Survivors

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For other uses, see Survivors (disambiguation).

Survivors
This is the main title caption that was seen throughout the series.
Genre	Drama
Creator(s)	Terry Nation
Starring	Ian McCulloch Lucy Fleming Carolyn Seymour Denis Lill John Abineri Lorna Lewis
Country of origin	UK
No. of episodes	38 (List of episodes)
Production
Running time	50 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel	BBC
Original run	1975 – 1977
Links
IMDb profile

Survivors was a British television series devised by Terry Nation and produced by Terence Dudley at the BBC from 1975 to 1977. It concerned the plight of a group of people who had survived an accidentally released plague that had killed nearly the entire population of the planet. The programme is usually described as falling into the science fiction genre, but a more appropriate description would be to call it apocalyptic fiction.

1 History
2 Plot summaries
3 Books
4 Trivia
5 Episode guide
6 DVD release
7 External links
8 See also

[edit] History

The programme ran for three series and 38 episodes, epitomising the pessimistic tendency of British science fiction as shown on British television beginning with Quatermass and the adaptation on Nineteen Eighty-Four and taken up in later series.

Terry Nation left after the first series to concentrate on other work and some critics feel that the direction of the programme suffered as a result.

The BBC are now actively pursuing the rights for Survivors from Terry Nation's estate, so that the series can be revived as a six part serial[1]. Whether the new series will continue on from past events or will be a complete relaunch remains to be disclosed.

A new BBC4 documentary entitled 'The Cult of... Survivors', featuring interviews with actors Lucy Fleming, Ian McCulloch, Carolyn Seymour, director Pennant Roberts and scriptwriter Martin Worth, was broadcast on 5 December 2006, as part of the channel's Science Fiction Britannia series. The 'Cult of...' series also included documentaries on Blake's 7 (a series devised by Terry Nation), and Doomwatch (which was produced by Terence Dudley).

[edit] Plot summaries

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

[edit] Series 1

As the world's population is almost annihilated by a mysterious pandemic, the crisis is first seen through the eyes of two characters - Jenny Richards, a young working woman in London and Abby Grant, a middle-class corporate wife living a privileged existence in a nearby commuter village. As Abby goes in search of her son Peter, Jenny wanders aimlessly through the countryside. Other major characters introduced in the first few episodes are the resourceful engineer Greg Preston, the shifty Welshman Tom Price and two children, John Millon and Lizzie Willoughby. Abby, Jenny and Greg eventually come together and realise they must start again from scratch now that civilisation as they once knew it has been destroyed. After several adventures on the road, they find a property called the Grange which they can use as a base and joined by other survivors, they form a potted community of disparate individuals all united by a shared purpose - to relearn the old skills of farming and tool-making, and to try to live in this strange new world.

Major Cast

Carolyn Seymour as Abby Grant
Ian McCulloch as Greg Preston
Lucy Fleming as Jenny Richards
Talfryn Thomas as Tom Price
Chris Tranchell as Paul Pitman
Michael Gover as Arthur Russell
Hugh Walters as Vic Thatcher
Hana Maria Pravda as Emma Cohen
Eileen Helsby as Charmian Wentworth
John Hallet as Barney
Richard Heffer as Jimmy Garland
Myra Frances as Anne Tranter
Julie Neubert as Wendy
Stephen Dudley as John Millon
Tanya Ronder as Lizzie Willoughby
Denis Lill as Charles Vaughan

[edit] Series 2

Having received word that her son is still alive, Abby has left the Grange to resume her search while the community is devastated by a fire, killing several of their number. The survivors join another community, Whitecross, run by Charles Vaughan, whom they briefly encountered in the previous series. New major characters that make up the Whitecross band are Charles' partner Pet Simpson, medical student Ruth Anderson who works as a travelling doctor and farmyard labourer Hubert Goss. Jenny gives birth to Greg's child Paul, while the survivors are once more focused on the everyday practicalities of post-Death life. Frequent visitors to Whitecross, both friendly and hostile, act as catalysts for various dramatic situations. Finally, the arrival of Norwegian survivors brings the possibility of re-establishing worldwide contact and technology. To achieve this, Greg departs Whitecross in a hot air balloon bound for Norway.

Major Cast

Ian McCulloch as Greg Preston
Denis Lill as Charles Vaughan
Lucy Fleming as Jenny Richards
Chris Tranchell as Paul Pitman
Michael Gover as Arthur Russell
Celia Gregory as Ruth Anderson
John Abineri as Hubert Goss
Gordon Salkilld as Jack Wood
Lorna Lewis as Pet Simpson
Roy Herrick as Lewis Fearn
Gigi Gatti as Daniella
Delia Paton as Mina
Stephen Tate as Alan
Heather Wright as Melanie
June Page as Sally
Stephen Dudley as John Millon
Tanya Ronder as Lizzie Willoughby

[edit] Series 3

Having heard nothing from Greg since he left Whitecross for Norway, Charles, Jenny and Hubert set out on horseback to find him. It is a journey that will take them right across what is left of the United Kingdom as their search leads them to various dead ends. However, they meet a broad spectrum of other survivors along the way, and the series continues to explore alternative reactions to the Death and what it takes to survive. The third series juxtaposes the more personal story arc of the search for Greg with a wider narrative of society appearing to establish itself again with federated communities, market bartering and rudimentary railway travel. This culminates in the tentative return of law and order and the quest to restore power through hydroelectricity.

Major Cast

Denis Lill as Charles Vaughan
Lucy Fleming as Jenny Richards
Ian McCulloch as Greg Preston
John Abineri as Hubert Goss
Gordon Salkilld as Jack Wood
Lorna Lewis as Pet Simpson
Anna Pitt as Agnes Carlsson
Edward Underdown as Frank Garner
William Dysart as Alec Campbell
Robert Gillespie as Sam Mead (Gillespie appeared as a minor character, John Milner, in episode 2 of the first series)
Stephen Dudley as John Millon
Angie Stevens as Lizzie Willoughby

[edit] Books

Two novels based on Survivors were made:

Survivors by Terry Nation - an overview of season one, with a few changes
Genesis of a Hero by John Ayres - essentially an alternative version of events post-season one

There are also two factual books:

The Making of Terry Nation's Survivors by Kevin P Marshall (Out of print)
The End of the World? The Unofficial and Unauthorised Guide to Survivors by Rich Cross and Andy Priestner. Published December 2005.

[edit] Trivia

After playing a central role in Survivors during series one, Carolyn Seymour (Abby Grant) was not invited to return to the production for the second series. Rumours suggest that this was the result of a personality clash behind the scenes between Seymour and series producer Terence Dudley. Abby's storyline, involving her search for her son Peter, was concluded in the Terry Nation novelisation of the series.
Denis Lill (Charles Vaughan) and Ian McCulloch (Greg Preston) fell out with each other during the filming of the second season, leading to the departure of McCulloch's character. McCulloch was apparently unhappy that a new male lead had been added to the show, when he had built up a strong character during the first season. He did return for two episodes during the third series, both of which he wrote himself.
Stephen Dudley (John) was given his part by his father, the show's producer Terence Dudley, while Tanya Ronder (Lizzie) is the daughter of Jack Ronder, who wrote eight episodes of Survivors.
Ian McCulloch wrote a fourth season of Survivors during the 1990's to try and get the programme back on television. BBC Scotland were interested in the idea but did not approve of the idea of an uninfected African nation colonising Britain.
Of the cast, William Dysart (Alec Campbell), Gigi Gatti (Daniella), Edward Underdown (Frank Garner), John Abineri (Hubert), Roy Herrick (Lewis Fearn), Talfryn Thomas (Tom Price) and Terry Scully (Vic Thatcher) have all since died.
Notable guest stars in the series included Patrick Troughton, Peter Jeffrey, Brian Blessed, George Baker, Philip Madoc, Bryan Pringle, Iain Cuthbertson and Peter Bowles. Appearing in the series before becoming famous were Robert Fyfe (Last of the Summer Wine), Denis Lawson (Star Wars), David Neilson (Coronation Street), Peter Duncan (Blue Peter), June Brown (EastEnders) and David Troughton son of Patrick Troughton.
The yellow Volvo estate car used in the series also appeared as Jerry Leadbetter's car in The Good Life.

[edit] Episode guide

Main article: List of Survivors episodes

[edit] DVD release

The complete series of Survivors is available on DVD (Region 2, UK), released by DD Home Entertainment.

All releases include a colour booklet written and researched by Survivors fan Andy Priestner chronicling the making of each series, plus the following extra features:

#	DVD release date	Breakdown of special features
Series One	October 6, 2003	Audio commentary on episode The Fourth Horseman with actor Carolyn Seymour (Abby Grant) and director Pennant Roberts. Moderator: Andy Priestner. Audio commentary on episode Law And Order with actors Ian McCulloch (Greg Preston) and Lucy Fleming (Jenny Richards). Moderator: Andy Priestner. On-camera interviews with director Pennant Roberts and actors Carolyn Seymour, Ian McCulloch, Lucy Fleming and Tanya Ronder (Lizzie Willoughby) Photo gallery
Series Two	October 4, 2004	Audio commentary on episode The Lights of London, Part 2 with actor Denis Lill (Charles Vaughan) and director Pennant Roberts. Moderator: Rich Cross. On-camera interviews with director Pennant Roberts and actors Denis Lill, Lorna Lewis (Pet Simpson) and Heather Wright (Melanie) Photo gallery
Series Three	November 14, 2005	Audio commentary on episode Law of the Jungle with actor Lucy Fleming and director Peter Jefferies Moderator: Andy Priestner. Audio commentary on episode Mad Dog with guest actor Morris Perry and director Tristan de Vere Cole Moderator: Rich Cross. “New World Rising” – documentary on the making of series three produced by Andy Priestner with contributions from directors Peter Jefferies and Tristan de Vere Cole and actors Lucy Fleming and Stephen Dudley (John Millon) Photo gallery