Posted on Tuesday 23 February 2010

UK airdate 23 February 2010 (BBC One)

WARNING: CONTAINS SPOILERS IF YOU HAVEN’T SEEN THIS EPISODE!

The search for Peter reveals the answer to many questions about the outbreak...

And so Survivors comes to the end of its second season, and possibly of its resurrected life. If that's the case, then Adrian Hodges has provided a great deal of closure, with resolution given to a lot of the plotlines that have been present in the show right from the start.

The consequences of Sarah's death are rammed home, leading to some strong scenes between Phillip Rhys's Al and Chahak Patel as Najjid as well as between Zoe Tapper and Max Beesley.

During an extended hide and seek sequence there's a sly acknowledgement of Terry Nation's original ending to his novel, in which Peter Grant accidentally shoots his mother, but otherwise this episode, more than any other, shows just how far removed from the source material the 21st Century incarnation of the show is.

It's an action-driven episode, with a well-edited race against time that brings all the major players together for a final confrontation that means a third series has a largely clean slate on which to draw.

Overall, this second year has been stronger than the first, with the concentration on the central characters paying off. Let's hope we see those who survive this conclusion return.

Paul Simpson

VERDICT: 7/10

Original article here.

Posted on Tuesday 16 February 2010

UK airdate 16 February 2010 (BBC One)

WARNING: CONTAINS SPOILERS IF YOU HAVEN’T SEEN THIS EPISODE!

An idyllic break in the country proves lethal…

In all the interviews given for this season of Survivors, cast and producers have warned that nobody is safe – and this week, one of the Family falls victim to a mutated version of the virus.

It all starts off so well too, with almost a pastiche of the Terry Nation version of the series: our heroes help out members of an agrarian community who welcome them to stay. There’s a spark between Anya and one of the leaders, which antagonises Tom, while Sarah, eager to help, volunteers to find out why the community have not heard from one of their families.

At which point Sarah’s story comes full circle. When we met her, she turned her back on an ill man, pretending that he’d died. Yet here, knowing the cost she’s probably going to have to pay, she stays and tends a dying family. The scenes between her and Al build on developments throughout this season as she faces death bravely, and there are consequences for relationships beyond the two of them.

With a secondary plot that sees Greg and Abby learning about people who escaped the virus, this is another strong episode, setting up some much-needed confrontations for the finale.

Paul Simpson

VERDICT: 7/10

Original article here.

Posted on Tuesday 09 February 2010

UK airdate 9 February 2010 (BBC One)

WARNING: Contains spoilers if you haven’t seen this episode!

The Family have to mount a rescue to get Tom and Greg away from the slave conditions down the mine...

The ramifications of Tom Price's trial and Samantha's subsequent betrayal of him continue to affect this episode, in which you're never quite sure how certain characters are going to react.

Tom's lack of faith in human nature is sorely tested, both by Greg's attempted rescue from Samantha's commune at the end of the previous episode, and then by everyone coming to try to save him. By the end there's far more acceptance by the Family of each other's weaknesses to the extent that the others seem to condone Tom taking another life.

There's a rare opportunity for a discussion about the ethics of survival, with the pragmatic Henry Smithson taking a hard line with the more idealistic Anya and Abby – a neat reversal, since Smithson is a former lecturer. There's also an object lesson in the brutality of survival, when the tables are turned on Smithson and assistants at the end of the episode.

Finally, after the brief cameo at the end of the first season, we get confirmation that Peter Grant is still alive, with some dramatic irony that it's Tom who unwittingly sets him free. Hopefully that plotline will be resolved in a slightly different way from the source novel (in which Peter kills his mother)!

Paul Simpson

VERDICT: 7/10

Original article here.

Posted on Tuesday 02 February 2010

UK airdate 2 February 2010 (BBC One)

Tom is put on trial for murder...

Returning to the community set up by Nikki Amulka-Bird's junior minister Samantha, this week's episode deals with the numerous consequences of actions taken during the first year. Newcomers don't need to steer clear though – there's a short but highly effective "Previously on" sequence at the start of the episode, while the dialogue adds the nuances.

The script relies on a number of scenes where the viewer needs to be able to work out the characters' inner thoughts, and neither Amulka-Bird nor Max Beesley as Tom Price disappoints. It also contains one of the most brutal fights the show has broadcast, with none of the stylized violence of a Hollywood movie, just raw kill-or-be-killed.

The episode marks a turning point for a number of the characters as they have to decide which side of the fence they're on, and there's a definite sense that the "Family" is beginning to gel despite their many differences. That's helped by a couple of comic relief scenes deriving from the burgeoning romance between Al and Sarah that prevent the episode from being totally overwhelmed by darkness.

With a controlled turn from guest star Roger Lloyd-Pack, this is probably the best episode of the series to date.

Paul Simpson

VERDICT: 8/10

Original article here.

Posted on Tuesday 26 January 2010

UK airdate 26 January 2010 (BBC One)

The search for Abby is complicated by Tom's actions while Whitaker's wife becomes suspicious...

Whereas a number of the stories told in the first series of the show were loosely adapted from the 1970s incarnation of Survivors, this episode is very much a product of the new characters and situations created by Adrian Hodges.

Of necessity, there's a certain amount of movement of characters around the chessboard to get them where they need to be for the rest of the series (it's a given that Abby will find the rest of the Family, for instance) but along the way there are some interesting twists.

There seems to have been a bit of rethinking of the Lab and its purpose between seasons. Whereas the first series gave the distinct impression that the technicians were studying the plague, now they do seem to be looking for a cure – no matter what it takes. Nicholas Gleaves adds further dimension to Whitaker, the driven lab scientist, with Alisa Arnah adding a necessary note of sanity as his wife Jill.

There's an underplayed subplot between Najjid and a young girl he meets, which would be good to revisit should the show get a further year, which is counterpointed by a strong, almost whispered scene between Al and Sarah.

A few missed directorial opportunities marks this down, but it's still a good solid episode.

Paul Simpson

VERDICT: 6/10

Original article here.

Posted on Tuesday 12 January 2010

UK airdate 12 January 2010 (BBC One)

As Abby is taken away for experimentation, Anya and the other Survivors fight to save Greg's life...

It's been over a year since we last saw the Survivors, but in screen time, the new season picks up from the end of episode six (although without the pastoral epilogue featuring Abby's son Peter). Keeping the same director for both instalments was a wise move, with Jamie Payne maintaining the tension of the finale.

Although there are some great set pieces, including the destruction of a hospital that mixes practical and CG effects seamlessly, this is very much a character piece, filling in the blanks regarding Greg and showing that the hard edge we saw occasionally last season wasn't an illusion. Al and Anya also get an opportunity for some soul-searching, with some seeds planted for their development across the season.

Two underwritten characters from last year make more of an impact, with Robyn Addison's Sarah seeking some form of redemption for betraying the group, and finding the reality of what she blithely volunteers for much harder than she expected. There's also some much needed development for Nicholas Greaves as James Whitaker, the amoral scientist at the centre of the lab subplot. Both these strands feature unpleasant actions, indicating the darker tone that this season of Survivors has adopted.

With new levels to the story of the virus revealed (with a less than subtle pan in the final moments of the episode across Whitaker's desk), the story of the Survivors clearly has a long way to go.

Paul Simpson

VERDICT 7/10

Original article here.