Survivors: A World Away – news – Page 24 – The classic 1975-1977 post-apocalyptic BBC TV series Survivors

New DVD and BluRay release for Ian McCulloch’s Contamination

Released on 6 July 2015, Arrow Film‘s new combined DVD and BluRay release of 1980s Italian splatter favourite Contamination (one of three Italian horror movies Ian McCulloch starred in after appearing in Survivors) offers a new print and a range of exclusive special features.

Amongst those new features are a Q&A session with McCulloch and director Luigi Cozzi filmed at the 2014 Abertoir horror film festival.

Starring Italian horror veteran Ian McCulloch (Zombie Flesh Eaters), Contamination from director Luigi Cozzi (Starcrash, Hercules) is one of the brightest stars in the firmament of early 1980s Italian splatter.

A cargo ship drifts up the Hudson River. Its crew: all dead, their bodies horribly mutilated, turned inside out by an unknown force. Its freight: boxes upon boxes of glowing, pulsating green eggs. It soon becomes clear that these eggs are not of this planet, and someone intends to cultivate them here on Earth. But who? And to what end?

Contamination takes the premise of Ridley Scott’s classic Alien and peppers it with exploding guts galore and dangerously infectious soundtrack from celebrated Italian prog-rockers Goblin (Deep Red, Suspiria).

Wargames Illustrated: Gaming Survivors

The current issue of Wargames Illustrated magazine (Issue 333, July 2015), contains a four-page illustrated feature by Gary Mitchell which presents “some gaming ideas based upon a very British post-apocalypse world, complete with campaign and scenario ideas and character archetypes still to be found in similar works today.”

Mitchell suggests that Survivors “is gritty, realistic and bleak. It reflects technological meltdown, social collapse, nihilism and the prevailing pessimistic view of the future.” To explore the many gaming conflicts this scenario offers, Mitchell has designed “a campaign for a number of players. Although based upon the UK, Survivors could easily be adapted for any post-apocalyptic situation”.

The resulting game outline is not based on the characters or plotlines of Terry Nation’s original conception of Survivors, but draws inspiration from its setting. Those familiar with the culture and practices of wargaming will be able to distill the gaming opportunities outlined by Mitchell.

Big Finish Survivors series three – cast, episode details and trailer released

Audiobook specialists Big Finish have released the first details of series three of their acclaimed Survivors audio adventures – which will be released in November 2015.

Coming in November – Survivors: Series 3, the next box set of the critically acclaimed post apocalyptic drama

Branching out from the harrowing events of the recently released second series, Series 3 focuses on a new group of Survivors, living in the ruins of London during the events of the original TV series. Returning from the first box set is Maddie Price (Chase Masterson), still looking for a way back to the USA. Her desperate search will lead her to cross paths with some old friends – and some new enemies.

1: Cabin Fever by Jonathan Morris
Introducing: Andrew French as Dalton Roberts, Paul Thornley as John ‘Vinnie’ Vincent
After weeks of searching for her son across a devastated Britain, Abby Grant and her allies head into London in pursuit of new leads. One of the party is quarantined, holed up with a fever. They remember the very first days of the Death, and the actions of a man called John Vincent…

2: Contact by Simon Clark
Introducing: James Joyce as Jonathon
A lonely voice on the radio calls out across the ether. Maddie Price is a long way from home, but not yet ready to give up hope.

3: Rescue by Andrew Smith
When his friends’ lives hang in the balance hundreds of feet above London, Jimmy Garland leads a daring rescue mission into the capital.

4: Leaving by Matt Fitton
Down on the coast, plans are being made to reach out across the world. It could mean a new beginning for some, and the long-awaited chance to return home for others.

You can pre-order Survivors: Series 3 now. Series 1, Series 2 and the audiobook reading of Terry Nation’s original novel are available now.

Two further series are also available to pre-order now. And if you haven’t listen yet: listeners can download our award nominated first episode Survivors: Revelation for free.

The first series three trailer has also been released:

Big Finish - Survivors - series 3 cast — Big Finish – Survivors – series 3 cast

Big Finish Survivors series two feature in Vortex magazine 76

Issue 76 (June 2015) of Big Finish’s free-to-download Vortex magazine contains a three page behind-the-scenes feature on the making of series two of the new Survivors audio adventures, penned by Kenny Smith.

Survivors series two audios released by Big Finish

Big Finish today release the much-anticipated second series of new Survivors audio adventures – and make the first episode of series one free-to-download.

The countdown is over. Survivors 2 is out today…

As first announced last week, we’re proud to release the second of our award-nominated Survivors series to the world on CD and Download. Stars of the original BBC TV series Lucy Fleming, Ian McCulloch and Carolyn Seymour join Louise Jameson, Bernard Holley, John Banks and many others for four new stories:

1: Dark Rain by Ken Bentley
Months after the plague, storms batter the country. As Abby resumes the search for her son, Jackie and Daniel fight for their lives.

2: Mother’s Courage by Louise Jameson
The search for Peter leads to Aberystwyth, and a community of women who have cut themselves off from the outside world. But what appears to be a safe haven could be nothing of the sort…

3: The Hunted by Ken Bentley
Greg, Daniel and Russell need the help of survivalist Irvin Warner, who is hiding out in the Brecon Beacons. But predators are roaming in the barren countryside too…

4: Savages by Matt Fitton
Wounded, split apart and fighting for their lives, the survivors discover that survival isn’t everything…

As well as releasing Survivors 2, we’re also making the first episode of Survivors – Series 1 available for free to all. Survivors – Revelation by Matt Fitton was nominated for the 2015 BBC Drama Awards, and was the first story in the original Big Finish Survivors series released in 2014.

Survivors – Series 2 is available at its pre-order prices on CD and Download for the rest of the month, as are the previously announced future releases Series 3, Series 4 and Series 5. There is also Survivors by Terry Nation, a reading of the Survivors novel by Carolyn Seymour. As with all Big Finish website CD purchases, where possible a download copy is instantly and exclusively available upon buying.

Big Finish – Survivors series two – front cover

Series two of Big Finish’s Survivors adventures released tomorrow (2 June)

The second series of Survivors audio adventures wil be released tomorrow – on 2 June 2015. Series two is still available for pre-order from the Big Finish site.

Survivors – Series 3 will be released in November 2015; Survivors – Series 4 will follow in June 2016; with Survivors – Series 5 scheduled for a November 2016 release. All four forthcoming releases are currently available at special pre-order prices on CD and Download, with all CD customers getting immediate access to a download upon release, exclusive to Big Finish website purchases.

If you’ve not already done so, now would be the ideal time to catch up with the acclaimed first series of new Survivors audio adventures; and the hugely impressive Survivors audio book (voiced by Carolyn Seymour).

Countdown to Big Finish series two Survivors release

Ahead of the release of series two of Survivors audio adventures on 2 June 2015, Big Finish have released a series of ‘countdown’ images. Series two is still available for pre-order from the Big Finish site.

Big Finish – Survivors – Series 2 – two days to go to release… (31 May 2015)

Big Finish – Survivors – Series 2 – three days to go to release… (30 May 2015)

Big Finish – Survivors – Series 2 – four days to go to release… (29 May 2015)

Big Finish – Survivors – Series 2 – five days to go to release… (28 May 2015)

Big Finish – Survivors – Series 2 – six days to go to release… (27 May 2015)

Big Finish – Survivors – Series 2 – seven days to go to release… (26 May 2015)

Lucy Fleming praises new James Bond author

Lucy Fleming (Jenny in Survivors, and niece of James Bond creator Ian Fleming) has praised Anthony Horowitz’s new James Bond novel Trigger Mortis, which is based on original, uncompleted ideas from Fleming himself.

In The Guardian (28 May 2015), Fleming is quoted as saying:

It was almost as if Ian had written [Trigger Mortis] himself.

It does feel like a Fleming book,” she said. “It takes place a couple of weeks after Goldfinger – Pussy’s back, which is fantastic, and we’ve got a particularly good villain in Sin – he’s absolutely horrible, a megalomaniac type, but fascinating as well… Pussy Galore is one of the iconic characters from the films and the books… It will be interesting to see what the public make of that.

Each writer has their own style, but I think Anthony is closest to Ian’s style,” said Lucy Fleming. “And he has the page-turning effect of making you think ‘what the hell is going to happen next?’… He’s worked Murder on Wheels in brilliantly – it’s woven into the whole thing. It was just a treatment, really, with the idea for the plot.”

Big Finish release Survivors series two podcast

Ahead of the release of series two of Surivors audio adventures on Tuesday 2 June 2015, Big Finish have released a podcast (available to stream and download) going behind the scenes on the making of the second series. The podcast features interviews with cast and crew, and extracts from episode.

Ahead of Tuesday’s release of our much anticipated Survivors – Series 2, here’s a short podcast that goes behind the scenes…

We talk to David Richardson, Ken Bentley, Louise Jameson, Lucy Fleming, Carolyn Seymour, Ian McCulloch, and John Banks about the origins of Survivors – Series 2, and what it was like to act, write and direct in it

Big Finish – Survivors series two – front cover

Big Finish’s Survivors series two is still available for pre-order on the Big Finish site.

Big Finish to release Survivors series two audios on 2 June 2015

Audio-drama specialists Big Finish have announced that series two of the acclaimed Survivors audio-adventures will be released (on CD and through digital download) on 2 June 2015.

Survivors – Series 2 is being released by Big Finish on June 2nd on both CD and Download, ahead of being released anywhere else in the world:

It begins with just a few people falling ill. Another flu virus that spreads around the globe. And then the reports begin that people are dying…

When most of the world's population is wiped out, a handful of survivors are left to pick up the pieces.

Cities become graveyards. Technology becomes largely obsolete. Mankind must start again…

1: Dark Rain by Ken Bentley. Introducing: Tim Treloar as Russell, Bernard Holley as Ridley Months after the plague, storms batter the country. As Abby resumes the search for her son, Jackie and Daniel fight for their lives.

2: Mother’s Courage by Louise Jameson. Introducing: Fiona Sheehan as Molly The search for Peter leads to Aberystwyth, and a community of women who have cut themselves off from the outside world. But what appears to be a safe haven could be nothing of the sort…

3: The Hunted by Ken Bentley. Introducing: Tim Bentinck as Irvin Warner Greg, Daniel and Russell need the help of survivalist Irvin Warner, who is hiding out in the Brecon Beacons. But predators are roaming in the barren countryside too…

4: Savages by Matt Fitton. Wounded, split apart and fighting for their lives, the survivors discover that survival isn’t everything…

Survivors – Series 2 is still available at the pre-order price of £25 (CD) and £20 (Download). A further three series have been announced, all of which are at the same pre-order prices.

Already available is our award-nominated first series of Survivors, and star Carolyn Seymour's haunting audiobook reading of Terry Nation's original novel.