HAMPTON COURT IN Herefordshire, the principal filming location for the second half of the first series of Survivors, has closed to visitors for the remainder of 2020.
Hampton Court had reopened the grounds of the estate in early July, once the first Covid-19 lockdown restrictions had been lifted (the site usually reopens from its winter break in March or April, but had remained shut during lockdown).
With the new restrictions unveiled by the Johnson government taking effect from 5 November, and running to early December (in the first instance), the owners of Hampton Court have decided to end the visitor season with immediate effect, forgoing any plans for Xmas and end-of-year events.
A FOUR-PAGE FEATURE on Survivors, that includes comments from Carolyn Seymour, Lucy Fleming and Ian McCulloch, appears in the November issue of SFX magazine.
Written by Steve O’Brien, who’s recently published articles on the 2008-10 Survivors remake in The Guardianand SFX, the piece attempts to summarise the history of the original series forty-five years on from its original transmission.
Those with a reasonable knowledge of Survivors won’t learn much that’s new from the feature, which includes several familiar anecdotes and quotations. There is a tiny bit more on Seymour’s departure from the show, on Terry Nation’s relationship with Terry Dudley, and on McCulloch’s abortive remake attempt, but no major new insights.
O’Brien does introduce what might be a new example of the third journalistic faux pas listed in the How to Annoy a Survivors Fan spotter’s guide (‘Make lazy, repetitive and ill-informed comparisons between Survivors and other shows’) . He describes the Whitecross era as pulling the series ‘more in the direction of Countryfile than Mad Max.’
In a short interview with David Richardson, the producer of the Big Finish Survivors audio range confirms that there are currently no plans for further instalments. With Big Finish’s run of full-cast Survivors audios coming to an end with the ninth series, there were some hopes that the show might continue on audio in the form of single-voice audio books – a transition that some other properties in the Big Finish range have made. That possibility now appears to be ruled out.
FROM TODAY ALL three series of Survivors are available to stream, and to download for offline viewing, from the subscription-based and ad-free Britbox service.
Britbox is a recent collaboration between the BBC and ITV which brings together archive, classic and contemporary television programmes from both services’ catalogues.
Back in the 1970s, the BBC screened each series of Survivors only once. With no repeat broadcasts on terrestrial TV, it was not until the launch of cable and satellite television services in the 1990s that Survivors secured another screening on British TV screens.
Back then, the UK Gold station provided a platform for many classic cult and genre TV shows including Blake’s 7, Doomwatch and The Prisoner. All three series of Survivors regularly appeared on the UK Gold schedule, with the show’s last run ending with the broadcast of series three finale “Power”, shortly after midnight on Monday 27 April 1998.
While the first series of Survivors was released on VHS video (three times within ten years) and all three series on DVD (between 2003 and 2005), the show has not been made available through any UK TV service since the sign-off on UK Gold.
As well as Survivors, the Britbox catalogue currently includes all four series of Terry Nation’s Blake’s 7, genre favourites UFO, Space 1999, Quatermass and the Pit, Star Cops, The Avengers, The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy and, naturally enough, Doctor Who.
Britbox is accessed through a web browser on a PC, laptop or tablet. A Britbox app is available for mobile devices and smart TVs.
The service offers a free seven day trial, and is available to subscribers for an ongoing monthly fee which provides unlimited access to the full contents of Britbox (which operates within the UK only).
Unlike other online programme services, such as Amazon Prime and Netflix, Britbox has not yet commissioned new programmes. Although it has acquired rights to some original dramas, Britbox’s main focus is on “previously enjoyed” content.
Listing for the first three episodes of series one of Survivors on the Britbox platform, 17 September 2020Detail from Survivors banner on the Britbox platform, September 17 2020 (left-hand view)
THE AUGUST 2020 edition of SFX magazine features a six-page retrospective feature on Adrian Hodges’ 2008-10 remake of Survivors.
The article includes recollections and reminiscences from Hodges, Paterson Joseph (Greg Preston), Julie Graham (Abby Grant) and Robyn Addison (Sarah Boyer).
It’s clear from the feature that Hodges’ disappointment at the abrupt cancellation of the show at the close of the second series is still keenly felt. Although he suggests that the Survivors‘ prospects suffered as a result of management changes at the BBC, he concedes that lower-than-hoped-for viewing figures played a key role in the axeing of Survivors. “The show had probably not managed to get the kind of numbers the BBC wanted,” he reflects, “it certainly wasn’t a show that had a massive audience.”
As the showrunner Hodges reveals some of the key components of his plans for the show if a third (and subsequent) series had been commisioned.
He also accepts that closing the second series with a (now never to be resolved) cliffhanger left many loyal viewers dissatisfied. “With the benefit of hindsight, I perhaps should have given it a slightly more rounded ending”, Hodges says.
Written by Steve O’Brien, research for the SFX feature also informed the briefretrospective on the Survivors remake published in The Guardianback in May.
Steve O’Brien. 2020. ‘Survivors unseen’, SFX, No 329, August, pp.60-65.
CAROLYN SEYMOUR (ABBY Grant) will join a three-person panel for an online Star Trek question-and-answer session on 15 July.
Hosted by Wizard World Virtual Experiences, Seymour will appear alongside fellow Star Trek cast members Anthony Montgomery and Alan Van Sprang for an hour-long web session, starting at 21:00 UK time.
The session will be free to view online, although a range of associated merchandise is available to pre-purchase: including signed (and, if desired, dedicated) photos, video chats (scheduled for 18 July) and pre-recorded video messages.
HAMPTON COURT IN Herefordshire, the main filming location for the last seven episodes of the first series of Survivors and a regular travel destination for fans of the show, re-opens to visitors on Wednesday 8 July 2020.
Hampton Court estate has been closed to public access during the Covid-19 lockdown restrictions that were imposed towards the end of March. Lockdown meant that the estate remained shut even as its usual April opening date passed.
From 8 July, the estate will again open to visitors (from Wednesday to Sunday each week).
UPDATE, 7 JULY: Details of exactly which facilities and services will be available, and what social distancing arrangements will be in place, have been published on the Hampton Court site.
In summary, the grounds and main garden will be accessible, and the Orangery restaurant will provide a limited menu of refreshments. However, the castle, the maze, the play areas, sunken garden and gift shop will all remain closed, in order not to conflict with social distancing and safety guidelines.
Covid-19 Update
We are delighted to announce that we are reopening the majority of our gardens and grounds to visitors from Wednesday 8th July. Our new opening hours (until further notice) will be Wednesday – Sunday, 10.30am – 5pm.
To keep within government guidelines, some areas are still closed for the time being, including: the maze, sunken garden, play areas, gift shop and the castle itself. These are areas where we feel that government safety guidance would be challenging to uphold.
Due to this, entry prices in July have been reduced – adults £6, children £3 (4 -15 years) and under 4’s are still free. At present, we won’t be offering any other concessions, accepting discount vouchers or group bookings. We’ll also only be taking card payments and encouraging contactless wherever possible.
We are pleased to be able to open the Orangery Café, albeit with a limited menu and reduced indoor seating. There is plenty of outdoor seating available and visitors are welcome to bring their own refreshments.
With regards to safety measures, we have implemented a one-way flow system in some areas of the gardens and staff have been issued with appropriate PPE. The cleaning of facilities has been increased to every hour and hand-sanitising points are available throughout the grounds. As these are new circumstances for all of us, then we would appreciate visitor feedback. Please speak to a member of staff during your visit or email us on hello@hamptoncourtcastle.co.uk
A NEW BOOK which examines the way in which actors perform in television drama, and the way in which their performance is captured by the camera, uses Survivors as one of its illuminating case studies.
He looks at the interplay between custom and practice, acting theory, evolving technology and other factors in shaping how performance for television is realised. Hewett pays particular attention to the distinction between studio and ‘on location’ production, exploring the influence that ‘place’ exerts on the way that a story is translated from page to screen.
Hewett’s book builds on the research that he undertook for the doctoral thesis, and an academic journal article that he published as one of the outputs of his research findings. Yet it’s clear that the aim of the book is to reach a non-academic as well as an academic audience.
For those interested in the history of British television production, there’s a great deal in Hewett’s book to capture the attention.
Enthusiasts with a particular interest in Survivors will be able to enjoy some fascinating and original reflections on the making of the show, informed by new interviews with cast members (including Lucy Fleming and Denis Lill and Roger Lloyd-Pack), and illustrated with numerous screencaptures from different episodes of the show.
In a Q&A with publishers Manchester University Press, Hewett explains that he enjoyed “every aspect of writing the book, from re-viewing the case studies to poring over archive documents.” He suggests that conducting interviews was the most satisfying part. “It was fascinating to have my theories challenged by the practitioners who originally worked on my case studies,” he says – people who were on set at the time and who were able to offer “their own unique perspectives.”
This book provides a historical overview and then-and-now comparison of performing for British television drama. By examining changing acting styles from distinct eras of television production – studio realism and location realism – it makes a unique contribution to both television and performance studies, unpacking the various determinants that have combined to influence how performers work in the medium. The book compares the original versions of The Quatermass Experiment (BBC, 1953), Doctor Who (BBC, 1963-89) and Survivors (BBC, 1975-77) with their respective modern-day re-makes, unpacking the effects of the shift from multi-camera studio to single-camera location production. Textual analysis is combined with extensive archival research into production process and reception, alongside interviews with numerous actors and production personnel from more than sixty years of television production.
Richard Hewett. 2020. The Changing Spaces of Television Acting: From studio realism to location realism in BBC television drama. Manchester: Manchester University Press, ISBN 9781526148636.
“I COULDN’T WATCH that first season again. It’s too harrowing,” says Adrian Hodges of the remake of Survivors shown on BBC One in 2008. “It’s so close to what we’re going through now.”
In an interview in the Guardian, with genre journalist Steve O’Brien, Hodges looks back at the reception and impact of his remake of Terry Nation’s classic 1970s’ original tale of post-apocalyptic survival.
Illustrated with one of the familiar publicity shots of the original three series’ leads from third episode Gone Away, a short section of the article compares the revival with the original.
In doing so, O’Brien only commits three of the regular journalistic faux pas documented in How to annoy a Survivors fan.
When it’s suggested that, in depicting the impact of a global pandemic on screen more than ten years in advance of its real-world arrival, Hodges should be seen as a “prophet”, he disagrees. “I don’t think I am,” Hodges tells O’Brien. “It’s Terry Nation who should be called that.”
LUCY FLEMING READ an extract from a letter that her mother Celia Johnson sent to her father Peter Fleming just after VE Day on BBC Radio 4’s flagship news progamme Today this morning (4 May 2020).
The Today show is featuring a number of different readings this week, as part of the wider BBC shedule of event to mark the seventy-fifth anniversary of Victory in Europe (VE) Day.
Fleming appears towards the end of the programme (at around the 2hrs 50m mark). Listeners in the UK can stream or download the programme from the BBC Sounds service. Today’s edition will be available to access until 3 June 2020.
Fleming and her husband Simon Williams have been touring the spoken-word production of Posting Letters to the Moon, which is based on the wartime correspondence between her mother and father.
An additional run of planned performances of Posting Letters to the Moon has had to be postponed as a result of the current Covid-19 closedown, but it is hoped that dates later in the year will go ahead as scheduled.
Portraits of Abby Grant, Tom Price, Greg Preston, Charles Vaughan, Jenny Richards and Arthur Russell by artist Tom Bailey
TWO JOURNALISTS FROM Entertainment Focus have recently been enjoying a full rewatch of all 38 episodes of Survivors from all three series of the show, and sharing their thoughts, criticisms and observations in a series of linked articles in the online magazine.
Good-humoured, interesting, sometimes contentious, but usually well-informed, Greg Jameson and Samuel Payne began their journey with The Fourth Horseman several weeks ago and are working their way right through to Power.
The five linked articles published so far take the form of a conversation between the two. As you track their critical rewatch through each of the three series, you’ll find yourself nodding in vigorous agreement at some points, and shaking your head in disbelief at others – but then that’s a key part of the fun in hearing someone else’s perspective on what might well be your favourite TV show.
As well as screen-shots from different episodes, the series includes an original artwork by Tom Bailey – which presents six portrait caricatures of Abby Grant, Tom Price, Greg Preston, Charles Vaughan, Jenny Richards and Arthur Russell (see above).
Portraits of Sam, the Laird, Alec, Agnes, Brod and Hubert from series three of Survivors by artist Tom Bailey
Survivors ‘reaction videos’
There’s a different perspective on the early episodes of Survivors‘ first series in the form of a new set of ‘reaction videos’ available on YouTube. ‘Reaction videos’ are now a common format of fan participation on the platform. In them, fans video their reactions to watching film and TV shows, so the viewer sees their responses to the drama as it unfolds on-screen.
YouTuber medusa cascade produces ‘reaction videos’ exploring a variety of sci-fi, cult and TV shows, and has uploaded her responses to the first nine episodes of series one of Survivors. Each video is a 10-15 minute edit of the highlights of each episode view. Medusa Cascade is new to Survivors so her reactions are those of a first time viewer – and she has a particularly intense and emotional reaction to seeing Law and Order for the first time.
