Survivors - Series 1
1975
A conical flask smashes in a laboratory and a deadly virus escapes into the atmosphere. A number of survivors, seemingly immune to the disease, search each other out. Read more
| Starring | Peter Bowles, Lucy Flemming, Carolyn Seymour, Ian McCulloch |
|---|---|
| Director | Pennant Roberts, Gerald Blake, Terence William |
| Genres | Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Television |
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Survivors - Series 1
A conical flask smashes in a laboratory and a deadly virus escapes into the atmosphere. A number of survivors, seemingly immune to the disease, search each other out.
| Starring | Peter Bowles, Lucy Flemming, Carolyn Seymour, Ian McCulloch |
|---|---|
| Director | Pennant Roberts, Gerald Blake, Terence William |
| Studio | DD VIDEO |
| Run time | DVD: 10 hrs 43 mins |
| Certificate | |
| Genres | Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Television |
| Language | DVD: English |
| Released | DVD: 26 Mar 2007 Production year: 1975 |
| Format | DVD |
Survivors - Series 1 (4 discs) (1975)
Or you can rent each disc individually:
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Most helpful member's review
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29 out of 30 people found this review helpful
It stands the test of time.
An excellent series, the kind that once made the BBC such a respected and admired commissioner of TV drama.
The core of the drama is the characters and their situation, not so much the action. The premise, a post-disaster world where the UK population has been slashed to 1 in 15,000, is intelligently and mostly scientifically thought through, maintaining an internal consistency and logic. What would the problems be for those surviving the very fabric of modern society? How would the survivors come to terms with their situation, and with each other? It takes the possible problems, of first the purely surviving, and then of what does ?society? now mean, and forces the characters to comfront the issues.
In the seventies, relatively expensive and cumbersome TV technology with consequential budget considerations often seems to mean a greater emphasis was put on plot, dialogue and character development to fill each episode. After all screen time couldn?t readily be filled with action sequences and special effects.
So, by accident or design, the first episode is a master class in narrative development. By the end of the episode, 99.9% of the population has been wiped out, yet the whole event is grippingly, tensely and convincingly displayed with scarcely a corpse on view. By concentrating on events at a distance, as witnessed ? often second hand - by a small handful of characters (essentially just two), the dreadful events become real; In real life, an individual wouldn?t know the ?big picture?, but would simply see or guess snippets ? the concerned local doctor dispensing flu injections with a growing and ill-concealed despair, the train stationmaster gloomily contemptuous of management failings in keeping the trains running at all, let alone to schedule; the waking up to the final silence from the radio.
And, on the whole, the series retains a high standard throughout. There are no simple solutions offered, no black and white answers to dilemmas, and the survivors are forced to discuss, argue and internally agonise over their decisions as they stumble their way towards an uncertain future together. Moreover, the principal series characters are written with enough depth and development to become real people, not simply mouthpieces or plot devices.
Undoubtedly, Survivors is one of the high points of modern TV drama. Don?t be put off if you don?t think you like ?science fiction?. This is solid, thought provoking, old fashioned story telling at is best. -
Most recent members' review
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1 out of 1 person found this review helpful
Survivors Series 4
Only one episode so unless you have enjoyed the previous 3, this may be a disappointment. If you have enjoyed the previous 3, this is a great conclusion. Still a few open questions but, that was the suspense of the 70's!
Great to see Abby and Jimmy Garland get it together too. She was great throughout this series.
The extra features shows some of the actors as they are now, a few surprises here but just shows the age of the drama. Poor in comaparison to the higher budgets and special effects of today but 30 years ago, this must have been cutting edge drama.
A great series!!
However, this is a 38 part series and there is a lot more not available on DVD yet. Hopefully they will be released in the future.
Loads of info on www.survivorstvseries.com -
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Survivors - Series 1
A conical flask smashes in a laboratory and a deadly virus escapes into the atmosphere. A number of survivors, seemingly immune to the disease, search each other out....
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