Science Fiction 101

Fifty years ago, schoolboy Phil was knocked out by a British science fiction TV show, the post-apocalyptic Survivors . Created by Terry Nation - who also created Doctor Who 's recurring enemy the Daleks and Blakes Seven  -  Survivors  ran for three seasons. And it's had a long afterlife as a cult favourite, and as a long-running audio drama starring many of the original cast. Survivors  was about a plague which wipes out  99.998% of the world's population, and its aftermath. It follows the struggles of a handful of British people to survive and rebuild after the collapse of civilisation. It's uncomfortably close to what we all experienced when COVID-19 came along, but thankfully COVID wasn't as deadly as the  Survivors  plague.    Today, Phil has persuaded Colin to take a first look at this sometimes harrowing (but ultimately life-affirming) '70s classic, and together they discuss some selected episodes from the series. As we announ...

Our next podcast episode will drop on 28th August, and we'd like to give you a heads-up on what we're covering - in case you'd like to do the "homework" preparation! We're going to review the classic BBC science fiction drama series  Survivors  (1975-1977).       Survivors  was created by  Doctor Who  writer Terry Nation, the guy who created the Daleks. Nation also wrote for the John Steed/Tara King era of  The Avengers,  and later created  Blakes Seven . This is one major TV SF writer! Survivors  was about a plague which wipes out  99.998% of the world's population, and its aftermath. It follows the struggles of a handful of British people to survive and rebuild after the collapse of civilisation. It's uncomfortably close to what we all experienced when COVID-19 came along, but thankfully COVID wasn't as deadly as the  Survivors  plague.  If you would like to watch some of  Survivors , so as to get the...