Andrew Smith (Writer)
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Updated: December 23 2020 09:43
What can listeners look forward to? Characters you will love, one or two you may hate, all of whom you will be able to identify with
INTERVIEW series one
How familiar were you with Survivors when you received the commission?
Very - particularly the first series. I watched that series on transmission and I think I must have watched subsequent series, although I remember them less well. It says a lot for the series that the lead characters stick out in my memory as much as, if not more than, the situations that they found themselves in. They were believable - brave, resilient, but fallible. I remember Survivors very fondly for the gripping drama that it was, and when I received the email from Big Finish producer David Richardson asking if I would like to be a part of this I jumped at the chance.
All of the new characters have such interesting back stories that they were each a pleasure to write for
Andrew Smith
Did you choose to go back to the original source material and revisit some of the TV episodes before starting work? What did you take from the experience, if you did?
Yes, I bought the series on DVD and worked my way through the first two seasons - very quickly, as there wasn't too much time before I had to plough on with the storyline. So I put them on my iPad and watched them on the commute and while exercising and such. This helped to get the characters clear in my head. I particularly took away from it that Greg isn’t a hotheaded hero, he's very practical and often risk averse. He's wise enough to know that armed gangs are best not antagonised, and that sometimes you have to cut your losses. In other series he’d be the type of hero who would take on the bad guys whatever the odds and win, but that isn’t the typical Survivors way. I was also helped by your excellent book The End of the World?
Nation populated his band of survivors with some strong (and recognisably human) protagonists. Did you enjoy the opportunity to write for characters such as Greg and Jenny?
I was delighted to write for them. They are very human, very believable, and can be related to so easily. I'm particularly impressed by Greg's pragmatism, which sits alongside his often stubborn, dogmatic approach to helping shape an existence for him and his other survivors. I think his conversation with Abby at the end of [original TV series episode] "Law and Order", where he describes her as the leader and himself as the manager, speaks volumes and sums up his position (and his view of himself and his strengths) very well. Jenny is another lovely character, sometimes on the verge of panic, at other times overcoming her obvious fear and stepping up to perform acts of selfless heroism.
How challenging was it to have to situate your drama in the very specific time-and-place of mid-1970s Britain? Although the themes of Survivors are timeless, the context is very particular, isn’t it?
Good question. In a related way, it struck me recently that we were sitting in 2013 writing a series about an apocalypse from 1975 that clearly didn't happen - and yet that in no way diminishes the drama or impact of this audio series. This potential conflict of logic never once occurred to me while writing it, but it has recently occurred to me that I don't think anyone would propose writing an original series about a twentieth-century global disaster that didn't occur. But in revisiting a 1970s series, it somehow works without explanation.
I'm particularly impressed by Greg's pragmatism, which sits alongside his often stubborn, dogmatic approach
Andrew Smith
To more directly answer your question, the setting wasn't too challenging. I remember the 70s, and it was fun to revisit that world and drop in occasional references to the time. I also added a true-to-the-70s sexist gesture from one of my characters. Script editor Matt Fitton gave Jenny a line in response of: "Of all the sexist...".
There was one small aspect of 70s life, mentioned in a throwaway line in my episode, that provoked several exchanges of emails and a flurry of research on my part to find out if it was accurate. This was to establish whether or not there was late night shopping in 1975. I thought I remembered it, but a seed of doubt was placed. After digging up some historic references, old retail legislation and (crucially) speaking to my mother and to my mother-in-law, who had worked as a department store sales assistant in the 1960s, we discovered - yes, they did.
Can you introduce and say a little about your own story Judges?
Ooh I'm not sure how much I can say. It follows on from the scenario established in Matt Fitton's and Jonathan Morris' stories. It's set after "Something of Value" - episode 12 of the first TV series. Jenny and Greg have left the Grange after their basement food supplies have been flooded out, looking for new supplies, and meet up with some of the characters already established in the audio series, together with one or two new personalities. I did particularly enjoy creating and getting to know my first out-and-out police officer character, Sergeant Phil Bailey. He's a credit to the force! He has strong opinions about justice and law, and the state of justice in this post-Death society.
What can listeners look forward to from the new Survivors audio adventures?
Gripping, compelling drama. Ordinary people being tested in extreme adversity. Characters you will love, one or two you may hate, all of whom you will be able to identify with. And maybe a moment or two of heartbreak.
Is Survivors a series which has the potential to run and run in audio format?
It certainly has that potential. I'm not on board for series two, but I already genuinely cannot wait to hear it.
Read a review of Judges (by Andrew Smith)
Survivors: New Dawn 4
The final series of this new Survivors audio adventure is available to buy on CD and as a digital download from Big Finish.
"Abby and Jenny begin a new phase in their own journey as listeners, many of whom have followed the series from series one released back in 2014, come to the end of theirs. It’s been a remarkable, often unsettling, and always compelling series made by a creative team who have shown time and again their determination to grasp the full dramatic potential of Terry Nation’s inspired original premise."
Survivors: A World Away
Survivors: New Dawn 3
The third and penultimate series of this new Survivors audio adventure is available to buy on CD and as a digital download from Big Finish.
"Big Finish's Survivors stories have always distinguished themselves by their ability to surprise and to shock... Together with the decline and fall of the New Federal Government, Tate's fate is a salutory reminder that there are no guarantees that the next generation of survivors will face a brighter future - even as the horrors of the pandemic fade into memory."
Survivors: A World Away
Survivors: Crusade
An original Survivors audiobook, narrated by Carolyn Seymour, is available to buy as a digital download from Big Finish.
"This astute, cautionary tale of the threat that distorted religious certainty can pose to the survivors of The Death is the kind of grown-up and probing storytelling for which the series' setting is so conducive... Seymour's narration is... as perceptive and mellifluous as ever."
Survivors: A World Away
Survivors: New Dawn 2
The second series of this new Survivors audio adventure is available to buy (in CD and download formats) from Big Finish.
"The New Dawn series has been a compelling, well-executed foray into a 'future' post-pandemic Britain never before attempted in the Survivors universe. Big Finish regularly jumps around within and beyond the established canon of TV series in its range, and that option would remain open in the world of Survivors. Who knows what will come next? If New Dawn 2 marks the end of Survivors journey on audio, then that will mean that an accomplished, inventive and assured series concludes with a remarkable and satisfying endpoint."
Survivors: A World Away
Survivors: Ghosts and Demons
This original Survivors audiobook, narrated by Carolyn Seymour, is available to buy as a digital download from Big Finish.
"Ghosts and Demons is a fantastic addition to the audio literature of Survivors. Author Ethan Milsea uses the cautionary tale of the predatory Tommy as a means to explore the different fears and nightmares that haunt those who have experienced the trauma of The Death and survived. This story, which locks itself in to the first TV series' timeline, delivers admirably on what can often be an elusive ambition: to be both in-keeping with the existing dramatic terrain and to break open new and fertile ground."
Survivors: A World Away
Survivors: New Dawn 1
The first series of this new Survivors audio adventure is available to buy (in CD and download formats) from Big Finish.
"The first series of New Dawn retains the core sense of jeopardy that made the original post-Death context of Survivors so compelling. Yet it does in a way that is original and genuinely exhilarating. Imagining how the country might have moved on more than two decades after the pandemic provides Survivors with a new 'what if' premise that crackles with potential"
Survivors: A World Away
Survivors: series nine
The ninth series of new Survivors audio adventures is available to buy (in CD and download formats) from Big Finish.
"There's still great potential here, as the UK begins to emerge from the dark ages of The Death, for more stories set in this uniquely realised dystopia, should sufficient numbers of those who have yet to purchase copies of this extraordinary audio series belatedly recognise the error of their ways. If that doesn't happen, this will remain a stunning finale for what must be celebrated as a consistently compelling audio drama, 5/5"
Cultbox
Survivors: series eight
The eight series of new Survivors audio adventures is available to buy (in CD and download formats) from Big Finish.
"This latest boxset delivers an impressive mix of large scale, high stakes and small scale, intimate stories which set in motion the events which will come to an explosive conclusion in the final set in this current run of post-apocalyptic dramas, 5/5 "
Cultbox
Survivors: series seven
The seventh series of new Survivors audio adventures is available to buy (in CD and download formats) from Big Finish.
"At times harrowing, at other moments uplifting, and never anything other than completely riveting listening, this latest series of Survivors audios delivers drama that is simply unmissable. As the series leaves behind the timeline of the TV incarnation of the show, Big Finish's writers, cast and crew are all clearly brimming with fully deserved confidence. The two series of new Survivors audios coming in 2018 could scarcely be a more exciting or (in the best sense of the word) a more unpredictable prospect, 10/10"
Starburst
Survivors: series six
The sixth series of new Survivors audio adventures is available to buy (in CD and download formats) from Big Finish.
"After five extraordinarily well-received box sets, each of which offered a self-contained and themed collection of four episodes, the sixth series of Survivors audio adventures confidently takes a fresh approach... It's a liberating shift in format and, under the keenly judged direction of Ken Bentley, these scripts make exceptional use of the opportunity to tell diverse, if equally compelling, standalone stories, 10/10"
Starburst
Survivors: series five
The fifth series of new Survivors audio adventures is available to buy (in CD and download formats) from Big Finish.
"As it explores the highest stakes possible, this develops into the most thrilling and compelling set of stories in Big Finish's Survivors series to date: which, considering the exceptional quality of the drama in the preceding four instalments, is quite some achievement. This is extraordinary, exemplary human drama; by any standard, 10/10"
Starburst
Survivors: series four
The fourth series of new Survivors audio adventures is available to purchase (in CD and download formats) from Big Finish.
"Intelligent, literate and superbly scripted and performed, this is a post-apocalyptic drama of the highest possible calibre. Determined to avoid the predictable tropes of that genre, it invites its listeners to navigate a moral minefield in a way that few other dramas of this type would attempt. This comes recommended without reservation"
Starburst
Survivors: series three
The third series of new Survivors audio adventures is available to purchase (in CD and download formats) from Big Finish.
Survivors: series two
The second series of new Survivors audio adventures is available to purchase (in CD and download formats) from Big Finish.
Survivors: audio-book
A full-length audiobook of Terry Nation's Survivors novel (in CD and download formats) read by Carolyn Seymour.
Survivors: series one
The first series of new Survivors audio adventures is available to purchase (in CD and download formats) from Big Finish.
Latest updates
New Dawn 3 reviews added
Added: 17 May 2023
Review of Crusade audiobook added
Added: 21 June 2022
New Dawn 2 reviews added
Added: 02 March 2022
New Dawn 1 and Ghosts and Demons reviews added
Added: 03 January 2022
Links
Original TV series (1975-1977)
- Survivors: A World Away (main site)
- Survivors: A World Away (news blog)
- Survivors: Mad Dog (special episode site)