Category: Post-apocalyptic audio

‘British Invaders’ sci-fi podcast discusses Big Finish Survivors audios

British Invaders - podcasts

THE BRITISH INVADERS sci-fi podcast team have dedicated the two most recent shows (episodes 270 and 271) to discussing the first six series of Big Finish’s Survivors audio dramas.

The podcasters, who previously discussed the original Survivors TV series in a 2011 edition, turn their attention to the audio incarnation of Survivors, discussing themes, characters, realisation, sound design, plot and more. Each instalment addresses three series (Part 1 – series 1-3; Part 2 – series 4-6).

Spoiler alert: both instalments are highly complimentary and enthusiastic about Big Finish’s Survivors imprint. Although some key plot points and character developments are revealed along the way, this is more of an introductory overview. For detailed synopses and reviews of all of the episodes released so far, head over to the Episodes section of the Big Finish: Survivors mini-site.

Listeners can stream or download the content; and subscribe to the podcast series on iTunes or through another pod capture service.

British Invaders 270: Big Finish Survivors (Part 1)

Survivors was Terry Nation’s post-apocalyptic drama from the 1970s. Big Finish Productions is now producing brand new Survivors audio dramas with original cast members and some new characters. This time, we discuss these audios (10 September 2017). [Listen to the episode on the British Invaders site]

British Invaders 271: Big Finish Survivors (Part 2)

Survivors was a 1970s BBC post-apocalyptic series created by Terry Nation. Big Finish Productions is now producing Survivors audio dramas with new characters along with some of the originals. We are discussing the audios (24 September 2017). [Listen to the episode on the British Invaders site]

Big Finish release details of series seven of new Survivors audio dramas

Big Finish - Survivors - series seven - cover

Synopsis

The world has ended. ‘The Death’ pandemic crossed continents, sparing only a fraction of the global population.

The survivors are now trying to pick up the pieces and rebuild society – to create a new future.

But with no cities, no laws, no technology, everyone must start over. And the worst of human nature has survived along with the best…

Four new battles for survival, from the world of Terry Nation‘s cult-classic series.

7.1 Journey’s End by Roland Moore

Alone and resolute, a mother has spent the years since the Death searching for her son. She is closing in on her final lead. One last hope to find Peter.

But for Abby Grant, the worst possible thing might be to find what she is looking for…

7.2 Legacy by Simon Clark

Greg Preston is dead. But the work he did in forging his foundation, in bringing communities together, lives on.

When she and Ruth encounter those whose lives he touched, Jenny Richards is forced to remember how the man she loved abandoned her. But when she meets a common enemy, can she find the strength to make a stand?

7.3 Old Friends by Matt Fitton

Ruth Anderson and Evelyn Piper unite on a mission of mercy. An old friend is in trouble and in the path of dangerous forces.

Jackie Burchell could reveal secrets that change lives. But first, she must find her own way back. When things are at their worst, it’s old friends who keep you going.

7.4 Reconnection by Christopher Hatherall

As Jenny continues her plan to restore electricity across the country, she meets someone she never thought she’d see again – but it’s a very different Abby Grant to the one who left the Grange.

Not everyone is in favour of Jenny’s project, and the women find danger in a remote power station. It may be too late for them to reconnect…

NOTE:  Survivors contains adult material and is not suitable for younger listeners.

Written By: Roland Moore, Simon Clark, Matt Fitton, Christopher Hatherall

Directed By: Ken Bentley

Cast

Carolyn Seymour (Abby Grant), Ian McCulloch (Greg Preston), Lucy Fleming (Jenny), Louise Jameson (Jackie Burchall), Helen Goldwyn (Ruth Anderson), Zoë Tapper (Evelyn Piper), Katherine Rose Morley (Sonia Meadows), Brian Protheroe (Abraham / Gruff), Ewan Bailey (Garth Warren / PA Announcer), Harry Myers (Neville Trent), Susie Emmett (Sylvia Jeffries), Graham Seed (Barstow/ Soldier), Justin Avoth (Clock-Winder / Blair), John Banks (Daniel Connor), Alistair Mackenzie (Nick), Jamie Laird (Ewan)

Producer David Richardson
Script Editor Matt Fitton
Executive Producers Jason Haigh-Ellery and Nicholas Briggs

Starburst preview of Big Finish Survivors series six now available online

The feature previewing the release of series six of Big Finish’s Survivors audio dramas, first published in the print edition of Starburst (Issue 438, June 2017 – before the series was released), has now been made freely available to read online on the Starburst web site.

In addition to the review of the new series published in the online edition of Starburst, individual episode reviews of each of the episode reviews in the series have also been published on the S:AWA Big Finish mini-site.

Starburst - Big Finish - Survivors - series six - preview - online

Starburst #438 - Big Finish - Survivors - series six - preview

Series six of Survivors audio adventures reviewed in Starburst magazine

My review of series six of Big Finish’s Survivors audio dramas is published today in the online edition of Starburst magazine. The review, which awards a maximum ten-out-of-ten, rating observes:

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. This new release offers a quartet of single adventures, all set within the timeline of the third television series, which follow the parallel exploits of Abby Grant, Jenny Richards and Greg Preston before delivering an unexpected reunion in the closing story. 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.

Series six is available to buy on the Big Finish web site (alongside the previous five series and Carolyn Seymour’s reading of Terry Nation’s 1976 Survivors novel). Series seven (November 2017), eight (June 2018) and nine (November 2018) are also available for pre-order.

Survivors - Big Finish - series six - slipcase

Big Finish release series six of Survivors audio dramas

Big Finish have today (21 June 2017) released the sixth box set in the critically-acclaimed and award-nominated Survivors audio adventure series. Following on from our preview of the new series in Starburst magazine, our review of the new series will follow in the next few days, and next week we’ll start to add new and exclusive interviews with cast and crew to the site.

Survivors - Big Finish - series six - slipcase

6.1 Beating the Bounds by Ian Potter

Abby Grant’s search for her son has taken her all across Britain and back. Following every possible lead, she finds herself on long-abandoned roads to forgotten villages.
But now, two years after the first Death, such communities still wish to protect themselves. And they do not take kindly to strangers.

6.2 The Trapping Pit by Christopher Hatherall

On a routine trading mission from Whitecross to Evelyn Piper’s Foundation, Jenny Richards and community doctor Ruth Anderson are ambushed by desperate scavengers.

When the tables turn, an escape attempt becomes a struggle for survival. With a young boy’s life hanging in the balance, Ruth’s skills are put to the ultimate test.

6.3 The Revenge of Heaven by Simon Clark

Greg Preston has forged links with survivors in Norway to start rebuilding society. He’s ready to return home to his family… until an unexpected visitor drags him into a race across the Scandinavian snows.

Hope for the future lies with a kidnapped scientist, and some will go to any lengths to control that hope.

6.4 Lockup by Andrew Smith

As her journey continues, Abby encounters a secure and well-ordered community, based inside a prison complex, calling itself ‘Peacetown’.

But the settlement is not as idyllic as its name suggests, and the lockup harbours secrets. Among them, a prisoner. Someone Abby knows of old… A man called Greg Preston.

 

 

Series six is available to buy on the Big Finish web site (alongside the previous five series and Carolyn Seymour’s reading of Terry Nation’s 1976 Survivors novel). Series seven (November 2017), eight (June 2018) and nine (November 2018) are also available for pre-order.

Preview of series six of Survivors audio adventures in Big Finish’s Vortex

The new edition of Big Finish’s free-to-download Vortex magazine (Issue 100, June 2017), includes a four-page, full-colour feature previewing the release, later this month, of series six of Survivors audio adventures.

The article includes commentary from producer David Richardson, and from writers Ian Potter, Christopher Hatherall, Simon Clark and Andrew Smith.

Series six remains available for pre-order on the Big Finish web site (alongside the previous five series and Carolyn Seymour’s reading of Terry Nation’s 1976 Survivors novel). Series seven (November 2017), eight (June 2018) and nine (November 2018) are also available for pre-order.

Vortex 100 - Big Finish - series six - preview

Kenny Smith. 2017. ‘Keep on Surviving’, Vortex, No 100, June, pp.14-17.

Big Finish confirm episodes, storylines and cover design for series six of Survivors audios

Survivors - Big Finish - series six - slipcase

Big Finish have released more details of the sixth series of Survivors audio adventures, scheduled for release this June, including titles, writers and summaries for each of the four episodes and the slipcover design, and have released a new series six trailer. Series six of Survivors audio is available for pre-order from the Big Finish web site.

We’ve got more news – and a trailer – for June’s next set of adventures for the Survivors…

In June, Big Finish releases Survivors – Series 6, the latest in an award-nominated run of stories produced as an audio continuation of Terry Nation‘s reflection of a plague-devasted world and the fight for survival for those who are left. Today we can confirm full cast and story details of this four-story set, along with unveiling the trailer:

6.1 Beating the Bounds by Ian Potter

Abby Grant’s search for her son has taken her all across Britain and back. Following every possible lead, she finds herself on long-abandoned roads to forgotten villages.
But now, two years after the first Death, such communities still wish to protect themselves. And they do not take kindly to strangers.

6.2 The Trapping Pit by Christopher Hatherall

On a routine trading mission from Whitecross to Evelyn Piper’s Foundation, Jenny Richards and community doctor Ruth Anderson are ambushed by desperate scavengers.

When the tables turn, an escape attempt becomes a struggle for survival. With a young boy’s life hanging in the balance, Ruth’s skills are put to the ultimate test.

6.3 The Revenge of Heaven by Simon Clark

Greg Preston has forged links with survivors in Norway to start rebuilding society. He’s ready to return home to his family… until an unexpected visitor drags him into a race across the Scandinavian snows.

Hope for the future lies with a kidnapped scientist, and some will go to any lengths to control that hope.

6.4 Lockup by Andrew Smith

As her journey continues, Abby encounters a secure and well-ordered community, based inside a prison complex, calling itself ‘Peacetown’.

But the settlement is not as idyllic as its name suggests, and the lockup harbours secrets. Among them, a prisoner. Someone Abby knows of old… A man called Greg Preston.

Survivors – Series 6 can be pre-ordered today on Download or CD for £20 or £25 respectively. These prices are frozen until the set’s general release at the end of July. If you buy on CD it unlocks a digital version as a Big Finish exclusive, with all digital titles being accessible on the free Big Finish download/playback app available on Apple and Android mobile devices.

Julie Graham joins cast for series six of Survivors audio dramas

Big Finish has announced (16 January 2017) that Julie Graham, who played the role of Abby Grant in the BBC’s 2008-2010 remake of Survivors, joins the cast for an episode of series six of new Survivors audio adventures. In the story “Revenge of Heaven”, written by Simon Clark, Graham takes on the role of Katherine Tanner in a standalone story that focuses on Greg Preston’s (Ian McCulloch) eventful trip to Norway.

Series six of Survivors audio adventures will be released in June 2017, and is available for pre-order on the Big Finish site. In December 2016, the company confirmed its commitment to releasing (at a minimum) nine series of Survivors audios.

Julie Graham joins Survivors cast for series six

Survivors – series six news

Coming in June, Survivors – Series 6 is the next of Big Finish’s listener-praised audio continuation of Terry Nation‘s 1970s BBC TV show:

“We’re trying something a little different this time,” confirms producer David Richardson, “Each disc is a separate, self-contained story – and I think it’s working beautifully. Set during the third season of the TV show, it allows us to focus individually on our leads Abby (Carolyn Seymour), Greg (Ian McCulloch) and Jenny (Lucy Fleming). Separated geographically, they each face different challenges. But might their paths finally cross again?”

Of particular note in the forthcoming set to Survivors fans is a particular casting. As David explains: “I’ve wanted to work with Julie Graham for ages, and in Simon Clark‘s Revenge of Heaven we had the perfect role for her – Katherine Tanner, an adventurer who helps Greg Preston on his mission in Norway. Needless to say, Julie was fantastic in the part, and it was lovely to sit and chat to her about playing Abby Grant in the re-imagined BBC TV series of Survivors. The show is clearly still very close to her heart.”

Survivors Series 6 is released in June on Download for £20 and CD for £25 – both pre-release prices offering a £5 discount on the price when the set goes on general release later in the year. A CD order automatically unlocks digital access on release.

Check out the entire Survivors range, including the chance for pre-orders on Series 6 through to Series 9, and to catch up with the first five sets, as well as listening to Carolyn Seymour‘s evocative reading of Terry Nation’s original novel. There’s even a free episode – Series 1’s Survivors – Revelation.

Watch this space for more news.

Starburst preview feature of Big Finish Survivors series five – now online

My Starburst feature, previewing the release of series five of Big Finish’s Survivors audio adventures, which appeared in the November print edition of the magazine (No 430), is now available to read (for free) online (the web version was published on 21 November 2016).

These latest episodes also bring to the fore the ‘Whitecross’ community, the centre of operations in Series Two of the TV series, and explore efforts to reconnect the first electricity supplies; one of the central themes of the third TV series. But with the new virus threatening everything and everyone, the finale of the audio Series Five shows how merciless its impact can be. Despite the death toll, with Series Six and Seven now confirmed, Big Finish’s Survivors series is itself clearly in rude and vibrant health.

Starburst - Big Finish - Survivors - preview feature

Big Finish Survivors series five review in Starburst: 10/10

My review of the fifth series of Big Finish’s Survivors audio adventures has just been published in the online edition of Starburst magazine. Awarding the release a deserved 10/10, the review concludes:

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. As The Death again looms large, Survivors crackles with life.

Starburst - Big Finish - Survivors series 5 - review