Monstrous
MonsterVision => Monstrous TV => Topic started by: Devious Viper on December 24, 2010, 08:09:20 AM
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Did anybody else watch the BBC re-make of Survivors?
Set in the present day, the series focuses on a group of regular people who survive the aftermath of a devastating viral pandemic – 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. (from wikipedia)
I think they pulled it off very well - while the plot was obviously underpinned by the virus, it concentrated mainly on the characters and how they responded to the situation, and changed as time progressed. The main feature was redemption, strangely enough. Tom, for example, was a convicted murderer and a very nasty piece of work. The sort of person that, in normal society, we would feel very glad to have safely shut away behind bars. But it was this propensity for violence, and the ease with which he could, when required, beat the living snot out of others without a second thought, that saved the rest of the group (normal, socially conditioned "civilians") on several occasions. Moreover, his "ruthless" character was shown to be deeper when one of the group was dying from internal bleeding. While the rest of the group didn't know what to do to alleviate his agony, and were torn apart by his screams and pleas for release, it was Tom who carried him into a poppy field out of sight of the rest of the group and killed him quickly to release him.
Tom was also madly in love with Anya and his idolising of her was often painful to observe, given that we knew the kind of person he was before, and could, if he had wanted to, have... satisfied his urges towards her any time he felt like it. He didn't, however, until near the end of season 2, when Anya eventually came to him. And frankly, by then, he deserved it /wink
In the clip below, again near the end of season 2, the group have come across another community of survivors. However, by this time the original virus has mutated, and those that it didn't kill first time around are beginning to fall ill. Sarah, who had a bad reputation earlier in the series, found her redemption when she nursed the dying, exposing herself to the new virus strain in the process. Her friends, and her lover Al, keep a vigil outside the house where she and the others are quarantined for several days. This clip is a bit s**tty in that it cuts a section midway through when Al -12th night willow cabin style - holds a nightly vigil outside the cottage until the morning that Sarah doesn't appear, and Abby (who is immune to strain 2 also) goes in to check...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8yh6mFmrel4 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8yh6mFmrel4)
We have to have a bit of Tom, because he earned his redemption the hard way. At the end of the story, when the group encounter the scientists who first created the virus, he sacrifices himself to infect the motherlovin boffins and give them, in the words of The Mission, a taste of G-d's own medicine..."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BO7vPSrrg5M (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BO7vPSrrg5M)
Edit:fix alcohol-induced typos (hey, its bloody Boozemas, dontchaknow!)
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I have so far, not seen the original
I did seen this remake and I liked it, I liked the cast and characters in the show, thumbs up IMO on this one
Glad I have BBCA so I can see a lot of these shows, we are actually going to get and see the Dr Who Christmas episode on Christmas day :-D
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Good news for you then about season 6 - episodes will be aired on BBCA on the same day (albeit probably 6 hours later) as they premiere in the UK.