http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressrele...survivors.shtml

I've been wanting to see the original for some time but it's only available on DVD in R2 [and a bit pricey]. Maybe the remake will prompt an R1 release of the 70s version.

I love the original, but am curious to see the update. Unfortunately, a new version probably means that an Americanized doppelganger isn't too far behind.

Yikes.

After seeing a couple of episodes of the chowderheaded Jericho, I don't have much faith in the domestic television writers getting down with the vérité on something like that.

Survivors is my favourite BBC show so my curiosity is peaked. As much as I love it, the fact that there was almost a rotating cast and that there were a few weak scripts in the latter stages means it's not quite as untouchable as many of my favourite films are. I'm interested to see where they go with it - it's certainly a show that could be pretty powerful in today's climate.

I'm equally pleased that Dr Who's RTD hasn't got anything to do with it since his name was originally mentioned, but I can't say I'm familiar with any of this other chap's work so time will tell. At least if it's rubbish we finally have the originals on DVD.

Survivors was one of my childhood favourites, but even then I realised something had gone horribly wrong at the end of the first series, when the nominal heroine left. It turns out this was also the point that Terry Nation went off to do Blakes Seven, turning the second series into a pale imitation of itself, and the third series (after the hero left) into Emmerdale Farm. It also had a very strange and limited view of what constituted a random cross-section of UK society, even in those days. Unless RADA members got automatic immunity.

Still, many people can remember the opening title sequence after all these years so I think there's a big audience waiting here. And I still get a kick out of seeing Carolyn Seymour turning up in unlikely places, not to mention Ian McCulloch going straight from Survivors to fighting zombies for Fulci.

There was a show on BBC4 last year about the making of the original series, which is well worth looking out for.

Ah yes, the hallmark of so many BBC dramas of yesteryear - if someone's got a strong regional accent, they're probably a bad guy.

Agreed, agreed and agreed!

Anyone interested in the original SURVIVORS really ought to pick up Rich Cross and Andy Priestner's exhaustive book on the making of the show, The End of the World?: The Unofficial and Unauthorised Guide to "Survivors" , available from Amazon.co.uk here:

Amazon.co.uk listing

Actually, Series 3 of the original series always hits me hard when I revisit it - the world has become a horrifyingly bleak and grim place after the rather too-cosy Series 2, and a perpetual winter seems to have fallen across the country. The rabies episode "Mad Dog" is superb, chilling in every sense - you can almost feel the cold of the Derbyshire moors seeping into your bones as Denis Lill's lone protagonist flees across the stark landscape from ruthless pursuers who believe he is infected with the disease. True, there are a few dreadfully lame episodes chucked in too (the opener probably being the worst, unfortunately), and characterisation is all over the place...but Ian McCulloch's final appearance contains some of the most heart-stopping drama I've ever seen.

If they can resist the urge to cast pretty-boys-and-girls to the exclusion of all others, this revamp could be quite promising: at least, it can't be as bad as the BBC's abominable remake of THE QUATERMASS EXPERIMENT.

Anyone hear the rumor about a BBC version of The Office? I just can't see it working over there...