BBC's Survivors -- 50% of Your Whoniverse Favorites Already Dead, Guy From Glitter Still Alive
I figure that was safe to say. It was ruined for me even before I saw the first episode by one of my Google News Alerts.
So, it's a pretty bleak story, huh? In fact, you can trace the bleakness of the story with the faux BBC News reports that run through the first half hour of the show. I have a photo feature after the jump just to demonstrate.
Yeah, it's depressing, but tell me the last time you watched an upbeat, zazzy kind of post-apocalyptic drama. I've tried to keep the research to a minimum and just enjoy the story as it unfolds, as usual, and it is dark and compelling and makes your head swim with all kinds of scenarios (including, for me, "What? These people don't have pets? None? Really?").
The breakout for me in this piece is Julie Graham (left), who I've never seen before on TV or film. And can I say thank God for British actresses who don't pump their faces full of Botox and stretch them bey0nd recognition. Julie Graham is a beautiful woman who is exactly her age (whatever that age is) and has enough talent that she doesn't have to pay doctors to cut into her skin and pull it back to make her marketable. Good for her. Bad for the women who buy into this shit -- I'm talkin' to you (fill in name of whatever Hollywood actress you can think of)!
Graham plays Abby Grant, a woman who's son is off on some sort of organized camping adventure when the virus hits and she hits the road to find him after recovering from the virus and finding her husband killed himself during her illness. She is, in fact, the only one so far that we've seen recover and I'm sure we will see the consequences of that forthcoming.
Despite the fact that I keep ripping on Max Beesley's appearance with Mariah in Glitter, he's very good here as a prisoner that gets another chance when the 90% of the world dies from this influenza virus. It appears however, the Beesley's Tom Price character is still trying to decide what to do with the opportunity.
Of course, as a Doctor Who fan, I have been taking special notice of Paterson Joseph who plays it close to the chest as Greg Preston, the guy who just wants to go off on his own but doesn't at Abby's pleading.
(And of course, it would be a riot to find out that Greg Preston won all the supplies tied to the roof of his Land Rover in a game of Numberwang, but ... well, I just can't help but mention Numberwang when I can!)
Nikki Amuka-Bird from season two of Torchwood also very good and reminiscent of Viola Davis as the British health minister trying to keep it together against insurmountable odds.
Much better script from Adrian Hodges than Primeval. Frankly, for me Primeval was a special effects showcase that they built a show around. That doesn't work for me.
Of course, I am told by my contemporaries all over the web that the original story by Terry Nation was followed pretty closely, even using some of the same dialogue, so that might have something to do with it.
More as the story progresses. Preview clip of next episode after the jump. and, the promised photo spread.
The BBC has done some additional buildout of the Survivors website as well. Non-Brits still cannot access the video content, but there's a game, and it's at this link.
And finally, because I know that some of us US readers are always amazed that good TV is beaten in the ratings by utter shit, there's this from BroadcastNow.co.uk:
The opening 90-minute episode began with 7.1m (26.5%) but saw its audience steadily decline to 6.3m (27.5%) in the final quarter of an hour.
The drama, featuring Julie Graham and Max Beesley, was up by 35.4% on the channel's slot average for the year so far of 4.8m (20.5%).
Despite the strong showing for the terrestrial channel it was still below its commercial rival ITV1 at the time by 1.1m.
The last few minutes of the first stanza lead you to the second, and I think we might find out that there's nothing usual and customary about the way this virus spread through the populus. Treachery is indeed afoot. Keep watching.
