Cosy catastrophe
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Cosy catastrophe is the name given to a style of post-apocalyptic science fiction that was particularly prevalent after the Second World War and among British sf writers.
The term was coined by Brian Aldiss in Billion Year Spree: The History of Science Fiction. A "cosy catastrophe" is typically one in which civilisation (as we know it) comes to an end and everyone is killed except for a handful of survivors, who then set about rebuilding their version of civilisation.
English author John Wyndham was the figure at whom Aldiss was primarily directing his remarks, especially his novel The Day of the Triffids. The critic L. J. Hurst dismissed Aldiss's accusations, pointing out that in the book the main character witnesses several murders, suicides, and misadventures, and is frequently in mortal danger himself.[1]
A later example of the genre was the 1970s British television serial Survivors, created by Terry Nation.
