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The Day of the Triffids (1981)
Country of
Origin: UK
Date(s) of Broadcast: 10 September 1981
- 15 October 1981
Number of Seasons: 1
Total Number of Episodes: 6
Average Episode Running Times: 25 mins
Format: colour
Sound:
CREDITS
PRODUCTION
Production Companies: Australian Broadcasting Corporation
/ BBC / RCTV Inc
Producer: David Maloney
Production Managers: Margot Hayhoe, Richard Cox
SCRIPT
Adapted By: Douglas Livingstone
Novel: John Wyndham
Script Editor: Zanna Beswick
DIRECTION
Director: Ken Hannam
PHOTOGRAPHY
Studio Lighting: Brian Clemett
Senior Studio Cameraman: Ken Major
Film Cameraman: Peter Hall
Chief Electrician: Alan Muhley
EDITING AND POST-PRODUCTION
Film Editor: Dick Allen
Videotape Editor: Stan Pow
Vision Mixer: Bill Morton
MUSIC
Music / Conductor: Christopher Gunning
SOUND
Film Sound: Graham Hare
Studio Sound: Norman Bennett
Dubbing Mixer: Ron Edmonds
COSTUMES AND MAKE-UP
Make Up: Ann Ailes
Costume Designer: Rita Reekie
SPECIAL EFFECTS
Visual Effects: Steve Drewett
DESIGN AND SET
CONSTRUCTION
Production Designer: Victor Meredith
Properties Buyer: Peter Walpole
Graphic Designer: Douglas Burd
MISCELLANEOUS
Assistant Floor Manager: Corinne Hollingworth
Production Associate: Sheelagh Rees
Production Assistant: Sue Upton
Technical Manager: Peter Valentine
LOCATIONS
Locations: Ealing Studios, London, UK
CAST
Episode One: 10
September 1981
John Duttine (Bill Masen)
Jonathan Newth (Dr Soames)
Ian Halliburton (Grant)
Steven Jonas (young Bill)
Edmund Pegge (Walter)
Robert Robertson (Palanguez)
Keith Alexander (newsreel voice)
Cleo Sylvestre (nurse)
Morgan Sheppard (Bill's father)
Episode Two: 17
September 1981
John Duttine (Bill Masen)
Jonathan Newth (Dr Soames)
Stephen Yardley (John)
Emma Relph (Jo Payton)
Chris Gannon (patient)
Bonita Beach (blind woman)
Alan Helm (blind man)
Max Faulkner (Jo's attacker)
Caroline Fabbri (Tina)
Christina Schofield (Shirley)
Albie Woodington (gang leader)
Andrew Paul, Mario Renzullo (gang members)
Susie Fenwick (blind girl)
Lindsey Moore (singer - uncredited)
Elizabeth Chambers, Morris Barry, Bernie Searle (car
attackers)
Episode Three:
24 September 1981
John Duttine (Bill Masen)
Emma Relph (Jo Payton)
Maurice Colbourne (Jack Coker)
David Swift (Beadley)
Desmond Cullum-Jones (Tom)
Beryl Nesbitt (Tom's wife)
Donald Pelmear (university gateman)
Andrea Miller (Dr Vorless)
Elizabeth Chambers, Morris Barry, Bernie Searle (car
attackers)
Denis De Marne (Major Anderson)
Episode Four: 1
October 1981
John Duttine (Bill Masen)
Maurice Colbourne (Jack Coker)
John Hollis (Alf)
John Benfield (Ted)
Eva Griffiths (teenage girl)
Jean Perkins (hotel manageress)
Jon Rumney (manager)
Terry Andrews (Frank - uncredited)
Gary Olsen (red-haired man)
Sally Lahee (woman in street)
Gordon Case (dying man)
Episode Five: 8
October 1981
John Duttine (Bill Masen)
Perlita Nielsen (Miss Durrant)
Christopher Owen (vicar)
Emma Relph (Jo Payton)
Jenny Lipman (Mary Brent)
Emily Dean (Susan)
Desmond Adams (Dennis Brent)
Maurice Colbourne (Jack Coker)
Season Six: 15
October 1981
John Duttine (Bill Masen)
Emma Relph (Jo Payton)
Lorna Charles (Susan)
Denis Gilmore (David)
Claire Ballard (Alice)
Jenny Lipman (Mary Brent)
Desmond Adams (Dennis Brent)
Gary Olsen (Torrence)
PLOT SUMMARY
Following the Earth's
close encounter with a comet and its accompanying meteor
showers, much of the population of the planet has been
struck blind by the spectacular light show. One of those
who were lucky enough to survive with eyesight intact,
Bill Mason in London, struggles to survive with a small
band of other survivors against an aggressive,
carnivorous form of plant life, the Triffids, that are
preying on the blind humans around them.
CAPSULE REVIEW
A cracking adaptation of
the John Wyndham novel that stands head and shoulders
above the rather tatty film version. Strong performances,
a palpable atmosphere of doom and menace and some
surprisingly effective Triffid models combine to make
this one of the best of the BBC science fiction dramas.
AVAILABILITY
UK
Television Distributor: BBC
TIMELINE
1981
September
10: UK - Episode 1 television broadcast (on BBC1)
17: UK - Episode 2 television broadcast (on BBC1)
24: UK - Episode 3 television broadcast (on BBC1)
October
1: UK - Episode 4 television broadcast (on BBC1)
8: UK - Episode 5 television broadcast (on BBC1)
15: UK - Episode 6 television broadcast (on BBC1)
LINKS
SEE ALSO
The Day of the
Triffids (1962)
REFERENCES
MAGAZINES
Broadcast no.1135 (23
November 1981) p.13
review (Off Air by W. Stephen Gilbert)
Dreamwatch 26 pp.40-41
illustrated article
Radio Times vol.232
no.3017 (5 September 1981) pp.76-78
illustrated article
Starburst no.37 - vol.4
no.1 (1981) pp.12-13
article (by John Fleming)
Starburst no.39 - vol.4
no.3 (1981) pp.28-31, 34-35; 32-33
illustrated article (The Making of BBC's Day of the
Triffids by John Baxter); interview with Steve Drewett
(by John Fleming)
Starburst no.274 (June
2001) pp.50-54
illustrated article (Return of the Triffids by David
Miller)
Television Today 23 July
1981 p.18
note (New BBC drama series for this year and next)
Time Screen no.7
(revised) (Summer 1993 pp.35-38
illustrated article (The Sting by Anthony McKay), episode
guide, credits
BOOKS
Hoffman's Guide to SF, Horror and
Fantasy Movies 1991 - 1992 p.92
credits, review
The Encyclopedia of Science
Fiction Television (3rd edition) pp.109-110
credits KEYWORDS
plants; blindness; mutations; meteors; comets; london; book into
film; disasters
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