to survives its virulent life ending biology. By the end of the gloomy but brilliantly staged first episode, full of dread and atmosphere, our three main heroes start to emerge: the first being the relatively affluent housewife and mother, the strong-willed Abby Grant (Carolyn Seymour) who loses her husband (Peter Bowles) to the rapid spreading disease and then desperately begins her weary and almost hopeless search for her missing son, Peter, far away at boarding school when everything kicked off. Along the way, Abby meets once secretary Jenny (Lucy Fleming-real-life niece to the legendary James Bond creator Ian Fleming) who early on proves vulnerable and truly isolated but quickly finds the courage and conviction to survive. Away from the country on company business, though caught in the developing virus, Engineer Greg Preston (a stalwart performance from Ian McCulloch, who, enjoying the series concept, ended up writing and directing several of the series best episodes later on) completes the trio, making a striking debut in the second episode by helicopter searching for fuel. Eventually, they assemble to consolidate their survival plans within an abandoned church, realising that strength in numbers is more necessary than ever to endure what lies ahead: the elements, the now rabid animals searching out food sources, and the isolated pockets of humanity they'll encounter, many of whom will mean them harm in their own quest to survive. Eventually, as they continue their adventures, more stragglers are picked up, including two lost young children, Lizzie and John (played by Tanya Ronder and Stephen Dudley) and an often comedy value tramp, Tom Price (DAD'S ARMY's Talfryn Thomas), with a nasty tongue who causes much trouble along the way. As their small community gathers momentum in a new and more secure location, and as their first stages of self sufficiency grow, outside forces continue to threaten their well-being: the power of the gun now making everyone's fight to survive similar to the once pioneers of the American West, out in the new frontier. But hope is on the horizon, as our small band's first steps in learning to live a new way of life without power and technology bear fruit...

The core trio of the series: Greg (Ian McCulloch), Jenny (Lucy Fleming) and Abby (Carolyn Seymour).

Title sequence and opening episodes taster: BBC The Survivors 1975 TV classic opening scenes - YouTube

Behind the scenes, Nation wrote the majority of the key episodes of the season, interested in the then growing popularity of new-age self sufficiency and by the notion of what we'd all do in a crisis without any of the easy things in life to help us along. But, in a change of the tide, he soon found himself losing a lot of his creative control due to what he saw was unwarranted interference from the shows very headstrong and equally experienced producer, Terrence Dudley, who ultimately won full creative control over the series with Season Two, and whose inheritance lead to the departure of an angry Nation from his own "baby' (Nation later wrote his own ending to the series and the character of Abby Grant with a popular, now hard to find, one-off novel). Other memorable script contributions came from writers Jack Ronder and M.K. Jeeves, whilst a core trio of successful directors held the visual reins in the first year, including the talented Pennant Roberts (later to work on several classic DOCTOR WHO stories for Tom Baker onwards), Gerald Blake and Terrence Williams. The series would be fondly remembered by audiences over the years and enjoyed solid ratings during the time of its transmission. The first series would be released on VHS tape by the BBC, with the entire run later on DVD and on satellite TV via the UK GOLD channel.  It would inspire a reasonably successful re-make by the BBC a few years back, and the idea of a world without power and back to grass roots is now being explored in J.J. Abrams brand new popular US fantasy series REVOLUTION.

Here's a look at KOOL TV's favourite episodes of Season One-ultimately the best of the three seasons:


THE FOURTH HORSEMAN

"Please God, don't let me be the only one?"

Abby Grant's tearful and desperate plea to the heavens, after finding a church littered with dead corpses, is easily one of the most memorable and iconic scenes from the pilot episode as the world around her is decimated at Xmas time by a deadly virus, and the surviving stragglers, all isolated and desperate, begin their trek to escape the mass death and rotting corpses of London and the suburbs. Probably the best episode of the series, one of the finest ever TV launches of a genre show, and a sterling bench mark for the drama to come.

GENESIS

Greg Preston enters the series and gets caught up in the machinations of a lonely woman whose accidentally crippled partner has now outlived his usefulness. Meanwhile, Abby meets a community whose plans for control border on militia-like intent. Guest starring George Baker.

GONE AWAY 

The trio of Greg, Jenny and Abby go on their first desperate forage for food supplies and encounter some aggressive militiamen. Meanwhile, tramp Tom (Talfryn Thomas) discovers their abandoned church hideaway.

CORN DOLLY

The first non-Nation script sees out heroes arrive at a community where charismatic leader Charles Vaughan (well played by Dennis Lill, later to become a regular in Season Two) is the the almost obsessive head of an effort at self sufficiency and the repopulating of the human race. Some interesting ideas about the future of Mankind and he need for multi-partners in order to sustain the generations are  
notably highlighted by Jack Ronder.

The main trio with additional young cast members Lizzie (Tanya Ronder) and John (Stephen Dudley).

GARLAND'S WAR

Another fine Nation tale. Continuing her search for Peter, Abby runs into the fugitive figure of Jimmy Garland (COLDITZ's Richard Heffer), an experienced tracker and woodsman desperate to reclaim his family home and inheritance from a local group of survivors. The pair soon show an affinity for each other.

LAW AND ORDER

A recent addition to the community, Wendy (Julie Neubert), is found murdered after a celebratory party at the community, resulting in Greg and Jenny having no choice but to initiate a trial against the prime suspect, the young and naive Barney (John Hallet), of which there can be only one punishment to fit the heinous act. 

The notions of crime and punishment, law and order, in a post apocalypse society are intriguingly pondered and realised by M.K. Jeeves in this very successful and overall well-acted episode, which possesses a sting in its a tale whilst crafting it's memorably sad ending.

SOMETHING OF VALUE

Acquiring a much needed petrol tanker, Greg and Jenny fight for their lives against a trio of desperate travellers. Lots of action and tense drama in another pacy Nation script, which definitely has a Western feel about it in many respects. Ian McCulloch is especially good here.

Greg and Abby outside their new community.

A NEW BEGINNING

With all the recent strains affecting our heroes and their relationships, of which Greg and Abby are at loggerheads over where to take the community, tensions are building. Fortunately, hope is on the horizon for Abby, in the form of the returning Jimmy Garland, who brings vital news to her about her son, Peter...

A solid character based season finale, with some excellent moments for Carolyn Seymour to shine in as Abby, reunited with lover Jimmy Garland (Richard Heffer). Nation's season ender shows a note of hope for the future as the community begins making successful interactions with other settlements in the area.

For more on the series and its three seasons, check out this excellent site: Survivors (the classic BBC TV drama series created by Terry Nation)

Buy the complete series of SURVIVORS here: Survivors - Series 1-3 Box Set [DVD] [1975]: Amazon.co.uk: Survivors: Film & TV