In his 'TV Zone' reviews of BBC SURVIVORS video releases,Ian McCulloch comments: "...contrary to my worst fears they remain as fresh and original as ever."
I hadn't seen the first series since 1975, and was pleased to see SURVIVORS in the satellite listings (Nov '93). Only I don't have satellite, and at the time, no VCR...
The club/drinking establishment where I have membership has Sky. I figured I'd pop in there and watch UK Gold. Shouldn't be a problem, early evening (it was a 7.00pm slot). Only trouble was, I had to contend with the kids who got in there to drink cheap beer whilst watching the terrestrial soaps they could easily have watched at home. It wasn't easy. Anyhow, I did manage to collar the remote, figure out how the hell it worked, and sat back to watch my first episode in sixteen years...
With the appearance of the bus and the Landrover out of the fog at the beginning of GARLAND'S WAR, just before the title card, I was suddenly, definitely back in SURVIVORS and just as gripped as I had been in '75. And that's how it began - again...
There were times when the soap crowd made a point of beating me to the remote, and I had to use various pubs to catch episodes before I found the regular Sunday noon slot where I managed to finish the rest of SURVIVORS in peace. The only problem then was if a Grand Prix was televised! At such times, the racing fans would look at me askance, viewing as I was this classic drama series when I should have been watching cars racing round and hopefully crashing, like any normal person...
But Ian was right; my reaction on seeing the show again was exactly the same. The strength of the stories, the production and the settings outweigh the nostalgia value.
Now, in these later years, I have my VCR and the complete series to watch at will - and I still do...
Can any other 70's viewers tell a similar tale?
