New 'Survivors' series from the BBC

[Neil]

The cast include (in alphabetical order): Freema Agyeman (Doctor Who; Torchwood) as Jenny Nikki Amuka–Bird (No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency; Five Days) as Samantha Willis Max Beesley (Hotel Babylon) as Tom Price Shaun Dingwall (Doctor Who) as David Julie Graham (William And Mary; Bonekickers) as Abby Grant Paterson Joseph (Jekyll; The Beach; Peep Show) as Greg Phillip Rhys (24; Nip Tuck; Flatland) as Al Zoe Tapper (Twenty Thousand Streets Under The Sky; The Last Van Helsing) as Anya Chahak Patel as 11-year-old Najid. Bit concerned about the casting... All looks rather PC with characters being made multi-racial etc... Wonder which character is the handicapped lesbian?

[Mike70]

i love the original but i don't know about this one. the cast list, like you said, is a bit suspect. though i suppose a virus could conceivably kill everyone else, leaving only survivors with a perfectly balanced racial makeup (so as not to offend or leave out anyone) behind.

[Skippy911sc]

I will wait for the US to copy and re-issue it on American Airwaves.

[Mike70]

I will wait for the US to copy and re-issue it on American Airwaves. with an even more PC, multi-cultural cast no doubt.

[Skippy911sc]

with an even more PC, multi-cultural cast no doubt. I don't understand your meaning...what you consider more-PC, multi-cultural cast is just what ever town in America is like.

[AcesandEights]

Bit concerned about the casting... All looks rather PC with characters being made multi-racial etc... Wonder which character is the handicapped lesbian? That is an interesting sort of backlash attitude I see exhibited among a lot of Brits lately. Of course, I see it in the States to a degree, but don't seem to hear the same degree of rumbling about it, as I do from Brits.

[Neil]

i love the original but i don't know about this one. the cast list, like you said, is a bit suspect. though i suppose a virus could conceivably kill everyone else, leaving only survivors with a perfectly balanced racial makeup (so as not to offend or leave out anyone) behind. I've never really watched the original series... Should I? Has it dated OK?

[Mike70]

I've never really watched the original series... Should I? Has it dated OK? yes! it is outstanding and i think it has dated pretty well. I don't understand your meaning...what you consider more-PC, multi-cultural cast is just what ever town in America is like. like the township that i grew up that was 98% white? that's what i mean. not every town or every place has a balanced racial makeup

[Neil]

yes! it is outstanding and i think it has dated pretty well. OK... I'll give it a go... The new Survivors appears on this BBC advert - http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pre...01/drama.shtml More cast info:- Here are the BBC details about the new cast and characters from the press-release: Abby Grant (Julie Graham) Abby is a mother and home-maker to her son Peter (11) and husband David (Shaun Dingwall). Before the virus struck Peter had successfully defied a near-terminal illness. Peter is now better and Abby has reluctantly agreed to let him go on an adventure holiday. Abby plans to resume her career and re-ignite her faltering relationship with her loving but exhausted husband. But fate has other plans in store for them... Al Sadiq (Phillip Rhys) A rich, good-looking playboy, Al has lived a life of privilege. In the aftermath of the virus he finds himself responsible for Najid. Al has never seen himself as the paternal type and he initially proves to be a disaster as a father figure; he would rather find a softer life for himself in the post-disaster world. But strangely this frightening new environment ultimately makes him a better man than he would ever have been if he had continued his old life. Dr Anya Raczynski (Zoë Tapper) Anya is a young doctor who does her best to save as many people as she can when the virus that wipes out most of humanity hits. But there is no cure and no vaccine and all her skill ultimately proves fruitless. While she struggles with the enormity of it, she is forced to stand by helplessly as her former girlfriend Patricia is among those brought to the hospital in the grip of the illness... David Grant (Shaun Dingwall) David is a self-employed builder, a loving family man who is competent, brave and determined. Although they have been worn down by the illness of their beloved son Peter, Abby and David's marriage is a solid and loving one. But nothing in David's life has prepared him for the crisis which is about to sweep away everything he ever knew and loved... Greg Preston (Paterson Joseph) A former systems analyst for a big multi-national, Greg felt trapped and dreamed of a new life. But his wife, who had grown used to a wealthy and comfortable lifestyle, was appalled by his utopian vision of a new, hard scrabble future. Nursing bitter personal wounds, Greg is now a man who believes he can live without love, friendship or family… Jenny Collins (Freema Agyeman) Jenny is a bright and lively young teacher in a primary school. Overwhelmed by the chaos she sees all around her, she is determined to save the life of her dying flatmate Patricia. Nothing will stop her taking her friend to the hospital and saving her life. But fate intervenes to confront Jenny with choices beyond anything she could have imagined. Najid (Chahak Patel) Eleven-year-old Najid is a lively little boy with all the normal interests of kids of his age – football, his gameboy, school. He is also a devout Muslim. On the night of the crisis he and his family go to the local Mosque but in the morning Najid is forced to grow up very fast when the virus causes a violent change in his circumstances and his life is transformed in ways he could never have anticipated. His relationship with Al is at times funny, at times poignant; but in the end Al and Najid need each other, no matter how much they try to deny it. Samantha Willis (Nikki Amuka–Bird) Samantha is a junior minister delegated to handle the press in the midst of the crisis. Dealing as best she can with an anxious media and her own stunned colleagues, Samantha at first has no idea how serious the crisis is becoming. Forced to put aside her love and concern for her own family, Samantha becomes the last contact between the government and the people it can no longer protect. Her journey from innocence to a full

[Mike70]

Samantha Willis (Nikki Amuka–Bird) Samantha is a junior minister delegated to handle the press in the midst of the crisis. Dealing as best she can with an anxious media and her own stunned colleagues, Samantha at first has no idea how serious the crisis is becoming. Forced to put aside her love and concern for her own family, Samantha becomes the last contact between the government and the people it can no longer protect. Her journey from innocence to a full ok. i get all the other characters and how most relate to the original but this character seems to be a new idea. the folks playing abby and jenny have some huge shoes to fill. the role of abby in the original was pretty ground breaking at that time. i don't think its impact will be the same today. i am also interested to see what kind of mortality figure they go for in the new one. in the original i think one of the survivors calculated that there were probably less than 10,000 people left in the entire UK. what was the pop. of the UK in 1975? 40-45 million or so?

[Danny]

im guessing were gonna have another jericho on our hands here.

[Legion2213]

I've never really watched the original series... Should I? Has it dated OK? Well, it was first aired in the mid 70's so it is dated a bit, but it is still one of the most realistic PA series of all times IMO, I paid around £60 for all three series, money well spent as far as I am concerned, the focus is on the survivors and how they decide to rebuild society (some for a total rebuild of what was lost, others want to go back to more primitive ways) and the problems they face with no power, fuel, food etc. The new BBC production will spend as much time as possible driving home the PC agenda at the cost of a good story (I will bet my bottom dollar on it).

[Neil]

The new BBC production will spend as much time as possible driving home the PC agenda at the cost of a good story (I will bet my bottom dollar on it). That's my concern too! An interview with one of the actresses suggested they've tried to make it not as bleak as the original... Oh dear! That's the whole idea of it

[Mike70]

An interview with one of the actresses suggested they've tried to make it not as bleak as the original... Oh dear! That's the whole idea of it indeed, the bleakness was the point. the human population has been reduced to about 1% (or less) of its pre-plauge level, there are masses of unburied corpses, people like khardis roaming the countryside acting the fool, old diseases no one has immunity to anymore popping up and the struggle to find food. the food thing was interestingly handled in the original: (neil since you haven't seen the original, i'll put this in spoiler tags in case you don't want to know.)   you'd think that since most everyone had died, there'd be plenty of stuff just lying around. in the original they took the tack that there were so many dead bodies around that it became increasingly dangerous to go near any sort of population center because of the danger of disease they posed. there is even an episode where one of the members goes into birmingham (legion correct me if i'm not remembering the city right) and ends up dying because of a disease he caught due to all the rotting bodies.

[Neil]

indeed, the bleakness was the point. the human population has been reduced to about 1% (or less) of its pre-plauge level, there are masses of unburied corpses, people like khardis roaming the countryside acting the fool, old diseases no one has immunity to anymore popping up and the struggle to find food. the food thing was interestingly handled in the original: (neil since you haven't seen the original, i'll put this in spoiler tags in case you don't want to know.)   you'd think that since most everyone had died, there'd be plenty of stuff just lying around. in the original they took the tack that there were so many dead bodies around that it became increasingly dangerous to go near any sort of population center because of the danger of disease they posed. there is even an episode where one of the members goes into birmingham (legion correct me if i'm not remembering the city right) and ends up dying because of a disease he caught due to all the rotting bodies. I watched the first episode last night... I'll try and watch a few a week My GF watched the last half of it and seemed to enjoy it so maybe she'll join me for the ride