Survivors (2008 TV series)

This article is about the 2008 television series. For the original original, see Survivors. For other uses, see Survivors (disambiguation).

Survivors
Survivors title sequence
Genre	Post-apocalyptic drama
Created by	Adrian Hodges Terry Nation (novel)
Starring	Julie Graham Max Beesley Paterson Joseph Zoe Tapper Phillip Rhys Robyn Addison Nikki Amuka-Bird Gearldine Somerville Nicholas Gleaves Chahak Patel Jack Richardson Emma Lowndes
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language	English
No. of series	2
No. of episodes	12
Production
Running time	60 minutes 90 minutes (Series 1 Episode 1)
Original release
Network	BBC One BBC HD
Release	23 November 2008 (2008-11-23) – present
Related
Survivors

Survivors is an on-going British science fiction television series produced by the BBC. It depicts the activities of a group of people who survived a virulent strain of mutant or genetically engineered influenza which has wiped out most of the human race. According to the producers, the series is not a remake of the original BBC television series Survivors (1975–1977), created by Terry Nation, but is loosely based on the novel by the same name that Terry Nation wrote after the first series. Two series have so far been produced of the new series. Series 1 ran on BBC One and BBC HD in November-December 2008, and series 2 ran in January-February 2010, ending with a cliff-hanger. However, no confirmation of a third series has yet (10 April 2010) been announced by the BBC.

The series premiered in South Africa on BBC Entertainment in September 2009, in France on DTTV channel NRJ 12 on 12 January 2010, and on BBC America in the United States on 13 February 2010. In Australia, the series premiered on Channel Nine, March 21 2010.

Synopsis

Set in the present day, the series focuses on a group of bewildered survivors living in the aftermath of a devastating virus – referred to as "European Flu" – which kills most of the world's population. The series sees the characters struggling against terrible dangers in a world with no society, no police and no law and order led by the de facto matriarch of the group, Abby Grant.

Production

Sue Hogg, an executive producer at the BBC, had the idea of remaking Survivors following the recent increase in concerns about future pandemics and diseases such as SARS. It was decided that the show would be a re-imagining of the original material made by BBC Productions rather than an external production company. The BBC pursued the rights for Survivors from Terry Nation's estate so that the series could be revived. The agreement, which was signed in 2007, took months of negotiations. For legal reasons, the new series is billed as being based on Nation's novelisation of material from his episodes of the original series.

In remaking the series, Adrian Hodges worked to avoid criticisms of the original series and he felt it was "important that a new version had a cultural and class mix that really represented the country as it is now", and the characters of Al and Najid were created because of this. The writers claimed that the new series retained the "spirit" of the original 1970s show, however Hodges concentrated on the hope and the humanity which was said to be an attempt to make it "less depressing" to watch.

The city scenes in the first series were filmed in Manchester, while city scenes in the second series were filmed in Birmingham.

To help create a world with no people, some scenes were shot very early on a Sunday morning, including a sequence where Al Sadiq drove his car at speed around the city centre. Producer Hugh Warren said that this reduced the amount of computer-generated imagery required and allowed the budget to be spent on effects such as when the city starts to flood and fires burn. Other locations included a house near Helmshore in Lancashire which doubled as the survivors' main base, the disused Earth Centre in the village of Denaby Main near Doncaster and on the Jaguar Cars test track in Nuneaton which stood in for deserted motorways.

The series is shot using 35 mm film. Warren said that this was chosen over high-definition cameras due to the low light levels that would be experienced when filming in a world without electricity and during an autumn filming period, and over Super 16 due to high-definition transmission requirements.

The first series received a mixed critical reception, with some reviewers concerned that the series is too derivative and predictable while others were more positive. Ratings are very important for a programme broadcast on BBC One at 9 o'clock, and the producers were happy to have started well, survived the ratings lull in the middle and ended with an upward curve in the last two weeks. Audience breakdowns indicate that a higher proportion of younger viewers were tuning in than many other shows.

Cast and characters

Regular characters

• Julie Graham as Abby Grant: Abby Grant, the maternal protagonist and moral compass, is a woman who – having lost her husband David to the virus – is determined to find her missing son Peter, who she insists throughout the series has survived the pandemic. She is very concerned about Peter's well-being, as he was in remission from leukaemia and was enjoying an outdoor adventure holiday at Castle Crag Adventure Centre in the Peak District when the virus took hold. Abby has been told by Callum Brown, the last surviving instructor – and sole survivor – at Castle Crag, that Peter was one of the first boys to be taken ill and had been taken to hospital by another instructor named Phil Emerson. However, Abby failed to find Peter at the hospital and her son's present whereabouts currently remains unknown. With her inherent virtue, Abby unites the series' first group, within which she strives to maintain peace and welcome new characters – as well as looking for any lead, no matter how small, that eventually reunited her with Peter. Abby and Peter are the only characters to have survived the virus without immunity.

• Max Beesley as Tom Price: Tom Price is a toughened criminal who was serving a sentence of at least twenty years for murder in HM Prison Wandsworth when the virus struck. He and the rest of the prisoners were isolated under orders from the Prison Governor, i.e. locked in their cells, to try to prevent the virus spreading, but it was no good. Eventually, Price found himself alone with the last surviving prison officer, Gary Wilson; the other prisoners and prison officers, along with prison physician Dr. Colin Thompson (and, presumably, the briefly-mentioned but unseen Prison Governor), having all died. In spite of the fact that prison rules and regulations now no longer applied, Wilson refused to release Price who, as far as he was concerned, was still a prisoner of Her Majesty's Government. Wilson resented the fact that Price had survived the virus, and was determined to do his duty and ensure that his prisoner served the remainder of his sentence. Price escaped after killing Wilson and made his way home, only to discover that his mother had died from the virus. Fearless and strong, Price is able to kill without remorse. Largely through his relationship with Anya, becomes quite loyal to the group. He is not a conventional team player as he is always willing to fight to ensure his comfortable place within it. Throughout the series, it has been hinted that he may have had a previous military background, which possibly may have had direct or indirect connections to his incarceration. Just before Landry's plane took off for civilization, Tom (still recovering from numerous bullet wounds) stowed in a crate in the cargo hold, creating a cliff-hangar for series 2.

• Paterson Joseph as Greg Preston: Greg first encounters Abby on the motorway. His original wish is to be self-sufficient and alone, but as Abby convinces the other survivors to come together he decides to remain within the group. Greg is shown to be more prepared than most to survive in this post-virus world, having immediately assembled a range of necessities from an army and navy surplus store. The idea of a relationship between Abby and Greg is hinted at in the first series, with moments in which he seems to have feelings towards her.

• Zoe Tapper as Dr. Anya Raczynski: Anya was a doctor in a busy city hospital when the virus struck, and watched hundreds of patients die of the virus, including her friend Jenny Walsh. After helping a severely wounded Tom, she joins the group. In an internal struggle to rationalise why she has survived, she rejects her medical profession. She discloses that she blames herself for having been too inexperienced to save any of her patients, particularly Patricia, her former lover. With the encouragement of Abby, she composes herself, and goes on to successfully deliver a breech birth.

• Phillip Rhys as Al Sadiq: Al is the son of an immensely wealthy father, and had only known fancy hotels and a work less and materialist lifestyle. He had spent the night with Simone, a girl he had met at a nightclub, and got a terrible shock when he discovered the next morning that she had died from the virus. Al was unprepared for life without modern technology, but after finding Najid alone in the city, Al took him along, soon developing a paternal relationship with him.

• Chahak Patel as Najid Hanif: Najid is an 11-year old boy and a devout Muslim, who is shown to be praying at the time when the virus eradicates the remainder of the world. He awakes in the mosque to find the entire congregation, including his parents and the rest of his family, dead. Najid runs away, and meets Al. After establishing that Al is not a paedophile, Najid accompanies him as the pair joins the group. Najid's father had told his son that if he should find himself alone, he should tell the authorities that he has cousins in Blackburn, but as there are no longer any authorities, Najid does not known his cousins' address and there is no guarantee that they are still alive, he is set to remain with the group for the foreseeable future. Shown to be a friendly and considerate boy, Najid is adopted into the group with the most ease, and makes close bonds especially with Abby, Al and Anya.

• Nikki Amuka-Bird as The Right Honourable Samantha Willis MP: Samantha served as the main antagonist of the first series. Samantha becomes the only Government minister left after the virus. Beforehand, she had been the Junior Minister responsible for the government's media response to the virus. Having initially believed she was dealing with a routine matter, she was horrified to learn that the virus was incurable and would wipe out over 99% of the world's population. The Prime Minister, her other colleagues and her family have all died from the virus. She moves into a small ecopolis, which is a completely self-sufficient facility where she establishes a Provisional Government. Her aims are to restore order and absolute moral and legal law, despite the vulgarity and brutishness of the duties she assumes, including executing a woman put on trial and found guilty of having invaded the complex looking for supplies. Later she forms an uneasy alliance with Dexter, a violent gang leader who had been threatening her community. Series writer Adrian Hodges has stated that Samantha was partially inspired by the historical figure of Oliver Cromwell. Similarly to Cromwell, Samantha becomes an increasingly dictatorial figure having become impatient with the democratic ideals that she initially espouses. It is currently unknown if she survived the later strain of virus which featured towards the end of the second series.

• Jack Richardson as Peter Grant: Abby's young son. Its unknown what happened to him during the first series but during the second we see him with a group of children his age who were captures by Billy and set free by Tom, Billy found him again and took him to Dr. Whitaker who used him to find a cure for the virus(he inherited his mother's ability to fight off the infection). In the latest episode he has been found by the family.

Former characters

Some characters were emphasised in the BBC promotional material, but only appeared in the first episode as both succumbed to the disease:

• Freema Agyeman as Jenny Walsh : A young primary school teacher who lived with Patricia and Anya before the virus, who died shortly after discovering the true virulence of the virus. Appeared in episode 1

• Shaun Dingwall as David Grant: Abby's husband and Peter's father. When Abby contracted the virus and collapsed, David cared for her during her illness, however when she awoke she discovered that David had died. Appeared in episode 1

The following characters left during the second series:

• Robyn Addison as Sarah Bowyer: Before the virus, Sarah led a very pampered lifestyle, used to getting what she wanted. A man called Bob gave her a place to stay. Hating life there, Sarah was happy when she joined Abby's community. She began a relationship with Al. After stumbling upon an elderly couple with a new strain of the virus, she was quarantined, but was infected and died. Abby burned her body. Appeared throughout series 1 and 2.

• Anthony Flanagan as Dexter: Thug who killed looters in the first series. Later he joins Samantha and becomes one of her mercenaries after harassing her community several times. Cold and ruthless, Dexter still showed signs of resentment towards Samantha's power-hungry ideals. During a confrontation with Tom outside the woods following the latter's escape from the prison compound, he died from a broken neck in the midst of the fight. Appeared from Series 1: Episode 2 - Series 2: Episode 3

• Nicholas Gleaves as Dr. James Whitaker: Whitaker served as the main antagonist of the second series. He is a biochemist leading the research into a cure for the virus from the safety of a biologically secure research & development facility. As the research begins to require increasingly unethical practises he struggles to maintain the loyalty of his colleagues. He has hidden his wife Jill Whitaker (played by Alisa Arnah) and infant son within the facility - breaking his own rules in doing so. He answers to a shadowy figure called Mr. Landry with whom he communicates over an online video link. Later in his life until his death he was using stolen anti-virus produced from Abby's blood for himself, and had fallen out with the rest of his group. He was accidentally shot in the back by Landry's sniper during the airfield negotiations, which killed him instantly. Appeared in Series 1: Episode 1 - Series 2: Episode 6

• Emma Lowndes as Sally: Used to be in a relationship with Billy. She later runs away with the family. She stays with the community they meet in episode 5 of Series 2. Appeared in Series 2: Episodes 4 & 5

• Christopher Fulford as Henry Smithson: An old professor who was assigned the task of fuelling the future of mankind, using an old coal mine shaft near the country manor where he lives. His views are similar to ancient civilizations of Europe, which used slave labour extensively, showing no sign of sympathy towards his men, choosing to use physical abuse & shackles rather than a fair wage to encourage work. among them for a short time Tom, Greg & Kevin, but when Tom escaped, he freed the rest of the workforce. He was last seen being beaten to death by the released workers, begging for mercy, but it is still not known what happened to him thereafter. Appeared in Series 2: Episode 3 & 4

• Roger Lloyd Pack as Billy Stringer: A dodgy truck driver who kidnapped people to work as slaves in a coal mine, requesting food and lorry fuel in return. He was tied up by Tom after he escaped Mr. Smithson's mine and had his truck stolen by him. He was subsequently freed by the children he kept in the back of the truck, one of them giving his name... Peter Grant. Appeared in Series 2: Episode 3 & Episode 4. Roger Pack is the only actor to appear in the remake who also appeared in the original Survivors series. He played Wally in the Lights of London episodes in Series 2 of the original programme (1976).

• Patrick Malahide as Mr. Landry: He was part of a company which specialised in pharmaceuticals, which Whittaker was also once a part of & the pair would meet occasionally over a video link to discus further advancements. About a year after the outbreak, the family, following the details sent by a mysterious postcard found Landry & he was forced to admit that the virus was an accidental release made by his company in their attempt to find a universal cure for all known forms of flu, only to find that it had quite the opposite effect. Landry was planning to take Peter Grant to a place where civilization was already established months before, with power, heat, light, food & fresh water plumbing, but was offered the newly-created vaccine as an alternative.

Episode list

Series 1 (2008)

#	Title	Director	Writer	Original airdate	Ratings (millions)
1.01	"Episode 1" (90-minute episode)	John Alexander	Adrian Hodges	23 November 2008 (2008-11-23)	6.97
As the "European Flu" virus spreads throughout the world, governments realise the scale of the problem. After a few days of the virus spreading, people fall ill, including Abby Grant, Jenny Collins and her friend Patricia. The Government Minister in charge of the pandemic is told that at least 90% of the world's population will die but it slowly becomes apparent that the situation is a lot worse than that as the virus is extremely virulent, and completely unstoppable except to the almost infinitesimal remnants of humanity who are either naturally immune or have caught the virus and recovered. Within just a few scenes we see the main characters experience all of civilization come to a stop in the form of the electronic media going off air, the electricity shutting off, and all public services ceasing. When Al Sadiq, Greg Preston, Najid Hanif and Tom Price wake up, they find everyone around them is dead and struggle to find any other survivors. Abby wakes up from her illness, to find that her husband David did not survive and searches the country for her missing son Peter. Eventually, the characters meet and realise they are going to have to stick together to survive.
1.02	"Episode 2"	Andrew Gunn	Adrian Hodges	25 November 2008 (2008-11-25)	5.99
When the survivors go out for supplies from the local supermarket, they are confronted by armed thugs who threaten to kill them if they return. When Abby realises that a man with the thugs looks like someone who may know the location of her son, she returns to find him, but is again threatened with death. Meanwhile, Greg finds a warehouse containing a lifetime stock of food, a young woman called Sarah and her injured companion, Bob. Al and Najid go and look for supplies at some other shops in the area, where Al accidentally kills a surviving shopkeeper, before they return to the house with some chickens.
1.03	"Episode 3"	Andrew Gunn	Gaby Chiappe	2 December 2008 (2008-12-02)	5.22
Greg and Tom see a helicopter flying over and they also encounter an uninfected family who have been isolated since the onset of the virus but when the family's daughter reaches out to them, they risk infecting them. Abby encounters Samantha Willis, the last surviving government minister, who is now in charge of a fledgling community that has hot water, food, light, and power. Initially, the two women bond, but Abby is appalled when she sees the lengths that Samantha will go to, if she thinks her community is endangered. In a research lab, scientists are trying to develop a vaccine for the virus.
1.04	"Episode 4"	Iain B. MacDonald	Simon Tyrrell	9 December 2008 (2008-12-09)	5.42
Abby travels to Waterhouse, a nearby manor and into a land dispute between an aggressive group of teenage boys and Jimmy Garland, whose family owns the house, which obstructs her attempts to discover whether Peter is there or not. Tom, Al, Sarah and Najid find themselves attracted to the comfort and security within Samantha Willis' community but Al falls foul of Samantha and is ejected from it. Tom struggles to prove himself to Samantha, a task complicated by his criminal past. Meanwhile, Anya and Greg confront some unwelcome visitors and learn some useful lessons about group solidarity.
1.05	"Episode 5"	Iain B. MacDonald	Adrian Hodges	16 December 2008 (2008-12-16)	5.62
Suspicions are aroused when visionary spiritual leader John turns up mysteriously at the community's door with his ragged group of disciples. When Abby allows Linda, a pregnant woman from John's group, to stay with them until the baby is born, Anya fears that she will be forced to reveal that she is a doctor. After facing her personal demons, particularly over the death of Jenny Collins, she goes on to successfully deliver a breech birth. She becomes concerned for the group's safety after John becomes increasingly erratic. John proves to be a paranoid schizophrenic. In the research facility, the scientists there discover Abby's video message and find out she contracted the virus but still survived.
1.06	"Episode 6"	Jamie Payne	Adrian Hodges	23 December 2008 (2008-12-23)	4.65
As Samantha Willis expands the scope of her community, threatening the independence of other survivors, Abby and the others are forced to abandon their initial settlement after Tom kills one of Samantha's men. After she meets Bob again, Sarah makes a fateful decision to betray Anya to Samantha, while Najid goes missing in the city, and the others look for him. While there, he meets Darren, a feral boy, and a community of other children under the protection of Craig and June, a sinister couple of adults. Greg is shot by Dexter, and Abby is kidnapped by a squad of armed men from "the laboratory". This leaves the series in a cliffhanger situation. After these events, a young boy picks up a bag of belongings marked Peter Grant, and a horserider is shown looking for him.

Series 2 (2010)

A second series of six episodes was commissioned and began airing in January 2010. Adrian Hodges returned to oversee the project and Julie Graham, Paterson Joseph, Zoe Tapper, Philip Rhys, Robyn Addison, Chahak Patel and Max Beesley returned to their roles for the next series.

The cliffhanger is quickly resolved, while the story of the lab plays through series two, allowing more about the backstory of the virus, and the lab's direct connection with that. The production team's intention was to spend more time exploring the nitty-gritty of survival in the post-virus world, and how the various characters coped.

Filming took place in various locations around Birmingham including Baskerville House (exterior) and the former ITV Central studios (interior) standing in for a fictional hospital.

#	Title	Director	Writer	Original airdate	Ratings (millions)
2.01	"Episode 1"	Jamie Payne	Adrian Hodges	12 January 2010 (2010-01-12)	5.16m
Abby has been kidnapped. Anya tries to remove the shotgun pellets from Greg who is badly wounded but she lacks medical equipment. She leads Al and Tom to a burning hospital. Meanwhile, Abby is interviewed by Whitaker, the leader of the laboratory scientists. But when the hospital collapsed, Anya and Al are trapped. Tom goes to get help from Najid and Sarah but they can't move the rubble. Another group of survivors arrive and offer to help. Following talks with Whittaker, who says he lost all his family, Abby agrees to undergo medical experiments to help find a cure for the virus. Meanwhile Sarah goes to see a brutal gang boss who agrees to provide lifting equipment - but her refuses to allow her to leave without sexual contact. Abby is released from her confinement by a disillusioned scientist but they are both quickly recaptured by Whitaker (who is revealed to have kept his wife, Jill, and infant son alive despite telling everyone they were dead). Anya and Al are freed from the rubble. With the medical supplies, Greg is saved. But the next day Greg says he will leave if Tom stays - as he saw him kill a man in cold blood; Tom leaves the group.
2.02	"Episode 2"	Jamie Payne	Gaby Chiappe	26 January 2010 (2010-01-26)	3.61 (overnight)
With the clock ticking on how long the Family can remain in the dangerous city, Tom leads a desperate attempt to find Abby. With Abby still missing and Greg recovering from his injuries, the Family are left scavenging for survival in the city. While Naj leaves graffiti messages for Abby, Tom steals supplies from other survivors. The Family learn that more people have been abducted like Abby, and that the kidnappers bear the markings of a known pharmaceutical company. As Tom leads Al, Anya and Sarah off on this trail, Greg and Naj find themselves confronted by the group Tom stole from. In the Lab itself, Abby is re-infected by Whitaker, who will stop at nothing to find his miracle vaccine. Jill Whitaker (wife of James), desperate to know the truth about what is going on, escapes from the area of the facility she has been restricted to and discovers Abby. Abby explains to her that everyone is dead, including the government, and that she is being deliberately reinfected with the virus as part of the search for a cure. Unable to cope with the news, Jill releases Abby who goes on to escape from the building. Jill is arrested by the guards and put under quarantine. James Whitaker struggles to maintain his authority over his rebellious staff who are infuriated by the news he has hidden his family in the laboratory. He advises the sinister Mr Landry (his boss) about the loss of Abby and is ordered by him to ensure she is returned promptly.
2.03	"Episode 3"	David Evans	Simon Tyrrell	2 February 2010 (2010-02-02)	3.89 (overnight)
The Family are holed up in a cottage while Abby recovers when they meet a trader called Billy. Later at Samantha's eco-compound, Billy passes on their location and she orders her henchmen to arrest Tom, intending to put Tom on trial for killing one her people. Abby leads Greg and Anya after them, taking on the role of defence counsel herself while the others become members of the jury. As Tom's brutal past is revealed the Family are confronted with the reality of the man they have been harbouring.
2.04	"Episode 4"	David Evans	Jimmy Gardner	9 February 2010 (2010-02-09)	3.82 (overnight)
Tom and Greg are enslaved alongside Kevin and dozens of others in Mr Smithson's coal mine. Meanwhile, the Family are desperately hunting for them and follow Billy, their only lead, to a roadside motel where he is meeting his girlfriend, Sally. When questioned, Billy feigns ignorance and exits under the pretence of asking around while on his trading route, leaving the Family with Sally. In the mine, an accident leaves Kevin badly injured. Greg formulates an escape plan by convincing Smithson that he is a geologist and that he has discovered a gas leak in the mine. However, the Family are converging on Smithson's with their own rescue plans, leading to a dangerous game of cat and mouse. At the end there's an appearance from Peter.
2.05	"Episode 5"	Farren Blackburn	Simon Tyrrell	16 February 2010 (2010-02-16)	TBA
Reunited and on the road, the Family travel south on the lookout for a new home. They encounter a small but thriving community of survivors and, after some initial trepidation, decide to take up their offer of hospitality, but Sarah discovers a father and daughter dying of a new mutant strain of the virus and eventually catches it herself. Al and Sarah enjoy their new romance, Tom simmers as Anya makes friends with the new community's leader, Judy. But Tom's anger is short-lived when his relationship with Anya takes a dramatic twist. Greg and Abby leave together to follow up Greg's suspicions about a mysterious postcard, which lead him to an abandoned airfield.
2.06	"Episode 6"	Farren Blackburn	Adrian Hodges	23 February 2010 (2010-02-23)	TBA
In mourning over the loss of one of their own, and with a new strain of the virus set to take hold, the Family find themselves battling on all fronts. They convene in the ruined Lab, discovering that Fiona was the only one to survive the outbreak of the mutated virus. With a new strain of the virus loose, Fiona and Anya work to find a vaccine that is more important than ever. But Abby's only concern is to find her son, Peter, previously glimpsed briefly outside the Lab. Al, believing that he has nothing left to lose, volunteers himself to test the vaccine. Meanwhile, Whitaker, surviving off the serum culled from Abby's blood, continues to hamper the Family's plans with lies and deceptions. He is eventually captured and held hostage in one of the test rooms within the ruined lab. Abby urges Tom to get him to tell her where Peter is at whatever the cost but to no avail. Fiona helps Whitacker escape as long as he takes her with him but as the two make their way to the caravan site where Peter is hiding, Peter inadvertantly shoots and kills Fiona with the gun Whitacker gave him for protection. Whitacker takes Peter and attempts to flee but is stopped in his tracks by Tom who tries to urge Peter to come with him by telling him his mother is looking for him. However the entire situation is too much for Peter to bear and he pulls the trigger on the gun a second time causing a nearly fatal consequence. Whitacker flees with Peter once again with the group hot on their tail -- leading them to the abandoned airbase for a final showdown with the mysterious Landry. Peter is about to be taken on the plane with Landry and, once Whittaker is dead and Landry leaves. Abby and Peter are reunited. While the family begin the search for Tom, he manages to sneak onto Landry's plane for the closing shot. Will the family ever find Tom?

Media

Cover of re-released edition of Survivors novel

To tie in with the broadcast of the series Terry Nation's original 1976 novelisation was released as a new edition by Orion Books. The 2008 series is credited as being based on this novel.

Screenshot of BBC Survivors Interactive web site.

A web site was launched to tie in with the series, entitled "Survivors Interactive", which included interviews with actors, clips from the programme and original character pieces-to-camera. The interactive component was based on visitors selecting characters from the show and then answering either/or dilemma-based questions, which are then profiled by what type of survivor they would make as they travel through the post-plague environment.

The first series was released by 2 Entertain Video on DVD on 26 January 2009, and includes special features such as an Easter Egg, A New World - The Making of Survivors documentary, character profiles and a Survivors Special Effects featurette.

A new book entitled "Worlds Apart: an unofficial and unauthorised guide to the BBC's remake of Survivors" written by Rich Cross is due to be published by Classic TV Press in March 2010, shortly after transmission of the second series completes. The book incorporates: in depth synopses and reviews for all the episodes from Series 1 and 2; insights into the making of the series; examination of the similarities and differences between the new series and the original; a photographic guide to filming locations and exclusive production shots.

Differences from the source material

In the credits, the re-imagined series is said to be based on the 1976 novel by Terry Nation; however, there are a number of differences between the series and its source material. In the novel, Jenny Richards survives, whereas her counterpart in the 2008 series, Jenny Walsh, does not; this means that Greg Preston and Jenny cannot have a child as the years unfold. Abby Grant still falls in love with Jimmy Garland; however in the book, he eventually dies from septicaemia. There are no direct counterparts to Anya Raczynski, Najid Hanif and Al Sadiq in the book. Samantha Willis does not appear in the book. However, her characterisation incorporates and parallels some of the personality and leadership ambitions of Arthur Wormley, a "ruthless former trade union leader," who establishes a paramilitary organisation called the National Unity Force which is responsible for Abby's community's eventual decision to leave Britain for the Mediterranean in the latter chapters of the novelisation.

At the end of the book, Peter Grant, who has joined a nomadic gang of feral adolescents, accidentally shoots and kills Abby, whom he has not seen for the last four years. However, at the end of the current incarnation of Survivors Series 2, Abby is finally reunited with Peter, without her accidental death.

Sarah Bowyer is probably the closest character to her original portrayal in the original novelisation. Her original companion was named Vic, not Bob and in the original series, she was named Anne Tranter. Vic starved to death in the novelisation. In the remake, like his counterpart Vic in the first series of the original series, Bob survives his initial abandonment.

In the original series, Anne (Sarah in the remake) leaves during Episode 11 but in the remake she dies from a mutated version of the virus.

External links

• Survivors at BBC Online

• Survivors at IMDb

• Template:Tv.com

• Survivors at TheTVDB

• Study: Themes of Survivors