Category: In print

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

Lucy Fleming recalls her mother’s work on Brief Encounter

An article in yesterday’s Daily Mail (11 December 2015), which revisits the making of the 1945 classic British film Brief Encounter, includes reflections on the work of Celia Johnson by her daughter, Survivors‘ actress Lucy Fleming. She recalls:

Celia Johnson was in many ways just like Laura Jesson, agrees her daughter, the actress Lucy Fleming, today. ‘She was very moral and wouldn’t have liked that kind of situation to arise in her own life,’ says Lucy, 68, who is married to the actor Simon Williams and was best known for her role in Seventies series Survivors. ‘People loved working with her. She was fun. She had a great sense of humour.’

Brief Encounter - Celia Johnson and Trevor Howard

Survivors’ video sleeve illustrator Pete Wallbank creates new artwork

Artist Pete Wallbank, who created the sleeve artwork for the Sovereign VHS release of series one of Survivors in 1998, has been commissioned by fan David Tulley to create a new original piece of Survivors art.

In the style of a Survivors video sleeve cover, Pete has produced a new and original design inspired by the classic series three episode The Last Laugh, which the artist and new owner have kindly agreed can be published on the Survivors: A World Away site.

Pete Wallbank - The Last Laugh
Pete Wallbank – The Last Laugh

With thanks to Pete Wallbank; from the collection of David Tulley

To learn more about his work on the Sovereign video release of Survivors, read an interview with Pete from 2007.

‘Time Machine’ Survivors feature – SFX 227

A four-page full-colour ‘Time Machine’ feature on Survivors appears in the latest SFX magazine (Issue 227, November 2012).

Penned by Robert Fairclough, the feature tells (in brief) the story of the production of the show across all three series, introduces some of the key in-front-of-and-behind-the-camera creative team, and reflects on some of the highlights of series two and three. The piece is illustrated by a mixture of familiar BBC stills and DVD screen captures. No new interview or archival content has been sourced.

Survivors feature - SFX November 2012
Survivors feature – SFX November 2012