The John Wyndham sci-fi novel THE DAY OF THE TRIFFIDS has long been a favourite of mine; it's a fantastic piece of writing, up there with the calibre of H. G. Wells. Sadly, the story has never translated particularly well to the screen, and it says something that when you search for the title on the IMDb the two results that first come up are the 1963 film - which changed so much from the book that it was almost unrecognisable - and the 2009 BBC adaptation, which was so terrible it's not worth mentioning.
However, this 1981 miniseries version of the story is the most authentic one out there, and seen today it's actually very good. Sure, this production suffers from the usual problems of the era, from the cheapness of the cameras making it look at times like an amateur film, and the occasional stodginess of the narrative, to the stilted dialogue and some bad acting (Emma Relph is a particular disappointment). But THE DAY OF THE TRIFFIDS overcomes these problems to provide exciting, fast-paced entertainment.
There are six episodes here and the first one is the worst, unwisely throwing in tons of back story and exposition which makes the pace crawl along. Things pick up in the second episode, and all of the major plot points from the book are covered here and in detail. I particularly liked the way that writer Douglas Livingstone kept all of the important subtext from the book, Wyndham's musings on the importance of society and the like, and incorporated it into the backdrop here. The rubber triffids make for an acceptable menace, and the filming locations are all fine; overall it feels realistic throughout, and I particularly liked the handling of the blind population and the late introduction of the ruthless soldiers. I'm a huge fan of BBC TV from the 1980s and this is another string to the bow of a production company that could once do no wrong.
However, this 1981 miniseries version of the story is the most authentic one out there, and seen today it's actually very good. Sure, this production suffers from the usual problems of the era, from the cheapness of the cameras making it look at times like an amateur film, and the occasional stodginess of the narrative, to the stilted dialogue and some bad acting (Emma Relph is a particular disappointment). But THE DAY OF THE TRIFFIDS overcomes these problems to provide exciting, fast-paced entertainment.
There are six episodes here and the first one is the worst, unwisely throwing in tons of back story and exposition which makes the pace crawl along. Things pick up in the second episode, and all of the major plot points from the book are covered here and in detail. I particularly liked the way that writer Douglas Livingstone kept all of the important subtext from the book, Wyndham's musings on the importance of society and the like, and incorporated it into the backdrop here. The rubber triffids make for an acceptable menace, and the filming locations are all fine; overall it feels realistic throughout, and I particularly liked the handling of the blind population and the late introduction of the ruthless soldiers. I'm a huge fan of BBC TV from the 1980s and this is another string to the bow of a production company that could once do no wrong.