I wasn't blown away by Terry Nation's original show from 1975 but to give him credit he did try and make it dramatic . Unfortunately when he left the show nose dived into EMMERDALE FARM soap opera with the occasional nasty piece of work making a rare appearance . It was an opportunity missed . After seeing the remake you'll be hard pressed to see the producers spotting an opportunity never mind missing one
For the premise of a superflu to work you need the producers , writers and directors to read up on flu pandemics like the 1918 Spanish flu outbreak . This they failed to do . A good example would be the scene in the mosque where the young boy wakes up to find everyone dead . It seems several dozen worshipers died in mid prayer . What flu kills you quicker than a bullet to the head !
Likewise look at the number of scenes where people are sitting dead in their cars . So lets see they're well enough to get in to a car then drop dead before they've got a chance to start the engine or they're suddenly taken ill and considerately stop at the side of the road and turn the engine off . No matter what not one scene features the results of a road crash and the survivors always manage to find a car with a full tank when needed !
As for the survivors themselves it helps if you're gay , young , an ethnic minority or someone who has never attended an acting lesson in their life . " Where's the zombies like in 28 Days Later ? " the audience scream . The answer is they're the ones with the dialogue with Paterson Joseph leading the hall of acting shame . He has as much depth as a cigarette paper , the range of a water pistol and should have a career as a pool cue since he's so wooden . He's favourite for the role of DOCTOR WHO is he ? Hasn't Terry Nation's legacy been harmed enough ?
The story telling is equally uninspiring . In the original the focus of the series is " If we don't become self sufficient within a couple of generations we'll be back in the stone age if not extinct " . Here the story entirely revolves around Abbey trying to find her son Peter . Seeing as she's played by Julie Graham , an actress with a long history of nudity and explicit sex scenes I was expecting better but no the producers could have cast anyone as long as they scream " PEEEEEETER " at least once an episode . No zombies , no T&A , no real reason to watch unless you're a fan of the original
The one thing is the producers have succeeded in is making a memorable anti hero out of Tom Price . He's very much in the same vein as Kerr Avon from BLAKES 7 and a million miles away from the creep from the original . He's very well played by Max Beesley ( Which unfortunately isn't saying much compared to the rest of the cast )but once again the character and actor is let down by the writing . In the opening episode the audience are treated to a ridiculous scene where the imprisoned Price is released from his cell by a prison officer , told " You're a nasty piece of work Price and I'm locking you up in this store room for the next twenty years " only for Price to kill the PO . So will the producers make Price out to be a serial rapist or a child killer ? Seeing as it's revealed that Price is an ex soldier in the final episode of series one I expect it'll be revealed in series two that Price killed his commanding officer after being told to massacre women and children in Iraq or Afghanistan . This is after all a BBC show
Thirty years after the original ended I had hoped the BBC would have had the balls to remake the show with a harder edge . Unfortunately SURVIVORS 2008 is an insipid show full of padding that goes out of its way to be inoffensive as possible . Zombie horror fans will hate it while fans of Terry Nation , John Wyndham and John Christopher will instantly recognise it as an opportunity missed . Readers of The Independent and Guardian newspapers will no doubt love it while undemanding audience members will like it
For the premise of a superflu to work you need the producers , writers and directors to read up on flu pandemics like the 1918 Spanish flu outbreak . This they failed to do . A good example would be the scene in the mosque where the young boy wakes up to find everyone dead . It seems several dozen worshipers died in mid prayer . What flu kills you quicker than a bullet to the head !
Likewise look at the number of scenes where people are sitting dead in their cars . So lets see they're well enough to get in to a car then drop dead before they've got a chance to start the engine or they're suddenly taken ill and considerately stop at the side of the road and turn the engine off . No matter what not one scene features the results of a road crash and the survivors always manage to find a car with a full tank when needed !
As for the survivors themselves it helps if you're gay , young , an ethnic minority or someone who has never attended an acting lesson in their life . " Where's the zombies like in 28 Days Later ? " the audience scream . The answer is they're the ones with the dialogue with Paterson Joseph leading the hall of acting shame . He has as much depth as a cigarette paper , the range of a water pistol and should have a career as a pool cue since he's so wooden . He's favourite for the role of DOCTOR WHO is he ? Hasn't Terry Nation's legacy been harmed enough ?
The story telling is equally uninspiring . In the original the focus of the series is " If we don't become self sufficient within a couple of generations we'll be back in the stone age if not extinct " . Here the story entirely revolves around Abbey trying to find her son Peter . Seeing as she's played by Julie Graham , an actress with a long history of nudity and explicit sex scenes I was expecting better but no the producers could have cast anyone as long as they scream " PEEEEEETER " at least once an episode . No zombies , no T&A , no real reason to watch unless you're a fan of the original
The one thing is the producers have succeeded in is making a memorable anti hero out of Tom Price . He's very much in the same vein as Kerr Avon from BLAKES 7 and a million miles away from the creep from the original . He's very well played by Max Beesley ( Which unfortunately isn't saying much compared to the rest of the cast )but once again the character and actor is let down by the writing . In the opening episode the audience are treated to a ridiculous scene where the imprisoned Price is released from his cell by a prison officer , told " You're a nasty piece of work Price and I'm locking you up in this store room for the next twenty years " only for Price to kill the PO . So will the producers make Price out to be a serial rapist or a child killer ? Seeing as it's revealed that Price is an ex soldier in the final episode of series one I expect it'll be revealed in series two that Price killed his commanding officer after being told to massacre women and children in Iraq or Afghanistan . This is after all a BBC show
Thirty years after the original ended I had hoped the BBC would have had the balls to remake the show with a harder edge . Unfortunately SURVIVORS 2008 is an insipid show full of padding that goes out of its way to be inoffensive as possible . Zombie horror fans will hate it while fans of Terry Nation , John Wyndham and John Christopher will instantly recognise it as an opportunity missed . Readers of The Independent and Guardian newspapers will no doubt love it while undemanding audience members will like it