The Day of the Triffids (BBC)

Archive transfer - originally posted June 23rd 2005

I loved this six-part series so much. Having never read the book by John Wyndham, all I really knew about the story was from my sparse memories of the series being shown on TV originally in the 1980s. I remember it was creepy, it was scary and the Triffids were ace.
The Day of the Triffids was made in the era of tight budgets on similar genre programmes such as Doctor Who and Blake's 7, but that financial restraint really doesn't show here. Granted, there isn't much need for a huge budget to pay for ever-changing sets or special effects (there is a sumptuous amount of location filming), but the series is produced so professionally that there are no wobbly sets or clumsy acting (although for some obscure reason the usually brilliant Maurice Colbourne puts in a real clunker of a performance in episode six).
The Triffids themselves are realised surprisingly well. They're obviously BBC Visual Effects models, but they're never rubbish, and the way by which they move - and the eerie knocking against their bases in communication - is very effective. The sting effect is well done too, so top marks for the realisation of the one aspect of the story that could have turned a solid drama into a hammy mess.
The star of the show is undoubtedly John Duttine who puts in a superb, dependable performance throughout (and cheered me up no end when he stripped to the waist in episode six to reveal a forest of chest hair! Pity about the beard though).
I love the fact the story focuses much more on the human situation, and leaves the monsters in the background. How humanity would react to an apocalyptic set of events such as the Triffid invasion is depicted wonderfully by showing one-on-one human interaction, and also demonstrating the different ways factions might form and decide to take the future of civilisation in different ways - sometimes feudal, sometimes equal, sometimes fascistic. This focus on the humans puts the Triffids out of focus, which is a little disappointing in that over six episodes we learn almost nothing about them, why this has happened, how this has happened and where they came from. No doubt this is intentional, to shroud the enemy in mystery, but after three hours I would have liked a few ideas as to why I was watching the series!
All in all a brilliant series - adult, professional, thoughtful and realistic. Only Gary Olsen's sideburns detract from what was a formidable adaptation of a great story. So good, in fact, that you get the feeling they never need remake or adapt the book again. It's been done once, it's been done well, and if you have ever seen the 1962 Steve Sekely version, you'll agree with me!*

* Doctor Who fans might be interested to learn that this film version has an early appearance from actress Carole Ann Ford as Bettina.

The Day of the Triffids, originally transmitted September 10th - October 15th 1981.
Written by Douglas Livingstone from the John Wyndham novel; directed by Ken Hannam.