Upcoming Survivors features in SFX and SciFi Now

The current issue of sci-fi mag SFX (No 175, November 2008) reports that the next issue (No 176, December 2008) will include a feature “on set for the Survivors remake!”. That issue will go on sale on 22 October.

Issue 21 of SciFi Now magazine (published towards the end of October) will include an illustrated feature on Survivors including interviews with principal cast members and series creator and producer Adrian Hodges. The SciFi Now feature has been written by editor of this blog, Rich Cross.

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First episode of new Survivors gets internal BBC screening

The first episode of the new Survivors had its first screening (for colleagues within the BBC) on Wednesday 24 September. (The press screening will be held in due course).

Read comments and reaction to the first episode from The Culture Show’s web producer Ellen West.

She suggests that:

The first episode of the new Survivors feels more dynamic and less dark than the original – there’s a lot more action and the budget is clearly that of a big BBC One drama. There’s no attempt to shy away from the starkness of the situation, but there are already faint notes of optimism which just weren’t there in the original.

Please note: For those who know the basic information about the series from the original BBC press release and other postings on this blog, the commentary from The Culture Show blog is ‘spoiler’ free.

Celia Gregory (Ruth, Survivors, 1976) dies at age of 58

Celia Gregory, who played the role of Ruth the doctor in the second series of Survivors in 1976, has died at the age of 58.

An obituary written by colleagues and collaborators Cherie Lunghi, Allan Corduner and Jan Sagent appears in The Stage. A revised version of The Stage obituary was republished in The Guardian on 26 September.

Comments have been recorded on Britmovie.co.uk forum and in other online forums.

Celia Gregory in Survivors episode Greater Love

‘The end of the world?’ Survivors guide reprinted

Now in its third printing, the unofficial guide to Survivors (written by this blog editor and co-author Andy Priestner) has been reprinted by publishers Telos ahead of the transmission of the BBC’s new series.

The contents of the book remains unchanged, providing: “a detailed guide to the making of all three series of the show; comprehensive episode summaries and reviews of all 38 episodes; as well as character and location guides. The End of the World? is illustrated throughout by a wealth of behind-the-scenes photographs by cast and crew”.

Stylistic, presentational and design changes are as follows:

• A revised subtitle : which now reads ‘The unofficial and unauthorised guide to the original Survivors’ (emphasis added), on the front and back cover
• Much improved printing: with different quality paper, clearer text and sharper photographic illustrations
• A thinner, fractionally smaller format: improved paper quality has reduced the overall size of the book, requiring a thinner and redesigned spine.
• New review quote on the back cover: which now reads ‘”You really can’t afford to miss this. Buy it just to see how good a TV guide book can be”, Andrew Pixley, SFX magazine’

This new printing will be available from the usual outlets shortly. Find out more about where to buy a copy of the book.

 

Front cover, September 2008 printing

Survivors: more from the blogosphere…

Some recent blog postings (personal and publication) that I picked up in a recent web trawl:

• Virgin media (brief) Survivors preview
• Dreamwatch on casting new
• ‘The human race drops dead but at least were still pretty’
• Pics: Freema Agyeman filming new role

TV & Satellite Week – half-page Survivors preview

The 13-19 September 2008 edition of TV & Satellite Week includes a half-page feature on the new Survivors as part of a round-up of the upcoming Autumn drama schedule.

The preview includes a good-size BBC promo shot, showing Zoe Tapper (Dr Anya Raczynski), Freema Ageyman (Jenny Collins) and Bryony Afferson (Pat). It is likely that the photo depicts a scene fairly early on in the opening episode – showing Jenny’s efforts to secure medical assistance for Pat at a hospital where Anya is battling the onset of the pandemic.

A cropped thumbnail of the same image also appears on the front cover.

First clips from new Survivors series now available online

Brief clips from the new Survivors series is available to view online (within the UK) on the BBC Press Office site.

The streaming promotional video for the BBC Autumn Drama schedule includes a few seconds of footage from Survivors mainly featuring Julie Graham (Abby Grant).

BBC reserves Survivors mini-site domain

The BBC has set up the sub-domain http://www.bbc.co.uk/survivors to host the forthcoming new series mini-site. No content has yet been added, and the site is not likely to be populated until much closer to transmission.

Orion to republish Terry Nation’s Survivors novel

Orion publishers are to republish the 1976 Survivors novel, authored by series creator Terry Nation. Orion have confirmed to this blog their intended publication date of November 2009.

Publication details are as follows:

• 256pp, paperback
• ISBN-13: 978-1409102649
• ISBN-10: 978-1409102649
• Publisher: Orion
• Publication date: 26 November 2009
• Provisional cover price: £6.99

Review the Amazon listing, or find more about the novel from the Survivors: A World Away site.

Daily Telegraph suggests October transmission date

In a round-up of the BBC Autumn 2008 drama schedule, the Daily Telegraph reports that the new series of Survivors will be broadcast in October 2008 – although, in fact, this remains unconfirmed by the BBC.

Survivors is included as one of ten ‘top’ dramas featuring on TV screens in the coming weeks. The Telegraph describes the show as a “new, or at least rehashed, take on the I Am Legend/28 Weeks Later” scenario, and wrongly suggests that the series is “[b]ased on a novel by Adrian Hodges”. Nice to see such informed journalism at work…