In my review of the 1962 film adaption of DAY OF THE TRIFFIDS I made the point that there`s a suggestion that the triffids are commies . Well in this adaption they go one better and we find out triffids ARE killer commie plants ! It`s revealed that triffids are originally plants modified in the USSR and sold to the greedy capitilist west in order to find a new fuel source . I digress
This is a very good adaption of a classic and complex SF novel . What producer David Maloney has refused to do is to dumb down the adaption into a humanity V man eating plants pot boiler . As in the book the main plot revolves around nearly all of humanity being blinded by a comet shower and sighted protagonists struggling to build a civilization of sorts . I suppose this may have disappointed people who tuned into the programme expecting to see something along the lines of the DOCTOR WHO story THE SEEDS OF DOOM but praise should be given for keeping to the book . The only criticisms I can put to this adaption is that the budget could have been a bit higher and episode one suffers badly from obvious expostion as Bill Masen recounts the history of the triffids into a tape recorder .
I`ve little idea how this show was recieved with critics and viewers because it was broadcast against CORONATION ST at 7.30 on Wednesday evenings . Traditionally in Britain if a BBC show gets shown against CORONATION ST it gets stuffed in the ratings . BLAKES 7 - Another SF show produced by Maloney - was also scheduled against Corry in the late 70s . You have to wonder if someone at the BBC didn`t like Maloney !
This is a very good adaption of a classic and complex SF novel . What producer David Maloney has refused to do is to dumb down the adaption into a humanity V man eating plants pot boiler . As in the book the main plot revolves around nearly all of humanity being blinded by a comet shower and sighted protagonists struggling to build a civilization of sorts . I suppose this may have disappointed people who tuned into the programme expecting to see something along the lines of the DOCTOR WHO story THE SEEDS OF DOOM but praise should be given for keeping to the book . The only criticisms I can put to this adaption is that the budget could have been a bit higher and episode one suffers badly from obvious expostion as Bill Masen recounts the history of the triffids into a tape recorder .
I`ve little idea how this show was recieved with critics and viewers because it was broadcast against CORONATION ST at 7.30 on Wednesday evenings . Traditionally in Britain if a BBC show gets shown against CORONATION ST it gets stuffed in the ratings . BLAKES 7 - Another SF show produced by Maloney - was also scheduled against Corry in the late 70s . You have to wonder if someone at the BBC didn`t like Maloney !