New British post-apocalyptic TV comedy: Cockroaches, ITV2

ITV2 launch a new “post-apocalyptic romantic-comedy” this month, set in England nine years after a nuclear war has decimated the planet. The commission of Cockroaches is further evidence of the growth of the sub-genre of ‘humorous’ end-of-the-world TV and film dramas.

Cockroaches (ITV2)

Cockroaches, a 6×30 post-apocalyptic romantic-comedy written and created by Freddy Syborn (Bad Education) and from multi-award winning producers Big Talk Productions (Rev, Him & Her) arrives on ITV2 in the New Year.

Daniel Lawrence Taylor (Uncle, Hunderby) and Esther Smith (Cuckoo 2, Skins) play Tom and Suze, two nineteen-year-olds both dreaming of the future. When nuclear war strikes, they do the thing we’d all do if we knew we were about to die. They have sex. Unfortunately, they then survive. Awkward.

Nine years later, they’re wandering the wasteland where England used to be. They’re joined by Laura (Jessica Emily Rose), the child they conceived on the night of the nuclear war. They end up at a camp of survivors, where it turns out that a lack of food and water is merely the start of their problems.

Cockroaches is a post-apocalyptic comedy about one family trying to survive in a wasteland of cannibals, perverts and one insufferable ex. Our heroes struggle with boredom, fear and the ethics of cooking with their own body fluids.

The series features a first class ensemble of iconic and next generation comedy actors including appearances from Nigel Planer (The Young Ones), Jaime Winstone (Made in Dagenham), Caroline Quentin (Men Behaving Badly, Jonathan Creek), Robert Bathurst (Downton Abbey), Dan Renton-Skinner (House Of Fools), Sarah Daykin (Chickens), fast rising stand-up Tom Davis (Plebs), Robert Bathurst (Cold Feet) and guest starring Jack Whitehall (Bad Education, Fresh Meat) as Oscar, the unhinged and insufferable ex-boyfriend of Suze.

The first episode premieres on ITV2 on 13 January 2015 at 22:00, but all six episodes of series one can be previewed in full (in the UK) on the ITV Player service.

Episode 1: A post-apocalyptic comedy about one family trying to survive after a nuclear fallout joining a camp of fellow survivors and oddballs including the odd cannibal. In the first programme, Tom, Suze and Laura stumble across the camp while wandering around the wasteland that was once England. Unfortunately, the place is run by Oscar, Suze’s insufferable ex. They soon discover lack of food and water are the least of their problems.With Daniel Lawrence Taylor, Esther Smith, Jessica Emily Rose, and Jack Whitehall.

Amazon revives cancelled BBC One show Ripper Street

The Victorian crime drama Ripper Street, cancelled by the BBC due to falling viewing figures after two series, is to return to BBC screens for a third series following a deal with Amazon.

The announcement of the deal with Amazon’s Prime Instant Video service delighted fans of the series who had been lobbying the BBC to reverse its cancellation decision.

Amazon will cover the majority of the production costs, in return for the rights to premiere the series on Prime Instant Video. The BBC will retain the right to broadcast the show on BBC One some time later. Co-funding arrangements with BBC America and the Irish Film Board will also remain in place.

The BBC indicated that series three would retain the previous eight-episode format, and be produced on a similar budget to the first two series.

BBC controller of drama commissioning Ben Stephenson commented: “This is an exceptional opportunity to bring back Ripper Street for a third series by working with the right partners […] This deal gives fans another series of the show they love at excellent value to the licence fee payer.”

The BBC News story commented:

Similar deals of its kind are not expected to follow. However, Amazon’s Tim Leslie said if audiences loved a cancelled show and wanted to bring it back, they would consider it.

Actress MyAnna Buring, who plays Long Susan, said fan reaction was “incredibly moving” in response to the BBC’s decision not to recommission the show.

“I don’t think without that kind of response everyone would have been inspired to create a deal like this,” she added.

SuperTechBlog claims ‘exclusive’: Netflix said to be in talks to bring Survivors back

Writing on the SuperTechBlog site (18 January 2013), Colton Kaiser claims an ‘exclusive’, reporting that the streaming online film and TV company Netflix is in active talks with the BBC about commissioning a new, third series of Survivors.

Kaiser provides no evidence for the claim other than that an “inside source familiar with the matter” has revealed to the site that the BBC and NetFlix have “initiated talks to bring back British post-apocalyptic TV series Survivors.”

He goes on to suggest that, having optioned the rights to stream the first two series of the show, Netflix noticed “a ‘surprising number of views’ in the first few months of being available.”

Kaiser does conclude: “Of course, there’s no guarantee that these talks will result in a revival of the show.”

In recent months, Netflix has begun to commission both new and returning episodic dramas, which will by-pass international TV networks entirely and be made exclusively available throughthe web-based Netflix service. The first original drama series to be commissioned by the company was House of Cards, a dark political drama produced by David Fincher. Netflix has since announced a slate of new commissions, including a new series of the previously-cancelled comedy Arrested Development. Some reports suggests that Netflix has already commissioned its first British drama, but confirmed details are scarce.

Although the speculation is intriguing, What the report on SuperTechBlog omits entirely is that the BBC are not the only party with which Netflix would need to agree terms. As lead scriptwriter, producer and Survivors showrunner Adrian Hodges would hold rights in a number of the characters, characterisations and storylines any new series would need to pick up. More fundamentally, any new commission by a third party would require a fresh negotiation with the estate of Terry Nation to licence the right to use the original characters and premise.

However, the speculation is itself interesting – and this blog will continue to follow the story closely as either it evolves, peters out or is proven to be completely mistaken.

In the meantime, if you come across any confirmation or refutation of any part of the story, please get in touch via the Contact form or leave a Comment on this post.

Julie Graham (Abby Grant) press interview from 2008 shared online

A not-heard-before press interview with Julie Graham (Abby Grant) from the 2008 pre-series-one promotional campaign (by journalist Katy Blackwell) has been made available on the SoundCloud streaming service. In the 5m 25s interview, Graham discusses the then-forthcoming first series, the character of Abby Grant, the contemporary relevance of the show, the making of the first series, and more besides.

Thanks to Adrian H for pointing the blog to this

‘Continue Survivors’ campaign web site launched

A new web site promoting the campaign to Continue Survivors has just been launched [http://www.continuesurvivors.co.uk/Backpage.htm].

With a design based on the ‘Hope Never Dies’ postcard featured in the series two story arc, the site promotes the Survivors series three online petition; the Survivors Series 3 please BBC Facebook group; as well as this blog.

News of Survivors’ cancellation spreads…

The news that the BBC has opted not to commission a third series of Survivors has been picked up by the Press Association; the Metro newspaper; The Guardian; Scottish Daily Record; the Digital Spy site; the ATV network site; The Independent; the Birmingham Post; the Daily Mail; the Morning Starr; the Daily Telegraph; the New Stateman; The Mirror; and more…

Dramatist Phil Redmond slates Survivors remake

Well-known British TV dramatist Phil Redmond (creator of children’s show Grange Hill and soaps Brookside and Hollyoaks) has heavily criticised Adrian Hodges’ Survivors remake in a belated series review in the Liverpool Daily Post.

Revealing that the original 1970s Survivors “was one of the things that drew me to the power of television”, Redmond dismisses the new Survivors as an acute “disappointment”. He argues that: “Survivors may have been entertaining, but it contributed little to ethical or social debate” and suggests that the new series “proved that not many remakes work.”

The Age – Survivors Channel Nine preview video

Australian newspaper The Age published an extremely positive preview of Survivors ahead of the transmission on the opening episode of series one on Channel Nine on 21 March (the video contains advertisement previews).

Serious concerns are being expressed at Channel Nine’s treatment of the series with reports that the channel had made signficant edits and merged truncated versions of separate episodes.

Paterson Joseph on GMTV – 26 March 2010

Paterson Joseph (Greg Preston) appeared on ITV’s GMTV on Friday 26 March 2010. No online video of Joseph’s appearance is currently available, but GMTV‘s preview for the day (now only available as a cached Google page) indicates:

the star of Survivors and Peepshow joins us to talk about his new drama Blood and Oil

Joseph mentioned various possible options regarding the future of Survivors, but was unable to confirm the show’s current status.

Total SciFi set visit report from series two location filming

The Total SciFi site’s Paul Simpson has posted (3 March 2010) a report from a set visit he made during the latter stages of the filming of Survivors second series in 2009. During the visit to various locations, Simpson interviews Phillip Rhys (Al), Chahak Patel (Najid) and showrunner Adrian Hodges – who concludes:

“In some ways we feel that we’ve barely begun with Survivors, but in other ways I have to accept that this might be its final series… What I’ve tried to do with this series is give a satisfying conclusion so that if it proves to be the last episode, at least it will feel like a series that has finished in an appropriate way, but at the same time, almost every door is left open.”

iF magazine – Adrian Hodges interview

The iF magazine website has published an interview with Survivors showrunner Adrian Hodges, in which he discusses (for a US audience now following series one on BBC America) the process of reviving Survivors; the post-apocalyptic genre; updating characters from Terry Nation’s novel; and the challenges of filming an ‘end of the world’ drama.

Max Beesley appears on ITV’s Alan Titchmarsh Show

Max Beesley (Tom Price) appeared – briefly – on ITV’s teamtime Alan Titchmarsh Show today (22 Feburary) to discuss his work on Survivors; the release of series two on DVD; his musical career and his pre-production work on his screenplay Mr Goodnight. The interview begins just under 38mins into the episode; and includes a short clip from episode four of series two.

The episode is available to view on the ITV Player (select 22 February 2010 edition).

TV.com: Phillip Rhys discusses Survivors series two finale

In an interview on the TV.com site, Phillip Rhys (Al) discusses the events of the Survivors series two finale, which will be shown on Tuesday 23 February on BBC One and on Thursday 25 February on BBC HD.

***Please note that the interview contains significant plot SPOILERS concerning episode six***

Film Review Online: series two, episode six image gallery

The Film Review Online site has published a gallery of sixteen BBC publicity stills from Survivors series two episode six.

Survivors series two, episode five attracts 3.4m viewers

The Media Guardian reports that the overnight figures for episode five of series two of Survivors show that the programme drew an audience of 3.4m viewers (a 12.9% audience share).

Premium Hollywood – Paterson Joseph interview

The Premium Hollywood site has published an interview with Paterson Joseph (Greg Preston), discussing his varied career; his shortlisting for the role of The Doctor; acting in science fiction; and some of his forthcoming roles.

IESB.net interview with Julie Graham and Paterson Joseph

As the premiere of Survivors on BBC America continues to attract press attention on the other side of the Atlantic, the IESB.net site has published an interview with Julie Graham (Abby Grant) and Paterson Joseph (Greg Preston), in which the pair discuss working together before Survivors; the development of their characters in series one of Survivors; working with other cast members on the show; and the differences between the first and second series.

Extracts from Julie Graham’s interview have also been published on the Film Review Online site.

CraveOnline publishes Adrian Hodges interview

The US based CraveOnline site has published an interview with Survivors showrunner Adrian Hodges, discussing his work on both Survivors and Primeval.

First reviews of BBC America’s premiere of Survivors series one

The US MetaCritic site has published a round-up of reviews of the first press review of Survivors opening episode which began on BBC America on 13 February 2010.

The eight reviews already published (from publications including TV Guide, Entertainment Weekly and Variety) are aggregated as “generally favorable”.

Many thanks to Adrian H for alerting the blog to this – and for other updates too numerous to mention

The Daily Beast – Adrian Hodges interview

The Daily Beast site has published an interview with Survivors showrunner Adrian Hodges, as the publicity surrounding the premiere of series one on BBC America gathers pace.