Monday 18 March 2013

The Day of The Triffids (1981)


British DVD Cover

This was one of the best things ide ever seen when i watched this, I had kinda missed the whole "The Professionals" thing the first time around & that was about half way through the series when i was granted being old enough to watch it lol.

But, The Day of The Triffids i got to see from beginning to the end, and i loved it, was kinda gutted when it finished tbh.

As a kid i never got to watch much Tv, my folks had that "Children should be seen and not heard... or even not seen tbh"

So with that really bad philosophy... Movies, Tv and Music was pretty limited during my childhood, which is a shame really because one day i just realized i could play the piano, yeah i know.. how random...


But you no spending time on your own with not much to do as a kid really does build your imagination & your creativity.  It pushed the boundaries of "their is no such thing as board" and  if you can close your eyes and just imagine walking to your front door and opening it and looking round and you can't see anyone...  well you wouldn't with your eyes shut.. mmmm mind the cat.... and you forgot to get dressed, curtains are twitching... Also Remember please don't read my blog while your naked.....

I can truly enjoy watching this just as much as just closing my eyes and listening to the BBC radio versions, I think the Audio Isn't bad, but the Radio Broadcast has more voices to it making it more enjoyable than just someone reading it out to you.

So anyways.. Imagine your bill, last night most of the world were watching a comet flying close to the earth and making the sky look all wonderful... meanwhile everyone's retinas get impacted like no one could of imagined... Add that to the Killer Plants that also walk they were growing & farming them for oil....
Hell.. who needs Zombies when you got Killer Triffids on the streets....
Luckily bill had already hurt his eyes sometime before this solar event, so his eyes were protected from the meteor shower.

Opening scene, As bill lays in a hospital bed unable to sleep, he decides to take that opportunity to tell the Triffid Story. His friend wanted him to make a note of how things began with triffid farming & the origin of the species.
Back then many people used to send a tape rather than writing a letter, yet oddly today with the technology of Computers & Email, most people would never think of hitting record & just sending an MP3.. I mean why type it?  Bill soon finds it hard to concentrate when he realizes just how quiet it is around him and how silent it is outside.  While hes trying to figure out the time when the local clock tower chimes its bells, at which point Bill realizes the nurses should of been in with breakfast by now, yet their is total silence everywhere, and pushing his call button and shouting for the nurse brings no one or any sound.

After turning on the radio, all stations are off the air,
Being worried at the total silence he decides to remove his bandages in the hopes he can see (they were meant to be removed today anyway he though, so why not) Upon removing them he finds that he can actually see & leaves his room to go find out whats happening.
Then out of nowhere a male voice speaks and bill realizes that its his doctor and he is blind, just like everyone else in the hospital, in fact just like most people in the whole of the world..



When he steps outside the streets seam empty and then he spots a young girl playing in a car, when she sees him she runs into her home & he quickly follows her, because shes the only other person he's seen who can see.   Inside he meets her father who is blind (lucky for the little girl she was sent to bed and missed the light show)  Its at that point the revelation comes that anyone watching this thing last night is now blind. When he finishes his drink, he leaves them to go outside and see just how bad things are.

Outside he is faced with a world of angry people and scared people. Those who are blind are shouting for help and trying to capture sighted people. Along his way through the city he sees nothing but chaos and realizes that this really is it and its really happening, also probably wishing he was still in the hospital with his eyes covered telling his triffid story..... Triffids.... he'd almost forgot about them but now realizes it wont be long before the electricity goes off which at that point.. the triffids will break down the fences and escape..
Bill Masen played by John Duttine...


After wandering round he hears a woman screaming and struggling so he heads off to help her, when he's confronted by a blind man who has her tied to by the wrist to his wrist. Bill helps her escape and they both head to a pub to get a drink.  He learns that the reason she can see is that last night she went to bed early and had taken 2 sleeping pills, so when she awoke today, she was faced with the same world that bill was. They end up spending the night in a high end show flat, yet unable to sleep with all the noise outside when they notice a light in the distance, someone sending a signal. 

They plan to head towards the location of the light in the morning.
Jo Payton, played by Emma Relph...

They make it to the location of the light they saw to find a gathering of sighted people getting ready to gather supplies before they leave the city before any diseases or anything happens. Given a gun and a shopping list they head out to gather anything they can in 2 army trucks to help with the move.
He also picks up some Anti Triffid supplies, but when he gets back the people in charge are not happy with it taking up space in one of the trucks, and as usual the people in charge fail to listen to the people in the know...



Their are a couple of sighted people who believe those who can see should be chained up to people who can't see and be used like a servant... and should do so..Until this imaginary help arrives to take over... little do these people realize that this is a Global Crisis and every country has suffered the same fate, help isn't coming... It never will.
When the people who are leaving town tomorrow head off for an early night an American sets up a fake fire and while sighted people try to evacuate the building their captured and taken away. Next day they are introduced to....

 Jack Coker played by Maurice Colbourne

Jacks plan is to pair off 1 sighted with 7 or 8 blind and have them set up around the town in hotels and such until help arrives, which means Bill and Jo are separated and shipped off to alternate locations.

As bill gets to know the people hes helping life becomes a little easier. After loosing a couple of them to a nutter with a gun bills finally released from his handcuffs, yet still stays with them to help.
Over time though it appears that the blindness is followed by a sickness and is starting to kill them off one by one, just before bill leaves he hands one of the last of them some pills to ease the suffering and then decides to head off to try and find Jo, but instead runs right into the guy who took him away from Jo....



 Jack turns up at the town hall while Bill is already their looking for any clues as to where they were leaving to before the night of the raid, in hopes that Jo may of done the same. Jack says he turned up to make his peace with them and now regrets not getting out of town before any sickness began, sadly its to late now for those who have died but all's bill wants to do now is find Joe, so off they travel in two army trucks to the location that they left written on the board inside the town hall.... Bill finds shes not their and jack doesn't like her way of thinking so they both leave.



Everywhere they go over time appears to be a lost cause and lots of death, whether it be Triffid or Sickness related seams irrelevant. As the world around them is getting more and more covered in Triffids, more and more people are dying of the illness or being stung & eaten by the triffids.
Jack decides that searching for others is to late and heads back to the manor to make sure they are more prepared than they were when he left. Bill decides to head onward looking for Jo and realizes just where she could be (a place she mentioned that night in the show flat) now Bill just has to find it...
As the series rolls on over the 6 episodes, roughly 30 minuets each, we get a much better glimpse into a triffid world compared to the 1952 Movie, and this 1981 series is as close to the book "visually" as i have seen to date..

Will he find Joe..  Will they beat the triffids, will they be able to fight off the scavengers and low lives when the food starts to run low... watch the classic series to find out....


NOTE: 01
The BBC Released this on DVD with a cool little 12 Page Collectors Booklet,
the UK Region 2 PAL DVD UPC Code is   5014503145224  and it has all 6 Episodes on 1 Disc
Searching online for the red code should list most the company's that sell it....

NOTE: 02
Besides the radio BBC radio broadcast versions & AudioBooks, this is about as close to the original book "Visually" as it gets. Although it was re-made as a Two Part mini series in 2009 using CGI and a bigger budget... I personally still prefer the radio broadcast versions and this 1981 series.

NOTE: 03
I only know of 3 radio broadcast versions from the BBC
One is a 6 Part Series adapted for radio by Giles Cooper and each part was approx 30 mins each
(it featured)  Patrick Barr / Monica Grey

The other version adapted for radio was by Lance Dan was just a Two Part version,
part1 = 47 mins, part 2 = 57 mins, first transmitted on BBC Wales Radio

NOTE: 04
Their is a sort of sequel to John Wyndham's original story by Simon Clark, but its only ever been released as a Book called "The Night of the Triffids" and their IS an Audio, Tape Cassette, Audio book available for this sequel to, Steven Pacey :D

NOTE: 05
On the internet this has been pirated in 3 Parts (that was because each part was an hour each) and you will find most "people" selling this illegally are selling that version with the UK Gold Tv channel logo on.
You can buy this as a Genuine BBC DVD really cheep on Amazon, so i would avoid the pirate releases, also be sure to try and get the edition with the little 20 page booklet & remember, this was mass produced, its not a rarity that you should have to pay through the nose for...

Some Menu Shots From The Official DVD Release

DVD Main Menu

DVD Episode Selection


Subtitles Choice

 Some Desk Top Wallpapers 1024x768










Some Promo Photos




  
UK UPC: 5014503145224
USA UPC:
UK ASIN:  B0006GVKE8
USA ASIN:  B000TSTEO6


Also don't forget to check out the 2009 Two Part Re-Make  here

Day of the Triffids FaceBook Fan Page here

An audio editor in the UK took music "his own music" and dubbed it over a section of the "Night Of The Triffids" the sequel book, It's over on YouTube, he also added sound effects and ambiance, making the 2001 Audio story sound so much cooler, and it gave it a hint of the 1981 series style...
  It can be heard here

Also another guy on YouTube did a Video Review that isn't to bad, here

Please remember to RATE this Series below the blog post, add your recommendation tick to help others, also please follow my blog....


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