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Production: GB, 1975-1977 Cast: Carolyn Seymour, Lucy Fleming, Ian McCulloch, Denis Lill, Stephen Dudley, Eileen Helsby, Tanya Ronder, Chris Tranchell, John Abineri, Lorna Lewis, Terry Scully, Hana Maria Pravda, Talfryn Thomas, Julie Neubert. This BBC TV serie was created by one of the most famous british television writers: Terry Nation, the inventor of the deadly Daleks which caused the huge success of Doctor Who. |
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The story, in a certain way, is not so original: story of a group of
persons who have to organize their survival after a deadly virus has wiped
the 90% of Earth’s population. Something similar had already been seen in John Wyndham’s “The day of the triffids”, which too had appeared as a movie and then as a TV mini-series, where most part of population had become blind and was even menaced by giant mobile carnivorous plants out of control. Something similar has also been seen a little time ago, with Danny Boyle’s “28 days later”. Anyway, the serie is well-made, charming and has its share of suspence. In the opening credits we understand the virus is not so mysterious: we can |
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see a scientist in his white coat dropping the deadly vial, then
contamination starts and the virus spreads around the world. Three are the main characters: first of all Abby Grant (Carolyne Seymour), an housewife who survived to the virus (she got ill but recovered) which killed her husband and is searching for her son who was in a college during the epidemic. Then there is Greg Preston (Ian McCulloch), an engineer whose wife died for the virus, who becomes leader of the community which creates during the serie. Finally the young secretary Jenny Richards (Lucy Fleming), who will fall in love with Greg and will give him a son, and will become the sole character to |
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appear in the whole serie: in fact Abby will leave
at the beginning of second season to continue searching for her son, and
at the end of the same season Greg will leave for Scandinavia in search
for other communities of survivors; he will come back, aged and affected
by smallpox, at the end of third season, having almost completed his
project to give back a government to Great Britain. At the beginning of the second season another male lead is added: Charles Vaughn (Denis Lill), who had already appeared in a first season episode as the leader of a community obsessed for Earth’s repopulating, having already made pregnant several women of his community… causing Abby and Jenny’s immediate run. |
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In the
beginning of second season, the mansion of Greg and Jenny’s community is
destroyed by fire, and most part of the regular cast dies (probably the
actors had found or wanted other job), so the survivors have to join
Charles’ community (and Charles has changed his mind about repopulation…).The
confrontation between the two male leaders, Greg and Charles, results in a
serie of conflicts and discussions, which became real too: at the end of
swecond season Ian McCulloch left the show for his conflicts with Denis
Lill… |
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rebuild a
normal life thanks to their superior acknowledge, crazy leaders who want
to create a military organization for survival, selfish people who don’t
want to share their resources with others, and bands of robbers who simply
steal at any cost all what they find. |
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| First season 1) The Fourth Horseman 2) Genesis 3) Gone Away 4) Corn Dolly 5) Gone to the Angels 6) Garland's War 7) Starvation 8) Spoil of War 9) Law and Order |
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| 10) The Future Hour 11) Revenge 12) Something of Value 13) A Beginning Second season |
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| 18) The Face of the Tiger 19) The Witch 20) A Friend in Need 21) By Bread Alone 22) The Chosen 23) Parasites 24) New Arrivals 25) Over the Hills 26) New World Third season |
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27) Manhunt 28) A Little Learning 29) Law of the Jungle 30) Mad Dog 31) Bridgehead 32) Reunion 33) The Peacemaker 34) Sparks 35) The Enemy 36) The Last Laugh |
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| 37) Long Live the King 38) Power |
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