Threads is a whole other kettle of radioactive fish. These three series here share a common DNA and are more science fiction drama than underpant-shitting warning.
The BBC made another drama series in the early 1980's that caused a stink. The Mad Death was based on a possible scenario of a Rabbies outbreak in the UK. I haven't seen the dramatisation for over 40 yrs since its first broadcast on BBC 1.
The Tripods wasn't a cheap TV series to make. The second series was a highly pricey proposition for the BBC back in 1985. Much of the optical and scale model work cost hundreds of thousands of pounds to mount. For the BBC, The Tripods cost more per episode than Dr Who cost per story at the time.
And they were only able to do it by timesharing the weather departments Quantel Paintbox. They would use it overnight when the weather dept had gone home.
The review here is obviously tongue in cheek, but it still seems to have missed the point. The Good life (Tom and Barbara) comedy, was also a means to give ideas of stepping away from society as depicted by the BBC and others at the time. Survivors did this to a greater reality. I re watched it on UA-cam. Apart from a poor ending in my view, it's a solid show.
I watched the entire first series,much of the second and bits here and there of the last. The opening title sequence and the first few episodes,with things like a dormitory of boys at a school in the process of dying from the disease,sent shivers up mine as a 10-year-old. I also remember an episode when an armed man in a caravan is under siege holding someone hostage and when the community hold an improvised trial to pronounce judgement on one of their own believed to have committed a murder - only to tragically end up executing an innocent man! Both of those were in the second series,I think. Once it became a bit soap-operaey by the third series I lost the thread of what was going on,so I only had a vague inkling of what happened in the end when they found where Greg had gone to.
Another post-apocalyptic series we watched,also on BBC1,in 1975 was The Changes which ran as a single weekly 10-episode story from the start of the year. For a teatime children's TV show it could be a bit disturbing at times. I'd be interested to see Stam do a review of that.
I loved the Tripods and Triffids. Damn shame Tripods didnt finish with the 3rd book. And yes, I saw that 'War Of The Worlds' recently on the BBC and it was a load of old cack!!!
Triffids has to be the most imitated story in disaster fiction, (28 Days Later, Night of the Comet, etc.) but poor John Wyndham never seems to get any credit. He's like a forgotten Philip K Dick. His book Kraken Wakes is another old timey classic.
Survivors was originally meant to premier in January 1975 but due to problems it was pushed back to June 1975. Hence why the dates in the opening credits all show August and September 1974. The Grange(that is the big house in the first season) belonged to some Lord I think who was giving it a bit of a paint and decorating so the BBC were allowed to film there. I think it is now a bit of a tourist attraction.
Wasn't that impressed with the reboot if I am being honest. Only ever watched the first two episodes(I recorded the whole first series but some 14 years later I still haven't watched them). One reason why Blake's 7 must never be re-made.
In the book, "Day of the Triffids", the Triffids don't feature much, they're more prevalent at the beginning. The people left, gradually become more and more isolated, as the vegetation, not the moving variety, takes over. The problem becomes more a man vs nature thing.
UK always looks so calm and orderly during the post-Apokolypse; even the outbursts are just what would pass as cranky here in the US. But man, would we be bouncing off the walls in a Lord of the Flies kind of way. Except in Texas. In Texas it'd be a few years before it was even realized anything happened out-of-state. ("Oh, that noise and bright lights a couple of summers ago?")
As a kid who was born in the 70’s and so was around for all these, telly was grim but awesome. No wonder us Gen X folk are fearless, telly was all “the world is grim, get used to it!” No happy clappy waffle for us!
Survivors had decent actors - not anachronistic when you consider mobile phones would go ffut. Terry Nation was a genius and he was Welsh, not posh - I feel the Talfryn Thomas character appeared because of that. The show could have been a lot grimmer if they had given the George Baker character more head. Nation and the Abby character left after series 1, never the same afterwards. If you want to see something really tough and the inspiration for Survivors (though they deny it) stream the 1970 movie "No Blade of Grass"
Indeed, Ian McCulloch's Greg Preston character's portentiously lugubrious and declamatory tones did start to grate after a while c/w the loss of Carolyn Seymour's fierce and mesmerizing Abby Grant after season one which she talks a bit about in the brief doco included in the Survivors DVD box set. Despite these flaws and the way other crucial characters like Ruth came and went without explanation, it was nonetheless grittily compelling viewing for the most part. The datedness, lack of political correctness, absence of cloying backgroung music, not to mention the beautiful, bleakly Autumnal, mainly rural landscapes just add to it's pleasingly low-fi charm.
I ran £1.50 through the Bank of England Inflation Calculator. £1.50 in 1975 (when "Survivors" started) was the equivalent of £9.71 in 2020 (when this video was released) and £11.26 in April 2024. This post was uploaded on 30.05.24.
Survivors: Quite real, if rambling at times. A little sad, and ultimately ending on a hopeful note. Triffids: Tight. I like the talking, as if one has imagination, one can see the scenes words depict. Tripods: Rubbish.
When I watched Survivors several years ago I was automatically hooked for the whole thing. At some point it did get a bit tiring. And Night of the Comet was probably inspired by Day of the Triffids. In NOTC everyone who wasn't properly shielded behind heavy metal or lead or something turned to dust after a spectacular meteor shower but others who were half-shielded turned into unhinged cannibals. What a movie.
Been a while since I saw Survivors, would be quite the trip to see it now. I didn't catch all the episodes, unfortunately. Would have liked to see it reach a natural conclusion. Really enjoyed and really brought down by its uncompromising...ness. Read the Tripods books but only learned about the series through fan pages, I wonder what could be made from them now. I caught a few episodes of Triffids and thought it was more interesting than the premise lead me to believe.
This is one your videos that I have watched the most. My only criticism is that when Peter Bowles was in it you should have had his name in block capitals and an arrow pointing at him like you did for Robbie Coltrane in your review of "Flash Gordon". Or adapted the Michael Gough song to "It's Peter Bowles . . . " You should do the same for Michael Sheard considering how often he appears in your reviews. Thanks for referencing him in Part 2 of you "Blake's 7" review which is my favourite of all your reviews so it's not surprising that it's the one that I've watched the most.
I finished Survivors, found out about it randomly, by looking up one of the actors from Hammer's House of Horror and was intrigued. I enjoyed the show ,but sort of had this empty feeling after completing. It the ending isn't satisfying and I was always wondering what happened to all of these characters. I remember finding Abby Grant wearing on my nerves towards the end ,but still was hoping we'd find out what became of her.
I loved The Tripods back in the 80s and had it on video casette when it came out, I've read the series of books time and time again and still The Tripods is an awesome visual feast. Even if its very shaky and the acting is about as good as a pile of wood. But thats part of the charm of it....
The top brass didn't even have the guts to tell producer Richard Bates to his face that it was being cancelled. He found-out third hand from a random member of the studio crew who casually offered his commiserations. Richard said he then spent the rest of the morning screaming obscenities at Jonathan Powell who was head of drama at the time. The production had already kept resources back for the third season, with the props, models and costumes already made and ready. They offered to take a major budget cut. They offered to wrap it up in a 3 or 6 episode miniseries, or even a just do it in a one hour special. The Beeb was just _nope nope nope_ all the way. Idiots.
I ran across the tripods trilogy in Jr High just by accident in the library and was immediately hooked on John Christopher. When the BBC series was finally being aired on WTTW in Chicago we didn’t even own a VCR yet! I did convince my parents that we needed one and it was going to be a Christmas present. But the series was starting before Christmas that year, so I also talked them into believing that it was really more of a gift for my younger sister and that since I already knew about it I should be able to connect it up under my bed where she wouldn’t see it and record this in particular :)
The Ghoulish kid is producer Terence Dudley's son. He gets mauled in his push chair by a super intelligent rat in DoomWatch. Dudley also drove all the creatives off that show and soaped it up. Much to its detriment.
I watched the remake of Survivors and really enjoyed it. I was pissed when it was cancelled after it's season 2 cliffhanger. There should be a rule that you have to finish a show that's been shitcanned. The last version of Day of the Triffids I liked too, mostly because Joely Richardson was hot. ;-p
We could not wait to see the first episode of Survivors. The hype (Little as it was) really had the playground astir. Episode One started out promisingly enough. Sadly, it was all downhill and cliche after that. I tried watching it again several years ago. It was still as dull as ditchwater. Such a shame, we were expecting a Robinson Crusoe survival adventure. Instead, we got another Soap where nothing interesting happens. A wasted opportunity.
terry nation was not english lol, he was born in cardiff , was welsh,, big fan of a huxley* brave new world* and 1984 george orwell and orson wells * nikola tesla. & roald dahl is a native of cardiff wales too, he was inspired ,widely read and is most prolific welsh writer other than roald dahl and dylan thomas national poet of wales... .. probably the finest dystopian and sci fiction writer of all time... drwho daleks,blake 7 and survivors were all dystopian dramas, great fandom...
yes. I should have remembered that from a Terry Nation biography I read years ago. The Daleks and Blake's 7 are some of my favourite Sci Fi creations, and Survivors wasn't the same when he moved on.
@@StamFine yes your quite correct, after recently re watching the 1974-6 survivors series and the intreviews, terry nation was a very busy during the first series-season of survivors.., he also had a hell of a *welsh temper* that is disagreements with the production and writers for series 2 about the show direction in contrast too his original novel depiction.. . also very strange was the immediate depature of the leading lady: carolyn seymour., who later said that she was a *vocal feminist* and that terry nation was busy and decided not too directly participate, except for some written source materials or be involved in the next series, therfore made her opinions very loud and clear, about the treatment of the female actresses and guest stars : especially during that time and the women being paid less, very relevant in 2020 but unheard of in 1974, the dispute with the executive producer , also of the direction of abby grant** she says she resigned, he says she was fired for her crictism & behaviour.. ian mccullough (greg*) in a later interview said that carolyn seymour was difficult too work with even for the best directors and producers, actors etc but did not know at the time the full details of her depature, he later wrote a few episodes in the 3rd series-season, as some writers did not know or where not forthcoming in direction for stories.. ... your quite right..... terry nation, said in a interview in LA that the 1 original series was his, after his depature it fell of a cliff,became a boring soap opera.., the concept of the grange and charles vaughn he said was good in series 1, but was overused and became stale by 2... also his friend carolyn seymour depature left the show at the same time.., that by series 3 was boring and stale, directionless and someone else story, virtually no relation too his original novel... a audio series of survivors by terry nation: big finish productions, is more faithfull too the original novel and some 25years later reprises the original cast that is all those still alive, carolyn seymour, ian mccullough and jenny. are the 3 leading ones, with new cast too.... the audio is meant as a *complimentary series too the original tv series* the audio production goes across series 1-3 of the tv and beyond.. , and terry nation estate: are very happy with the audio production finally re adapting from the original novel ,,,,
I think you downplayed the growing threat of the Triffids. No I'm not that many to start but they keep growing until they outnumber the people by massive amounts. So they become more and more a threat as a series progresses.
I will say, no one does creepy suspense like 70-80s BBC. I’m thinking Chocky (..?) All of these shows give me that great chilling atmosphere that scared me as a kid watching these shows here in the states on public broadcast in the early 80s Speaking of , have thought about doing one on Chocky?
For what it's worth (1) it was made by Thames for ITV. Here's a link to the opening titles. ua-cam.com/video/e3ztIDFU2P8/v-deo.html For what it's worth (2) I liked "Chocky" as well. For what it's worth (3) James Hazeldine who played the boy's father starred in "The Omega Factor" which the BBC did make and hopefully is on Stam Fine's to do list.
@@numba2bvi You're welcome. I've heard that more than a few British children's programmes were on Nickelodeon. "Dangermouse" for example. That wasn't a BBC show either. It was made by Cosgrave Hall a subsidiary of Thames Television which had the ITV weekday franchise.
@@simoncurry5336 that was another favorite of mine! Yesssss! Pinfold I grew up to realize looked like Robert fripp 😁😁 Think spurred on my appreciation for shows like Faulty Towers & the Office (British one of course)
I've seen all three of these serieses (well, only part of Survivors) and read two of the books. My favourite part about Tripods was its ending [SPOILERS AHOY]: They win and the triumphant humans hold a conference to decide what to do next. After the success of a united humanity in throwing off the invaders, they propose a united world government. And it immediately falls apart in bickering. It was a refreshing dash of realism (or cynicism) for what had previously been a pretty idealistic story of humanity throwing off a technologically superior foe.
Ah yes... BBC drama from the 70's and 80's. Lot's of theater trained middle-class actors shouting at each other, and 'cockernees' behaving badly post-apocalypse just like the middle-class writers always thought they would. Good times.
Try the BBC's post-nuclear apocalypse film "Threads" from 1984. Frankly after that, anything else post-apocalyptic just looks like Spongebob Squarepants.
@@CountScarlioni I stayed up late one night, and decided to watch the whole of the TV series 'Edge of Darkness' and then 'Threads'. I was still awake when the sun came up, and _man_ was I ever depressed!
@@TheNightBadger LOL! That's a terrifying double bill! Yeah they put us through Threads at school one time. I Don't think I slept with the light off for a week!
It'll probably never happen. Disney are squatting on the rights to make a film and made a deal with Sam Youd's estate that means they keep the rights in perpetuity until someone offers to buy it from them. They didn't obtain the rights because they have any interest at all in making a film. They acquired them so they can stop anyone else from making it and potentially creating a rival young adult franchise. Even if the Beeb bizarrely decided they were going to make a season 3 now, they couldn't do it without paying Disney a fuckton of cash. Basically the Tripods is a dead property and is likely to remain so for good.
As to the Tripods - WRONG!! It was NOT post apocalyptic. The situation came about as the Tripods invaded Earth on a small scale, got defeated and Reinvaded using the back door by using mind control to take over the world. Eventually all humans had to wear caps which eventually upgraded to brain surgery. This can be read in the prequel novel The Day The Tripods Came
this was an early 2020 vid (before things turned to shit) and due for a re-review at some point. early pandemic vids in general (mine included) have not dated well. At least I didn't sing Imagine.
2019's BBC War of the Worlds was pretty good, the Fox's War of the Worlds, on the other hand, was utter garbage as is the original book of completely overrated horse shit.
You must have seen a different version to me. The updated BBC War of the Worlds is probably the worst adaptation of the book of all time. Its also a truly dreadfully written story, as most of it is not in the book at all but some made up crap the writer thought was better than the H G Wells original. Stupid stuff like the hero getting ill, so he sacrifices himself by giving himself to the Martians to eat, so that they too get sick and die and this then gives his companions chance to escape! Its truly Idiotic! And its only done so they can kill the straight white male "hero" in favour of the woman taking over to become the lead and solving all the problems the man could not. Its super Woke with a capitol W and typical modern BBC garbage.
Great review. But surely "Threads" is the BBC's best end of the world drama. Nightmares galore.
Threads is a whole other kettle of radioactive fish. These three series here share a common DNA and are more science fiction drama than underpant-shitting warning.
There's also "When the Wind Blows". Definitely not an animated movie for kids.
The BBC made another drama series in the early 1980's that caused a stink. The Mad Death was based on a possible scenario of a Rabbies outbreak in the UK. I haven't seen the dramatisation for over 40 yrs since its first broadcast on BBC 1.
I have always believed that "Threads" is one of the main reasons that a third world war never happened.
And The Day After.
The Tripods wasn't a cheap TV series to make. The second series was a highly pricey proposition for the BBC back in 1985. Much of the optical and scale model work cost hundreds of thousands of pounds to mount. For the BBC, The Tripods cost more per episode than Dr Who cost per story at the time.
And they were only able to do it by timesharing the weather departments Quantel Paintbox. They would use it overnight when the weather dept had gone home.
Watched the survivors as a kid still sends shivers up my spine.
The review here is obviously tongue in cheek, but it still seems to have missed the point.
The Good life (Tom and Barbara) comedy, was also a means to give ideas of stepping away from society as depicted by the BBC and others at the time.
Survivors did this to a greater reality.
I re watched it on UA-cam. Apart from a poor ending in my view, it's a solid show.
I watched the entire first series,much of the second and bits here and there of the last. The opening title sequence and the first few episodes,with things like a dormitory of boys at a school in the process of dying from the disease,sent shivers up mine as a 10-year-old. I also remember an episode when an armed man in a caravan is under siege holding someone hostage and when the community hold an improvised trial to pronounce judgement on one of their own believed to have committed a murder - only to tragically end up executing an innocent man! Both of those were in the second series,I think. Once it became a bit soap-operaey by the third series I lost the thread of what was going on,so I only had a vague inkling of what happened in the end when they found where Greg had gone to.
Another post-apocalyptic series we watched,also on BBC1,in 1975 was The Changes which ran as a single weekly 10-episode story from the start of the year. For a teatime children's TV show it could be a bit disturbing at times. I'd be interested to see Stam do a review of that.
I loved the Tripods and Triffids. Damn shame Tripods didnt finish with the 3rd book. And yes, I saw that 'War Of The Worlds' recently on the BBC and it was a load of old cack!!!
Shame really, War of The Worlds started well, and then just seemed to fizzle into lots of wandering around a wasteland with nothing happening.
Excellent video as always. I remember the BBC portrayal of the middle class in the 70s it was a million miles from my council estate upbringing.
Well, at least we had Red Dwarf. Excellent comedy. Thanks for the videos!!! 📺📺📺
Triffids has to be the most imitated story in disaster fiction, (28 Days Later, Night of the Comet, etc.) but poor John Wyndham never seems to get any credit. He's like a forgotten Philip K Dick. His book Kraken Wakes is another old timey classic.
Survivors was originally meant to premier in January 1975 but due to problems it was pushed back to June 1975. Hence why the dates in the opening credits all show August and September 1974.
The Grange(that is the big house in the first season) belonged to some Lord I think who was giving it a bit of a paint and decorating so the BBC were allowed to film there. I think it is now a bit of a tourist attraction.
Wasn't that impressed with the reboot if I am being honest. Only ever watched the first two episodes(I recorded the whole first series but some 14 years later I still haven't watched them). One reason why Blake's 7 must never be re-made.
Max Beesley is still on that plane and one day we'll find out what's on the other side.
Damn, there was so much doom and gloom in 1970s Brit-scifi that watching the more optimistic US TV shows like Star Trek was quite a relief.
good review👍
"The Last Train" was a similar bbc offering too
ITV
In the book, "Day of the Triffids", the Triffids don't feature much, they're more prevalent at the beginning. The people left, gradually become more and more isolated, as the vegetation, not the moving variety, takes over. The problem becomes more a man vs nature thing.
Thanks, this is a good review of 3 great books & TV series. Many thanks for posting.
Glad you enjoyed it!
UK always looks so calm and orderly during the post-Apokolypse; even the outbursts are just what would pass as cranky here in the US. But man, would we be bouncing off the walls in a Lord of the Flies kind of way. Except in Texas. In Texas it'd be a few years before it was even realized anything happened out-of-state. ("Oh, that noise and bright lights a couple of summers ago?")
"PLEASE DON'T LET ME BE THE ONLY ONE." Y know as long as their was food, dvds and books i think i would be ok with that.
As a kid who was born in the 70’s and so was around for all these, telly was grim but awesome. No wonder us Gen X folk are fearless, telly was all “the world is grim, get used to it!” No happy clappy waffle for us!
Excellent review of three ambitious BBC series.
Thanks!
If he'd left out the "jokes" it would have been better and I'd probably have subbed.
Day of the triffids is the first non-zombie, zombie story. Well, I think so, mainly because I have not read another that fits the bill.
Night of the Living Dead is the most famous non-zombie, zombie story. I think Romero called those guys GHOULS.
"....almost 100%." And then I knew you were a keeper.
Survivors had decent actors - not anachronistic when you consider mobile phones would go ffut. Terry Nation was a genius and he was Welsh, not posh - I feel the Talfryn Thomas character appeared because of that. The show could have been a lot grimmer if they had given the George Baker character more head. Nation and the Abby character left after series 1, never the same afterwards. If you want to see something really tough and the inspiration for Survivors (though they deny it) stream the 1970 movie "No Blade of Grass"
Indeed, Ian McCulloch's Greg Preston character's portentiously lugubrious and declamatory tones did start to grate after a while c/w the loss of Carolyn Seymour's fierce and mesmerizing Abby Grant after season one which she talks a bit about in the brief doco included in the Survivors DVD box set. Despite these flaws and the way other crucial characters like Ruth came and went without explanation, it was nonetheless grittily compelling viewing for the most part. The datedness, lack of political correctness, absence of cloying backgroung music, not to mention the beautiful, bleakly Autumnal, mainly rural landscapes just add to it's pleasingly low-fi charm.
I watched these as a child and loved all three
I ran £1.50 through the Bank of England Inflation Calculator. £1.50 in 1975 (when "Survivors" started) was the equivalent of £9.71 in 2020 (when this video was released) and £11.26 in April 2024. This post was uploaded on 30.05.24.
Survivors: Quite real, if rambling at times. A little sad, and ultimately ending on a hopeful note.
Triffids: Tight. I like the talking, as if one has imagination, one can see the scenes words depict.
Tripods: Rubbish.
So sad that Tripods didn’t finish. Besides the books there was a complete comic adaptation in Boys Life.
When I watched Survivors several years ago I was automatically hooked for the whole thing. At some point it did get a bit tiring. And Night of the Comet was probably inspired by Day of the Triffids. In NOTC everyone who wasn't properly shielded behind heavy metal or lead or something turned to dust after a spectacular meteor shower but others who were half-shielded turned into unhinged cannibals. What a movie.
Been a while since I saw Survivors, would be quite the trip to see it now. I didn't catch all the episodes, unfortunately. Would have liked to see it reach a natural conclusion. Really enjoyed and really brought down by its uncompromising...ness. Read the Tripods books but only learned about the series through fan pages, I wonder what could be made from them now. I caught a few episodes of Triffids and thought it was more interesting than the premise lead me to believe.
We were working class, and WE had a house keeper 🤣 They were ten-a-penny.
"Oh, how awful!" Brilliant.
The BBC has never had £1.50p to spend!
This is one your videos that I have watched the most. My only criticism is that when Peter Bowles was in it you should have had his name in block capitals and an arrow pointing at him like you did for Robbie Coltrane in your review of "Flash Gordon". Or adapted the Michael Gough song to "It's Peter Bowles . . . " You should do the same for Michael Sheard considering how often he appears in your reviews. Thanks for referencing him in Part 2 of you "Blake's 7" review which is my favourite of all your reviews so it's not surprising that it's the one that I've watched the most.
To be fair, the triffids aren't that present in the book either
True. It’s a story about the people, not the plants. But I’d still love to have seen more of the Triffids.
that was a great walk down memory lane
I finished Survivors, found out about it randomly, by looking up one of the actors from Hammer's House of Horror and was intrigued. I enjoyed the show ,but sort of had this empty feeling after completing. It the ending isn't satisfying and I was always wondering what happened to all of these characters. I remember finding Abby Grant wearing on my nerves towards the end ,but still was hoping we'd find out what became of her.
Awesome Review 👌
You’ve revisited some earlier reviews. I feel like some of these would deserve a new one. I watched the Tripods religiously as a teen.
I loved The Tripods back in the 80s and had it on video casette when it came out, I've read the series of books time and time again and still The Tripods is an awesome visual feast. Even if its very shaky and the acting is about as good as a pile of wood. But thats part of the charm of it....
Darren Sykes why?
Where you in it?🤣🤣🤣
The tripods is very underrated for its narrative simply because it was cancelled
Yeah, adapting a trilogy of books and stopping before the last book is kind of a downer.
The top brass didn't even have the guts to tell producer Richard Bates to his face that it was being cancelled. He found-out third hand from a random member of the studio crew who casually offered his commiserations. Richard said he then spent the rest of the morning screaming obscenities at Jonathan Powell who was head of drama at the time. The production had already kept resources back for the third season, with the props, models and costumes already made and ready. They offered to take a major budget cut. They offered to wrap it up in a 3 or 6 episode miniseries, or even a just do it in a one hour special. The Beeb was just _nope nope nope_ all the way. Idiots.
@@CountScarlioni that's even worse :(
There was a spiritual successor, of sorts, to Survivors - called "The Last Train" (from 1998) - it was pretty solid stuff
I saw that but it lacked any strong memorable characters and there was no real suspense.
It was pants but I watched it all on UA-cam last month. Great acting, silly plot, banal ending
I ran across the tripods trilogy in Jr High just by accident in the library and was immediately hooked on John Christopher. When the BBC series was finally being aired on WTTW in Chicago we didn’t even own a VCR yet! I did convince my parents that we needed one and it was going to be a Christmas present. But the series was starting before Christmas that year, so I also talked them into believing that it was really more of a gift for my younger sister and that since I already knew about it I should be able to connect it up under my bed where she wouldn’t see it and record this in particular :)
The Mad Death was another show like these that scared me as a kid.
Tripods was a good series with a bad ending
Well now....If you haven't already, you have to do "Threads" :)
These days we just unfriend them... LOL - mate do 'Changes' BBC 1976
The Ghoulish kid is producer Terence Dudley's son. He gets mauled in his push chair by a super intelligent rat in DoomWatch. Dudley also drove all the creatives off that show and soaped it up. Much to its detriment.
Mmmm the sarcasm is strong with this one
I watched the remake of Survivors and really enjoyed it. I was pissed when it was cancelled after it's season 2 cliffhanger. There should be a rule that you have to finish a show that's been shitcanned.
The last version of Day of the Triffids I liked too, mostly because Joely Richardson was hot. ;-p
We could not wait to see the first episode of Survivors. The hype (Little as it was) really had the playground astir. Episode One started out promisingly enough. Sadly, it was all downhill and cliche after that. I tried watching it again several years ago. It was still as dull as ditchwater. Such a shame, we were expecting a Robinson Crusoe survival adventure. Instead, we got another Soap where nothing interesting happens. A wasted opportunity.
terry nation was not english lol,
he was born in cardiff , was welsh,, big fan of a huxley* brave new world* and 1984 george orwell and orson wells * nikola tesla. & roald dahl is a native of cardiff wales too, he was inspired ,widely read and is most prolific welsh writer other than roald dahl and dylan thomas national poet of wales...
..
probably the finest dystopian and sci fiction writer of all time... drwho daleks,blake 7 and survivors were all dystopian dramas, great fandom...
yes. I should have remembered that from a Terry Nation biography I read years ago. The Daleks and Blake's 7 are some of my favourite Sci Fi creations, and Survivors wasn't the same when he moved on.
@@StamFine yes your quite correct, after recently re watching the 1974-6 survivors series and the intreviews, terry nation was a very busy during the first series-season of survivors.., he also had a hell of a *welsh temper* that is disagreements with the production and writers for series 2 about the show direction in contrast too his original novel depiction..
. also very strange was the immediate depature of the leading lady: carolyn seymour., who later said that she was a *vocal feminist* and that terry nation was busy and decided not too directly participate, except for some written source materials or be involved in the next series,
therfore made her opinions very loud and clear, about the treatment of the female actresses and guest stars : especially during that time and the women being paid less, very relevant in 2020 but unheard of in 1974, the dispute with the executive producer , also of the direction of abby grant**
she says she resigned, he says she was fired for her crictism & behaviour..
ian mccullough (greg*) in a later interview said that carolyn seymour was difficult too work with even for the best directors and producers, actors etc but did not know at the time the full details of her depature, he later wrote a few episodes in the 3rd series-season, as some writers did not know or where not forthcoming in direction for stories..
...
your quite right..... terry nation, said in a interview in LA that the 1 original series was his, after his depature it fell of a cliff,became a boring soap opera.., the concept of the grange and charles vaughn he said was good in series 1, but was overused and became stale by 2...
also his friend carolyn seymour depature left the show at the same time.., that by series 3 was boring and stale, directionless and someone else story, virtually no relation too his original novel...
a audio series of survivors by terry nation: big finish productions, is more faithfull too the original novel and some 25years later reprises the original cast that is all those still alive, carolyn seymour, ian mccullough and jenny. are the 3 leading ones, with new cast too....
the audio is meant as a *complimentary series too the original tv series* the audio production goes across series 1-3 of the tv and beyond..
, and terry nation estate: are very happy with the audio production finally re adapting from the original novel ,,,,
I think you downplayed the growing threat of the Triffids. No I'm not that many to start but they keep growing until they outnumber the people by massive amounts. So they become more and more a threat as a series progresses.
I will say, no one does creepy suspense like 70-80s BBC. I’m thinking Chocky (..?)
All of these shows give me that great chilling atmosphere that scared me as a kid watching these shows here in the states on public broadcast in the early 80s
Speaking of , have thought about doing one on Chocky?
For what it's worth (1) it was made by Thames for ITV. Here's a link to the opening titles.
ua-cam.com/video/e3ztIDFU2P8/v-deo.html
For what it's worth (2) I liked "Chocky" as well.
For what it's worth (3) James Hazeldine who played the boy's father starred in "The Omega Factor" which the BBC did make and hopefully is on Stam Fine's to do list.
@@simoncurry5336 wow thanks friend
I watched it on Nickelodeon in the late 80s believe it or not, here in the states!
@@numba2bvi You're welcome. I've heard that more than a few British children's programmes were on Nickelodeon. "Dangermouse" for example. That wasn't a BBC show either. It was made by Cosgrave Hall a subsidiary of Thames Television which had the ITV weekday franchise.
@@simoncurry5336 that was another favorite of mine! Yesssss!
Pinfold I grew up to realize looked like Robert fripp 😁😁
Think spurred on my appreciation for shows like Faulty Towers & the Office (British one of course)
@@simoncurry5336 that and also Banana Man
Led me to appreciate stone roses manc dialect lol
The Tripods Trilogy book is far superior to the television programme.
Check out 2 other kids shows which cover dystopian/post apoc settings: "Noah's Castle" and "The Changes". Quite grim for kids shows.
What's sad is that back then, that would have been considered middle class. More precisely, upper middle class, but middle class all the same.
I've seen all three of these serieses (well, only part of Survivors) and read two of the books. My favourite part about Tripods was its ending [SPOILERS AHOY]:
They win and the triumphant humans hold a conference to decide what to do next. After the success of a united humanity in throwing off the invaders, they propose a united world government. And it immediately falls apart in bickering. It was a refreshing dash of realism (or cynicism) for what had previously been a pretty idealistic story of humanity throwing off a technologically superior foe.
never seen these before. they look spooky in light of 2020!
Survivors (especially in its first year) and Day of the Triffids had some very powerful moments in them.
Ah yes... BBC drama from the 70's and 80's. Lot's of theater trained middle-class actors shouting at each other, and 'cockernees' behaving badly post-apocalypse just like the middle-class writers always thought they would. Good times.
Try the BBC's post-nuclear apocalypse film "Threads" from 1984.
Frankly after that, anything else post-apocalyptic just looks like Spongebob Squarepants.
@@CountScarlioni I stayed up late one night, and decided to watch the whole of the TV series 'Edge of Darkness' and then 'Threads'. I was still awake when the sun came up, and _man_ was I ever depressed!
@@TheNightBadger LOL! That's a terrifying double bill!
Yeah they put us through Threads at school one time. I Don't think I slept with the light off for a week!
That was pretty good! Would you consider a review of Red Dwarf? Or did you do one and I just missed it?😆
Eventually.
doomsday prepping with a posher accent and none of the insanity or guns.
Not sure it quite fits. But 'The Two Ronnies', 'The Worm That Turned' could be viewed as Sci-Fi in a similar vein...
_jk_
So all in all other than zombies, it's the same as the walking dead, or I should say the walking dead is a remake of survivors but with zombies lol
Wanted to see a Tripods movie that was more faithful to the books.
It'll probably never happen. Disney are squatting on the rights to make a film and made a deal with Sam Youd's estate that means they keep the rights in perpetuity until someone offers to buy it from them.
They didn't obtain the rights because they have any interest at all in making a film. They acquired them so they can stop anyone else from making it and potentially creating a rival young adult franchise. Even if the Beeb bizarrely decided they were going to make a season 3 now, they couldn't do it without paying Disney a fuckton of cash. Basically the Tripods is a dead property and is likely to remain so for good.
Getting pretty meta at 9:45 mark 👌
damn, now I wish I had called the channel Meta-Man!
@@StamFine Don't worry, it's not the end of the world!
Doomsday prepping with a posh accent 😆
Nothing wrong with 5'oclock drinkeis
As to the Tripods - WRONG!! It was NOT post apocalyptic. The situation came about as the Tripods invaded Earth on a small scale, got defeated and Reinvaded using the back door by using mind control to take over the world. Eventually all humans had to wear caps which eventually upgraded to brain surgery. This can be read in the prequel novel The Day The Tripods Came
When The Tripods Came is the name of the novel.
@@Ozymandias1 Thanks for that. Nearly right :-)
Well dammit lol.
Dear Stam: did u say nearly 100% survival rate for COVID 19?” Try this pal: 6.62 million died
this was an early 2020 vid (before things turned to shit) and due for a re-review at some point. early pandemic vids in general (mine included) have not dated well. At least I didn't sing Imagine.
Ok
..is that shitting out a American football or like a soccer ball because the latter I could manage.....maybe.
Either would be dead easy...all a person needs to do is ram a needle up their arse and let it deflate.
No Threads? Very strange descion.
Survivors is a blatant rip off of day of the triffids !
they all borrow a little from each other.
You’re talking about Brexit right?
Just awful like early Dr Who.
The 1970s Tom Baker era Dr. WHO is the best of the best. How very dare you.
2019's BBC War of the Worlds was pretty good, the Fox's War of the Worlds, on the other hand, was utter garbage as is the original book of completely overrated horse shit.
You must have seen a different version to me. The updated BBC War of the Worlds is probably the worst adaptation of the book of all time. Its also a truly dreadfully written story, as most of it is not in the book at all but some made up crap the writer thought was better than the H G Wells original. Stupid stuff like the hero getting ill, so he sacrifices himself by giving himself to the Martians to eat, so that they too get sick and die and this then gives his companions chance to escape! Its truly Idiotic! And its only done so they can kill the straight white male "hero" in favour of the woman taking over to become the lead and solving all the problems the man could not. Its super Woke with a capitol W and typical modern BBC garbage.