Carolyn Seymour and Richard Heffer reunited for Big Finish third series of Survivors audios

On their Facebook page, Big Finish have today (16 May 2015) posted the first publicity shot showing the reuniting of Carolyn Seymour and Richard Heffer.

This week in the studio – Survivors: Series 3!

Ahead of next months second series, recording has just finished on the third instalment of Big Finish’s revival of the classic post-apocalyptic series – featuring a reunion between two classic characters!

Abby Grant (Carolyn Seymour) is reunited with Jimmy Garland (Richard Heffer). Both characters left the Grange at the end of the first TV series. But where will their struggle for survival take them now?

You can pre-order the next four series of Survivors now, with Series Two released in June.

Richard Heffer and Carolyn Seymour at the Big Finish studios to record the third series of Survivors audio adventures
Richard Heffer and Carolyn Seymour at the Big Finish studios to record the third series of Survivors audio adventures

Big Finish complete the recording of series three of Survivors audio adventures

Recording of the third series of Survivors audio adventures, scheduled for release in November 2015, has completed today at Big Finish’s London studios. Producer David Richardson, actors Chase Masterston, Andrew French and John Banks and scriptwriter Andrew Smith all took to Twitter in the last couple of days whilst working in the studio.

I was fortunate enough to visit the studios on Thursday (14 May), the penultimate day of recording on the series to interview cast and crew (and be mightily impressed by hearing just a glimpse of what’s in store for series three). I’ll be publishing lots of information, insight and opinion from those interviews in the week and months ahead.

In the meantime, if you’ve not already done so – a reminder that series two (scheduled for release in June 2015) is still available for pre-order from the Big Finish site, as is series three (November 2015), series four (June 2016) and series five (November 2016).

Lucy Fleming in new play ‘As Good A Time As Any’

Lucy Fleming (Jenny, Survivors) appears in a new play As Good A Time As Any, written and directed by Peter Gill. The play is described as:

a witty and ironic portrait of eight women on a spring morning in London. The play is divided into five choruses. The eight women are the ordinary, unheroic inhabitants of the city, who speak for the continuity of everyday life, and its inexhaustibility. The world of As Good A Time As Any is on the face of it a small one, yet it has an intensity and depth of emotion which make it feel transcendent and universal.

Fleming plays the role of Slyvia, a character described in The Guardian review (5 May 2015) of the production as ‘an upper-middle-class scatterbrain ruefully dwelling on the amorous path not taken.’ She is joined in the production by Roberta Taylor, Tessa Bell Briggs, Indira Joshi, Olivia Llewellyn, Eileen Pollock, Hayley Squires, and Sharlene Whyte.

The play runs at The Print Room at the Coronet, 103 Notting Hill Gate, London W11 3LB until 23 May 2015. Tickets for all performances can be purchased online.

Lucy Fleming as Sylvia in the play 'As Good A Time As Any'

Big Finish confirms Survivors audios series four and five

Audio-drama company Big Finish has confirmed (24 April 2015) that – due to the great success of the first releases in its new Survivors audio range – a further two series of adventures have been commissioned for release in 2016.

This amazing news means that a total of (at least) twenty new Survivors audio adventures will be released by Big Finish between 2014 and 2016.

Series three will focus on the adventures of Abby Grant – and see the return of Jimmy Garland (introduced in the series one TV episode “Garland’s War”, and last seen in the first series finale “A Beginning”); and feature a return trip to the dangerous streets of London.

Big Finish are delighted to announce that there will be more of the much acclaimed Survivors range in 2016…

Survivors – Big Finish’s award-nominated audio version of the classic 1970s BBC1 series – has been confirmed for two further releases beyond this November’s release of Survivors – Series 3.

Producer David Richardson spoke about the news: ‘As I write this, we’re prepping to go into studio for Series 3 (Abby Grant and Jimmy Garland, and a deadly voyage into London…) and signing off edits for the very dark, disturbing Series 2. But plates are spinning for Series 4 – our writers are all attached and coming up with the storylines – and we know where we are going with Series 5. How wonderful that Survivors has become such a success for Big Finish – and what a tribute to Terry Nation’s original idea, and the wonderful cast of actors.’

Survivors – Series 4 will be out in June 2016, followed by Survivors – Series 5 in November 2016. All four coming 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.

The next release in the range is Survivors – Series 2 in June, with more details and a trailer on the link above, while Survivors – Series 1, and star Carolyn Seymour’s evocative reading of the Survivors by Terry Nation novel are both also available.

Big Finish - Survivors series two - front cover
Big Finish – Survivors series two – front cover
Big Finish - Survivors - series one - cover design
Big Finish – Survivors – series one – cover design
Survivors - Terry Nation - Big Finish - audiobook
Survivors – Terry Nation – Big Finish – audiobook

Survivors – The Fourth Horseman – broadcast forty years ago today

Today (16 April 2015) is the fortieth anniversary of the original broadcast of “The Fourth Horseman” (the opening episode of the first series of Survivors). The first ever episode of Survivors was shown at 20:10 on Wednesday 16 April 1975 on BBC 1, and was seen by just over 7m viewers. “The Fourth Horseman” was written by Survivors‘ creator Terry Nation, directed by Pennant Roberts, and introduced the characters of Abby Grant (Carolyn Seymour) and Jenny Richards (Lucy Fleming) – the character of Greg Preston (Ian McCulloch) was introduced in the second episode (“Genesis”).

In The End of the World? The Unofficial and Unauthorised Guide to Survivors, the authors introduce their review of the episode as follows:

“The Fourth Horseman” must rank as one of Terry Nation’s finest single scripts, and sets an incredibly high standard for the drama that will follow. The opening episode of a new drama series imposes multiple challenges for the television writer: the series’ premise must be established; key characters introduced; and audience interest in the fate of the programme’s central characters secured. In the case of Survivors, Nation is required to achieve all that, whilst at the same time evoking a plausible picture of a global catastrophe using only the personal experiences of a few disparate individuals. In doing so, as Anthony Brown observed in DWB in 1993, he ‘avoids all the clichés of disaster fiction.’

The Fourth Horseman - titles

The Fourth Horseman - Abby Grant

The Fourth Horseman - Jenny Richards

Big Finish Survivors series two – first trailer

Big Finish have today (25 March 2015) released the first trailer to promote the forthcoming release of the second box set of new Survivors audio adventures.

Big Finish - Survivors series two - front cover
Big Finish – Survivors series two – front cover



 
Ahead of its June release, the trailer for the second series of Big Finish’s new production of Survivors is now online…

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…

The second series of Big Finish’s award-nominated Survivors series is released in June, and we’re delighted to be able to put the brand new trailer online:

1: Dark Rain

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

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

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

Wounded, split apart and fighting for their lives, the survivors discover that survival isn’t everything…

Survivors series 2 is released in June – to listen to the trailer, or to see more details, or to pre-order on CD or Download at a saving of £5 on either format, click on the link above.

Survivors series 3 is released in November and can be similarly pre-ordered – there will be more details unveiled in coming months – watch this space!

Already available are both the award-nominated full-cast series one, and Carolyn Seymour’s audiobook reading of Terry Nation’s Survivors novel.

Hugh Walters (Vic Thatcher, Survivors) dies at 75

Hugh Walters - Survivors

THE ACTOR HUGH Walters (Vic Thatcher, series one Survivors, “Revenge”- “A Beginning”) has died at the age of 75. Walters, who was was born in Mexborough, Yorkshire, on 2 March 1939, passed away in London on 13 February 2015.

Walters enjoyed a long and successful career as a TV actor, appearing in numerous series including the 1970 version of Ivanhoe, Sentimental Education and Never Say Die. He also appeared in The Fenn Street Gang, The Train Now Standing and three Doctor Who stories: “The Chase” (William Hartnell, 1965), “The Deadly Assassin” (Tom Baker, 1976) and “Revelation of the Daleks” (Colin Baker, 1985).

Walters took over the role of Vic Thatcher part way through the first series of Survivors after the original actor Terry Scully was taken ill and unable to perform in the upcoming episode “Revenge”: the pivotal story for his character. Walters’ introduction in to the role was, at producer Terry Dudley’s insistence, ‘disguised’ by Thatcher’s facial disfigurement in a cry-for-help suicide bid.

Walters excelled in the role, bringing out the vulnerability and warmth in the character of Thatcher (abandoned to his fate by the ruthless Anne Tranter at their quarry hideaway when he is injured in a tractor accident). Walters also captured Thatcher’s devious and deeply driven nature, as he pursues his bid for vengeance against the woman who left him for dead. Thatcher’s eventual acceptance of Tranter’s nature (and her desire for life at any cost) is also sensitively and convincing played by Walters.

By the time of “A Beginning”, Walters’ Thatcher is a more reconciled and enaged figure within the Grange community, contributing to plans to form a new defensive alliance between communities. The character of Thatcher is killed off, along with many others, in the devastating fire which engulfs the Grange at the start of series two. (Vic Thatcher is briefly glimpsed attempting to escape the fire – but Walters did not return to perform this fleeting farewell cameo).

Hugh Thornton Walters (2 March 1939 – 13 February 2015).

Denis Lill – Twelve Angry Men stage tour – first night reviews

Press reviews of the first night performance of the touring stage version of the classic juror drama Twelve Angry Men have included praise for Denis Lill’s striking portrayal of Juror Number 10.

Twelve Angry Men - theatrical tour - 2015

Denis Lill – more familiar as the pipe-smoking, kindly surgeon in TV’s The Royal – is quite magnificent as the bigoted, outspoken and argumentative Juror 10

Barry Dix, Get West London, 29 January 2015

Denis Lill attacks the role of the bigoted fool from hell with everything he has got – although absolutely no chance for light and shade has been provided here by the author.

Francis Batt, Slough and South Bucks Observer, 28 January 2015

Twelve Angry Men - theatrical tour - 2015

Twelve Angry Men, arguably the finest example of its genre, brings together a punchy, fast-moving script, acting of the highest quality and a remarkably realistic set and visual effects to create a quite stunning production.

Tom Conti brings with him to the Theatre Royal, Windsor, many of the cast and crew from the record-breaking production of the play which won so many plaudits during its West End run. He is becoming a familiar face at the venue, returning to Windsor for the third time in little more than a year.

Twelve Angry Men, inspired by the real-life jury experiences of writer Reginald Rose in Manhattan in the early 1950s, was originally a TV play, adapted into an Oscar-nominated film starring Henry Fonda. The stage version was first seen in London in 1964.

After completing its run The Theatre Royal, Windsor (27 January-7 February 2015), Twelve Angry Men begins a national tour, starting in Coventry on 9 February 2015 and concluding in Glasgow on 27 June 2015 (although further dates may follow). Tickets are on sales for venues across the country.

UPDATE, 24 Feb 2015: A review of the play’s run at The King’s Theatre, Edinburgh in the Edinburgh Evening News (24 February) includes further praise for the show and for Lill’s performance.

Tom Conti delivers a smooth performance in the lead role of the lone challenger who cajoles the others into returning a unanimous not guilty verdict, building in intensity from perhaps over-played brooding isolation at the start to powerfully-projected frustrated fury at the climax.

Pick of the other jurors, and of some dodgy American accents, was Denis Lill as the prejudiced garage-owner, who is uncomfortably believable as the closest thing 1950s New York would have had to a UKIP voter.

So too is Andrew Lancel a stand-out as the troubled last-angry-man-standing, whose portrayal of a father estranged from his son is the emotional high-point of the show.

UPDATE, 25 Feb 2015: Another review of the Edinburgh run, is published today in The Herald:

Conti’s world-weary understatement as the play opens is a deceptive foil to his fellow jurors as he quietly but determinedly changes everybody’s mind. While unexpected gales of gallows humour ripple throughout, it is the ferocious bluster of Denis Lill’s Juror 10 and especially Andrew Lancel’s fierce turn as Juror 3, lashing out at his own estranged son by proxy, that defines the production.

Lucy Fleming and Simon Williams at ‘Taken at Midnight’ after-party

 

LONDON, ENGLAND – JANUARY 26: Lucy Fleming (L) and Simon Williams attend an after party following the press night performance of ‘Taken At Midnight‘ at The Institute of Directors on January 26, 2015 in London, England. (Photo by David M. Benett/Getty Images)

Big Finish’s Matt Fitton shortlisted for award for Survivors audio script

Scriptwriter and script editor Matt Fitton’s story for “Revelation” (the opening episode of the first series of new Survivors audio adventures from Big Finish) has been shortlisted for an award.

After being selected from the ‘long list’ of contenders, “Revelation” has now been shortlisted in the ‘Best Online / Non-Broadcast’ category of the 2014 BBC Audio Awards.

The winners will be announced at an awards ceremony on Sunday 1 February 2015 held at the Radio Theatre at BBC Broadcasting House in London, and hosted by Helen Boaden, Director of BBC Radio.

Last year, Big Finish won an award in the the same category for Doctor Who: Dark Eyes. Big Finish is in the running for a second award this year. Alex Jordan has also been nominated in the ‘Best Actor or Actress in a Debut Role’, for his performance as Captain Robert Walton in Big Finish’s Frankenstein.

Big Finish - Survivors - series one - cover design
Big Finish – Survivors – series one – cover design