Survivors
This is the main title caption that was seen throughout the series.
Format	Drama
Created by	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
External 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. The term Survivors may refer to: Survivors of childhood sexual abuse or incest. ... Image File history File links Survivors. ... For other uses, see Drama (disambiguation). ... Terry Nation (August 8, 1930 – March 9, 1997) was a British television screenwriter and is probably best known for creating the villainous Daleks for the long-running science fiction television series Doctor Who. ... Ian McCulloch (born 5 May 1939 in Glasgow) is a British actor. ... Lucy Fleming is a British actress, perhaps best known for her role as Jenny Richards in the 1970s BBC drama Survivors. ... Carolyn Seymour (born November 6, 1947 in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire) is an English actress, best associated with portraying the role of Abby Grant in the BBC series Survivors in 1975. ... Denis Lill (born 22 April 1942 in Hamilton, New Zealand) is a British actor. ... John Abineri was a British actor who lived 18 May 1928 to 29 June 2000. ... Lorna Lewis may refer to: Lorna Lewis (writer), a British writer Lorna Lewis (actress), an American actress Category: ... This is a list of all Survivors episodes. ... For other uses, see BBC (disambiguation). ... Terry Nation (August 8, 1930 – March 9, 1997) was a British television screenwriter and is probably best known for creating the villainous Daleks for the long-running science fiction television series Doctor Who. ... Terence Dudley was a television director of many years standing who directed many programmes for the BBC. In 1980 he began an association with Doctor Who when he directed Meglos for John Nathan-Turner. ... For other uses, see BBC (disambiguation). ... This article is about large epidemics. ... Science fiction is a form of speculative fiction principally dealing with the impact of imagined science and technology, or both, upon society and persons as individuals. ... Apocalyptic science fiction is a sub-genre of science fiction that is concerned with the end of civilization, through nuclear war, plague, or some other general disaster. ...

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. British television broadcasting has a range of different broadcasters, broadcasting multiple channels over a variety of distribution media. ... Professor Bernard Quatermass is a fictional character, created by the writer Nigel Kneale originally for BBC Television, who appeared in three influential BBC science fiction serials of the 1950s, and made his swansong in a final serial for Thames Television in 1979. ... Peter Cushing played Winston Smith while Donald Pleasence played Syme. ...

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

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). Blakes 7 is a British science fiction television series made by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) for their BBC 1 channel. ... Doomwatch was a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC, which ran on the BBC1 channel for thirty-seven fifty-minute episodes, plus one unshown, and one part made, in three seasons transmitted on Mondays from 9 February 1970 to 14 August 1972. ...

Remake

The BBC actively pursued the rights for Survivors from Terry Nation's estate, so that the series can be revived as a six part serial.^[1]

On 22 November 2007, the BBC announced that they were going to remake Survivors, as written by Adrian Hodges, to be shown on BBC One.^[2] is the 326th day of the year (327th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... Adrian Hodges is a British television and film writer. ... For the BBC radio station, see BBC Radio 1. ...

Locations

The majority of the locations for all three series of Survivors were in the Welsh Marches, the counties of Monmouthshire, Shropshire, Powys with, for the first two series, the characters most often seen in Herefordshire. The first episode of series 1 (The Fourth Horseman) featured several locations in Worcestershire, including Great Malvern railway station. Later episodes had the characters move around Herefordshire, from places like Ross-on-Wye to Welsh Newton Common. Llanarth Court in Monmouthshire was also featured. Towards the end of the first series, the action moved to a more permanent base at Hampton Court, again in Herefordshire. (This was the property referred to as "The Grange" by the characters.) The Welsh Marches is an area along the border of England and Wales in the island of Great Britain. ... Monmouthshire (Welsh: ) is both a historic county and principal area in south-east Wales. ... Shropshire (pronounced /, -/), alternatively known as Salop[6] or abbreviated Shrops[7], is a county in the West Midlands of England. ... Powys is a local government principal area and a preserved county in Wales. ... Herefordshire is a historic and ceremonial county and unitary district (known as County of Herefordshire) in the West Midlands region of England. ... Worcestershire (pronounced ; abbreviated Worcs) is a county located in the West Midlands region of central England. ... Great Malvern railway station. ... Location within the British Isles. ... Welsh Newton is a small village and parish in the county of Herefordshire within the United Kingdom. ... Hampton Court is a castellated country house in the English county of Herefordshire. ...

For the beginning of series 2 the focus moved to a new location, at Callow Hill Farm, near Monmouth (but again just within Herefordshire). The Lights of London episodes featured Hanwell Station, Camden Town and The Oval, all in London. The Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal and village of Skenfrith also made appearances. Monmouth (Welsh: Trefynwy) is a town in south Wales, county town of the historic county of Monmouthshire. ... For other uses of Camden, see Camden. ... The famous gasometers, which are now listed buildings. ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... The Monmouthshire & Brecon Canal is a small network of canals isolated from the rest of the United Kingdom network. ...

Plot summaries

Series 1

As the world's population is almost annihilated by a mysterious pandemic, accidentally unleashed by an unknown Oriental scientist, 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. This article is about large epidemics. ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... Commuting is the process of travelling from a place of residence to a place of work. ... Masouleh village, Gilan Province, Iran. ... For other uses, see Civilization (disambiguation). ... Farming, ploughing rice paddy, in Indonesia Agriculture is the process of producing food, feed, fiber and other desired products by cultivation of certain plants and the raising of domesticated animals (livestock). ...

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

Carolyn Seymour (born November 6, 1947 in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire) is an English actress, best associated with portraying the role of Abby Grant in the BBC series Survivors in 1975. ... Ian McCulloch (born 5 May 1939 in Glasgow) is a British actor. ... Lucy Fleming is a British actress, perhaps best known for her role as Jenny Richards in the 1970s BBC drama Survivors. ... Talfryn Thomas was a Welsh character actor best known for a variety of supporting rôles on British television of the 1970s. ... Chris Tranchell is a British actor, best known for his role in the television drama Survivors as Paul Pitman. ... Michael Gover is an English actor, born in 1918 in Denmark, best known for his portrayal of Arthur Russell in the BBC television series Survivors. ... Hugh Walters (born 2 March 1939) is a British actor. ... Hana Maria Pravda (born 1918 in Prague, Czechoslovakia) is an actress. ... Eileen Helsby is a British actress with several television credits. ... John Hallet is a British actor, probably best known for his role as Barney in the 1970s television drama Survivors. ... Richard Heffer is a British actor, best remembered for his roles on television. ... Myra Frances is a British actress. ... Julie Neubert is a British actress who is perhaps best known for playing the ill-fated Wendy in the first series of Survivors in 1975. ... Denis Lill (born 22 April 1942 in Hamilton, New Zealand) is a British actor. ...

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. This article is about hot air balloons themselves. ...

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

Celia Gregory is a British actress, who remains best known for her role as Ruth Anderson in the 1970s BBC television drama Survivors. ... John Abineri was a British actor who lived 18 May 1928 to 29 June 2000. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Lorna Lewis may refer to: Lorna Lewis (writer), a British writer Lorna Lewis (actress), an American actress Category: ... Roy Herrick is a British actor. ... Stephen Tate is a British actor. ... Heather Wright is a British actress, noted for her performances in film and television. ... June Page is a British actress, best known for her role as Sally in the 1970s television drama Survivors. ...

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. Hydroelectricity is electricity produced by hydropower. ...

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

Edward Underdown (born 1908-died 1989) is a British actor. ... William Dysart is a British actor, probably best known for his role as Alec Campbell in the 1970s television series Survivors. ... Robert Gillespie (born 9 November 1933 in Lille, France) is a British actor. ...

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.

Trivia

Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines. The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.

• 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 1990s 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), David Troughton son of Patrick Troughton, and Roger Lloyd-Pack (Only Fools and Horses and The Vicar of Dibley).
• The yellow Volvo estate car used in the series also appeared as Jerry Leadbetter's car in The Good Life.
• There are parallels between 'Survivors' and the 2002 movie, '28 Days Later', including an accidental release of a virus and - in the acclaimed episode, 'Mad Dog' - images of a rabies-sufferer with the urge to infect others. As in the movie, anyone suspected of being infected (as Denis Lill's Charles Vaughan is at one point) will be killed immediately to contain the disease.

Image File history File links Broom_icon. ... A novelization (or novelisation in British English) is a work of fiction that is written based on some other media story form rather than as an original work. ... Terence Dudley was a television director of many years standing who directed many programmes for the BBC. In 1980 he began an association with Doctor Who when he directed Meglos for John Nathan-Turner. ... BBC Scotland (BBC Alba in Gaelic) is a constituent part of the British Broadcasting Corporation, the publicly-funded broadcaster of the United Kingdom. ... Patrick George Troughton (25 March 1920 – 28 March 1987) was a versatile and prolific English actor known in his role as the second incarnation of the Doctor in the long running British science-fiction television series Doctor Who, which he played from 1966 until 1969. ... Peter Jeffrey (born 18 April 1929 in Bristol, died 25 December 1999) was a British actor with many roles in television and film. ... Brian Blessed (pronounced //, or in the tradition of English poetry, Blessèd, born near Doncaster,October 9, 1937) is an English actor, who came to fame as PC Fancy Smith in the BBC TV police drama series Z Cars. ... George Baker (born 1 April 1931) is a English actor, who was born in Varna, Bulgaria. ... Philip Madoc (born 5 July 1934 in Merthyr Tydfil) is a Welsh actor who has had many television and film roles. ... Bryan Pringle (19 January 1935 - 15 May 2002) was a long serving British actor who appeared in television, film and theatre productions throughout a career which spanned almost four decades. ... Iain Cuthbertson is a distinguished Scottish character actor born 4 January 1930 in Glasgow, Scotland. ... Peter Bowles (born October 16, 1936) is a British actor. ... Robert Fyfe is a Scottish-born actor who has appeared as Howard on the British sitcom Last of the Summer Wine since 1985. ... Last of the Summer Wine (Originally The Last of the Summer Wine in the pilot episode), is a BBC sitcom written by Roy Clarke. ... Denis Lawson as Wedge Antilles in Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi Denis Lawson (born September 27, 1947 in Crieff, Perthshire, Scotland), is a Scottish actor. ... This article is about the series. ... David Neilson David Neilson (born 13 March 1949 in Loughborough, Leicestershire) is an English actor best known for portraying Roy Cropper in Coronation Street from 1995 onwards. ... Coronation Street is an award-winning British soap opera. ... Peter Duncan (born May 3, 1954) is a British actor and television presenter, who is best known as a former presenter of Blue Peter. ... For other uses, see Blue Peter (disambiguation). ... June Brown (born 16 February 1927) is an English actress and director, best known as Dot Branning in the BBC soap opera EastEnders. ... EastEnders is a popular BBC television soap opera, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC1 on 19 February 1985[4] and continuing to date. ... David Troughton (born June 9, 1950 in Hampstead, North London, England) is a respected Shakespearean actor on the British stage. ... Roger Lloyd Pack (born in London February 8, 1944) is a British actor. ... Only Fools and Horses is a British television sitcom, created and written by John Sullivan, and made and broadcast by the BBC. Seven series were originally broadcast in the UK between 1981 and 1991, with sporadic Christmas specials until 2003. ... The Vicar of Dibley is a British sitcom created by Richard Curtis and written for its lead actress, Dawn French, by Curtis and Paul Mayhew-Archer, with contributions from Kit Hesketh-Harvey. ... The Volvo 140 is an automobile from Volvo. ... The good life is an ambiguous term for the life that one would like to live. ... The good life is an ambiguous term for the life that one would like to live. ... 28 Days Later is a 2002 British post-apocalyptic science fiction horror film directed by Danny Boyle and starring Cillian Murphy, Naomie Harris and Christopher Eccleston. ...

Episodes

Main article: List of Survivors episodes

This is a list of all Survivors episodes. ...

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:

See also

• The Tribe, a post-plague series focusing on teenagers, right after a plague killed off all adults
• Jeremiah, an another post-plague series, fifteen years after the plague killed off the adults, with similarities to both The Tribe and Survivors
• Jericho, a post-nuclear holocaust series

The Tribe is a science fiction television program, created by Raymond Thompson and Harry Duffin, produced by Cloud 9. ... Jeremiah is a post-apocalyptic TV-series starring Luke Perry and Malcolm-Jamal Warner. ... This article is about the CBS television drama. ...

References

1. ^ [1]
2. ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7107597.stm

External links

Fan sites:

• Survivors TV Series
• Survivors: A World Away
• Survivors: The Newsletter
• h2g2 Survivors website (contains plot detail)
• Survivors: wapsite
• Cult UK Television with discussion group for Survivors

Guides:

• British Film Institute Screen Online
• Survivors at the Internet Movie Database