On TV – Survivors: A World Away

On location behind-the-scenes Survivors footage donated to archive trust

THE FILM IS Fabulous charitable trust has confirmed that it has taken possession of behind-the-scenes filmed footage shot on location in 1976 during the making of the second series of Survivors.

The trust was recently thrust into the genre news headlines following its acquisition by donation of two previously missing episodes of Doctor Who (‘The Nightmare Begins’ and ‘Devil’s Planet’) featuring William Hartnell’s Doctor and first screened in November 1965.

Since it was launched, the trust’s small team has taken delivery of a huge and growing array of donations, principally from private collectors.

Amongst the material it has received is an (unknown quantity) of ‘non-broadcast’ footage from Survivors‘ second series, donated as part of the personal archive of Michael Wilson, the late stills-photographer and cameraman. Michael was married to June Hudson—the costume designer and wardrobe manager on Survivors whose designs did so much to define the visual appearance of Abby Grant, Greg Preston, Jenny Richards, Charles Vaughan and others.

“Photography was Michael’s passion, and he had a natural eye for it from a young age,” Film is Fabulous confirmed. “As a freelancer, he was regularly engaged by the BBC as a stills and film photographer. These engagements included several Shakespeare productions alongside his wife, costume designer June Hudson, which were directed by theatre grandee, Trevor Nunn.”

“A feature of Michael’s work was the location filming. He was prolific. During such engagements he often acted as the film cameraman. The recordings of the Survivors‘ television series (1976) provide a fascinating insight into the production. Michael also filmed behind the scenes, and the collection contains unique films of the cast and crew.”

Few more details are yet known as to the nature of the Survivors footage, but from limited information provided so far, it appears that the material most likely is:

Behind-the-scenes footage shot on location in 1976
16mm film footage, taken on a hand-held film camera
Mute (rather than recorded with sound – this is the case with the first reels Film is Fabulous has examined)
More than a single reel of film (how many reels is unknown, but multiple reels do not guarantee that the footage is extensive in duration)
A mixture of personal off-camera moments of cast and crew and observations of rehearsals or recording

While fans of classic TV shows are naturally impatient to see all new discoveries as soon as possible, it is inevitable that material will take time to review and assess — to ensure its preservation (and repair the material when necessary), and to decide on the most appropriate method for both its retention and for making the content safely and securely accessible to fans and researchers.

For the two newly-recovered Doctor Who episodes, that meant a combination of screening events and making the material freely available to screen on the BBC’s iPlayer.

But that level of ‘open access’ is likely to be the exception rather than the norm. So much material has already been recovered, that different options will need to be chosen, depending on the nature of the material in question and the level of likely interest.

Film is Fabulous has already returned a significant number of progamme episodes and other footage to the BBC Archive, and a large number of titles to the BFI National Archive for the purposes of preservation.

Of the Survivors footage, Film is Fabulous say: “Once the films have been catalogued, they’ll be deposited with a suitable repository. The missing material will be screened at future Film is Fabulous events, together with other recovered items.”

On Facebook, one of the Film is Fabulous team added: “It’s our hope that the BBC Archive will accept the [whole of the Michael Wilson] collection, and they’ll be able to review the unique material for possible screening.”

Remake of Terry Nation’s Blake’s 7 moves forward

AFTER MANY FALSE starts and fan disappointments over the years, a potential remake of the Terry Nation created BBC space-opera Blake’s 7 (1978-81) now appears to be moving towards production.

Blake’s 7 was Survivors creator Terry Nation’s next project for the BBC after his creative connections with Survivors ended at the close of the first series.

The four series of Blake’s 7 told the story of the efforts of a group of rag-tag rebels — led initially by the indomitable Roj Blake (Gareth Thomas), and later by the steely Kerr Avon (Paul Darrow) — determined to challenge the galactic tyranny of The Federation, epitomised by the ruthlessness of Space Commander Travis (Brian Croucher, Stephen Greif) and Supreme Commander (and later President) Servalan (Jacqueline Pearce).

A two-season ‘reimagining’ of Survivors was produced for the BBC in 2008-10. Long after the transmissiobn of Blake’s 7 fourth and final series on BBC 1 in 1981, the property was licenced from the Terry Nation estate by audio-drama company Big Finish, who have gone on to produce numerous full-cast dramas and audio-books set in the universe that Nation devised.

The prospect of Blake’s 7 returning to the small screen, in a fresh guise, was given a significant boost on 19 January 2026 when it was announced that new genre TV company Multitude Productions had licensed the rights for a reboot.

At the centre of the new pitch were Emmy-nominated director Peter Hoar (who’s recently worked on both The Last of Us and Doctor Who), and producers Matthew Bouch and Jason Haigh-Ellery (the managing director of Big Finish Productions). Lizzie Worsdell has also signed on as executive producer.

“The Blake’s 7 story is legendary because they were given the… slot that was intended for police drama with a budget intended for one big set and a few location shoots,” Hoar explained to Deadline. “At the time it felt like it meant something. Those shows got into my veins. I could tell they didn’t have money but I was able to compartmentalize and enjoy the ride knowing that the sets wobbled.”

Bouch confirmed that the team are “looking to the international market and seeing if there is a way of dovetailing that British low-budget sensibility with international markets. We know in the U.S. there’s a big contraction and we all need to think about finding ways to make things more economical.”

There’s no word yet on the new series’ likely format, production partners, new and returning characters, casting or scripts.

Multitude Productions remain optimistic, convinced — in Bouch’s words — that “there is a gap in the market in terms of what we are doing… Our expertise straddles both international and British lower budget material. Obviously the proof will be in the pudding.”

Perfect Pub Walks with Bill Bailey strolls through Monsal Dale

Perfect Pub Walks with Bill Bailey - February 2024 - the Monsal Viaduct seen from the air

THE FIRST EPISODE of the new Channel 4 series Perfect Pub Walks with Bill Bailey visits several of the key Monsal Dale locations seen in the third series Survivors episode Mad Dog.

On this set of three walks across the Derbyshire Peak District, Bill Bailey is joined by fellow comedian, actor and panelist Alan Davies, for a spot of exercise and the chance to share in what could be some therapeutic personal conversation.

In the Peak District National Park, Bill and Alan Davies take the Monsal Trail to Derbyshire’s highest pub, Abney Moor and Mam Tor, and chat about the perils of ageing and the stresses of modern life
Channel 4

The episode was first broadcast on 20 February 2024, and is currently available to stream from Channel 4’s on-demand service.

Perfect Pub Walks with Bill Bailey - February 2024 - the head of the Monsal Valley

Perfect Pub Walks with Bill Bailey - February 2024 - walking through Cressbrook Tunnel

Perfect Pub Walks with Bill Bailey - February 2024 - walking through the Headstock tunnel

Perfect Pub Walks with Bill Bailey - February 2024 - The Monsal Viaduct

Perfect Pub Walks with Bill Bailey - February 2024 - on the Monsal viaduct

‘Perfect Pub Walks with Bill Bailey’. Channel 4. 20 February 2024. https://www.channel4.com/programmes/perfect-pub-walks-with-bill-bailey

Gone Fishing returns to Monsal Dale for series six finale

Gone Fishing - Series 6 - Episode 6 - Monsal Dale - the pair enjoy an ice-cream at the top of the Monsal valley

THE CLOSING EPISODE of series six of Gone Fishing, with Bob Mortimer and Paul Whitehouse, returned its two stars to the Monsal Valley (the key filming location for the third series Survivors episode Mad Dog), revisiting the same stretch of the River Wye where the pair filmed the show’s first ever episode.

The episode, first shown on the BBC earlier this month, included shots of the Monsal Viaduct, and the footbridge close to Netherdale Farm, as well as many evocative aerial shots across the valley.

Paul and Bob return to the Peak District, this time with Ted, where they filmed their first episode of Gone Fishing back in 2017. Will the memories of that first trip come flooding back?

They start by fishing the Wye at Haddon Hall, hoping to catch chub, rainbow trout and wild brown trout, before moving on to the Derwent. As they cast, they recall memories of that first trip and look at how they’ve changed over the last six years.
BBC

The episode is available to stream or download for offline viewing (for UK viewers) from the BBC’s iPlayer service for 11 months (until October 2024).

Gone Fishing. 2023. Series 6, Episode, 6. BBC. First broadcast 8 October.

Gone Fishing - Series 6 - Episode 6 - Monsal Dale - The Monsal Viaduct seen from above

Gone Fishing - Series 6 - Episode 6 - Monsal Dale - the footbridge in the heart of the Monsal valley

Gone Fishing - Series 6 - Episode 6 - Monsal Dale - the vista of the Monsal valley

Gone Fishing - Series 6 - Episode 6 - Monsal Dale - Bob views the valley

Monsal Dale provides base for new episode of Countryfile

BBC1 Countryfile - 16 May 2021 - iPlayer title screen

MONSAL DALE, THE key filming location for the third series Survivors episode Mad Dog, provides the ‘centre of operations’ for the ‘White Peak’ episode of Countryfile, first shown on BBC1 on 16 May 2021.

Presenters Matt Baker and Charlotte Smith introduce all segments of the show from different locations in the Monsal Valley in the heart of the Peak District to “celebrate the 70th anniversary of the UK’s first national park”.

Key sites from across the Dale feature throughout the episode, which ends with the creation of an artwork (made from natural materials) on the valley floor beneath the viaduct (close to the spot where Charles Vaughan tumbles from his horse in the opening moments of Mad Dog).

Matt joins a pioneering scheme to restore ruined farm buildings and meets ‘legend’ of the Peak District Gordon Miller, one of the area’s early rangers and a last link to those who brought about the national park. Charlotte channels her inner artist to help create a giant anniversary art mural and records the special sounds of the park’s waterways. Sean Fletcher meets a ‘tyre runner’ using the Peak District’s hills to help his mental health. Meanwhile, as some of his traditional crops fail, Adam takes a glimpse at what the farming of tomorrow might look like, and Joe Crowley investigates new pollution laws causing controversy in the countryside.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m000w72y/countryfile-white-peak

Countryfile - White Peak - May 2021 - An aerial view of the Monsal Dale viaduct

Countryfile - White Peak - May 2021 - The Monsal Dale viaduct viewed from the valley floor

Hampton Court features in Antiques Road Trip

Hampton Court on Antiques Roadtrip (S21, E17) - arriving at the front of the estate

HAMPTON COURT IN Herefordshire, a key filming location in the first series of Survivors, features in a new episode of the long-running BBC auction show Antiques Road Trip.

Presenter Christina Trevanion visits the grounds of Hampton Court and its gardens to learn more about Tudor methods of soap production – household items which were manufactured by hand and perfumed with flowers and other naturally grown materials.

“Taking a break from shopping, Christina heads to a very fine garden to discover the fascinating history of how the Tudors kept themselves clean”
BBC

In Survivors, the lack of soap is briefly referred to during Abby’s group’s tenure at The Grange in series one. But it is in Survivors second series that the residents of Whitecross get stuck into the laborious business of making their own soap supplies.

Fittingly, Christina arrives at the house by motoring along the long front driveway in a “very robust” Series One Landrover. “Not as nippy” as the Porsche Speedster that her rival collectibles trader Serhat Ahmet is driving “but better over the bumps,” the episode’s description explains.

The short sequence at Hampton Court includes some striking aerial shots of the house and gardens.

The episode (Series 21, Episode 17) was first shown on BBC One on 8 December, and (for viewers in the UK) will be available on the BBC iPlayer until 7 January 2021.

Hampton Court on Antiques Roadtrip (S21, E17) - presenter Christina behind the wheel of the Landrover

Hampton Court on Antiques Roadtrip (S21, E17) - the front driveway

Survivors on Britbox

Detail from Survivors banner on the Britbox platform, September 17 2020 (right-hand view)

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 2020

Detail from Survivors banner on the Britbox platform, September 17 2020 (left-hand view)

New study of performance and production in Survivors

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.

In The Changing Spaces of Television Acting: From studio realism to location realism in BBC television drama, author and researcher Richard Hewett scrutines the craft of actors and performers working on The Quatermass Experiment, Doctor Who and Survivors.

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.

Original series discussed in Guardian article on Survivors remake

“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.”

—

Steve O’Brien. 2020. “‘I couldn’t watch it now’: Survivors was the pandemic drama years ahead of its time”, Guardian, 26 May. https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2020/may/26/i-couldnt-watch-it-now-survivors-was-the-pandemic-drama-years-ahead-of-its-time

Denis Lill guest stars in Shakespeare & Hathaway: Private Investigators

Denis Lill features as Eddie Dogberry in "No More Cakes and Ale" episode 2/5 of Shakespeare and Hathaway

DENIS LILL PUTS in a winning guest appearance in the second series of Shakespeare & Hathaway: Private Investigators currently showing on BBC One and available in the UK on the iPlayer.

The show is described as a “comedy drama about an oddball couple of private detectives who investigate crime in Stratford-upon-Avon.”

Lill appears in the fifth episode of series two “No More Cakes and Ale” as seventy-something farmer and plaintiff Eddie Dogberry. The Radio Times describes Lill’s appearance as follows:

Who is Eddie Dogberry? Late one night at Touchstone Farm, farmer Eddie was violent assaulted when he accosted three thieves attempting to steal his quad bike. Now the date for his court case has arrived, and he wants justice.

What else has Denis Lill been in? The actor is known for his role as Alan Parry in Only Fools and Horses. More recently, he starred as Mr Rose in TV series The Royal.

The episode will be available for streaming (in the UK) from the BBC’s iPlayer service until February 2020.