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new BBC day of the Triffids

Started by Proudhuff, 15 June, 2009, 12:21:44 PM

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Bouwel

QuoteI've just heard that some of the old BBC version was filmed where I live.

That little production guide has a presumably complete list of filming locations.

-Bouwel-
-A person's mind can be changed by reading information on the internet. The nature of this change will be from having no opinion to having a wrong opinion-

DavidXBrunt

There's an excellent radio version of this included in the Beebs Classic Radio Sci-fi range. Well worth a listen for the changes it makes to suit the structure. Plus, you know, Peter Sallis. God amongst actors.

Albion

Quote from: "Bouwel"That little production guide has a presumably complete list of filming locations.

-Bouwel-

Thanks, I hadn't looked at that earlier.
It confirms what I had heard it says "In the BBC adaptation, they used a building in the correct area, on the road between Pulborough and Billingshurst."

I live in Billingshurst and work in Pulborough.
The village I grew up in, West Chiltington, is where the road called Wyndham Lea is.
Dumb all over, a little ugly on the side.

Sefton Disney

Day Of The Triffids, The Midwich Cuckoos, The Kraken Wakes and The Chrysalids - godly books, one and all. Wyndham is one of the unsung heroes of British SF, I reckon. I always feel he's rather denigrated by critics who refer to his books as "cosy catastrophes". In many ways, I think his work bears comparison with Nevil Shute's - another terminally unfashionable but extremely skillful novelist (and, of course, Shute wrote one of the the all time great doomsday novels, too).

His books are very much of their time, so I think you would have to update them a fair bit to make them work in 2009. But the concepts are brilliant and that's what really sells them today. I have very fond memories of the 1980s version - that title sequence scared the living hell out of me, every week! (I still think the blonde is really hot, by the way.)

It's certainly a fine cast, so fingers crossed.

BTW, am I the only person who thinks the John Carpenter version of Village Of The Damned is cruelly under-rated? Given how 1950s-British The Midwich Cuckoos is, I thought he did a pretty bang-up job.

Mardroid

The one with Christopher Reeve?  I thought that was a fairly decent film.

Sefton Disney

What a relief! I thought it was just me. It always seems to get slagged off, even in books about Carpenter, but I can't see what's so wrong with it. Then, a lot of may favourite Carpenter films seem to get slagged - Especially Prince Of Darkness and In The Mouth Of Madness.

Tiplodocus

Caught a couple of episodes of this last night on BBC 4.

It was quite good actually - I can't recall watching it back in 1981 though - odd as it's the sort of thing I would have been into as a 17 year old.

It was interesting to see how relatively "quiet" it was compared to today's dramas.  Not too much in the way of intrusive music and a particularly clever bit of tenision building using, often, only the clicking of the triffids as the background noise.

I can see how updating some special effects - especially the stingers - might help with the willing suspension of disbelief though.

I was also slightly confused by the structure of the first episode probably because I came in after about ten minutes.  I always had it in my head that it opens with him blind and in hospital but it seemed to start with a conversation on a triffid farm before cutting to the hospital.  I'm guessing I've seen too many "homages".
Be excellent to each other. And party on!

TordelBack

Nah, starts in the hospital - the history/farm flashback is Our Beardy Hero conveniently reminiscing into a dictaphone - 'twas on a Triffid farm that he was stung/blinded (again).

House of Usher

STRIKE !!!

Mardroid

On tonight! I'm looking forward to this.

Mike Gloady

I'll give it a go.  These days I'm very tired very early in the evening and can barely move my thumb to change channelszzzzzzzz.
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COMMANDO FORCES

I think this will be added to the watch when we have the time list ::)

TordelBack

Is it a good sign that I'm typing this instead of persisting with watching it?  My initial feeling is that they should have ditched Bill, Jo and the Triffids, and just gone with Eddie Izzard: Submarine Designer At The End of The World.  

To be fair, we are taping the rest for later, but that's as far as our interest could take us.

SamuelAWilkinson

I thought that was mothershitting terrific, especially Eddie fucking Izzard. In fact, it was so tosswanking good I had to add all these nobcheesing expletives into my post.

Cunting yeah.
Nobody warned me I would be so awesome.

Buttonman

I thought it was OK but didn't see any reason to insert Eddie Izzard's character or to lose Bill's authoritive beard from the 1981 version. Tomorrow's looks worse with added nuns but I'm sure I'll stay for the durtion.

There were pretty clear breaks after every 30 minutes and I wonder if this was shot as a six parter which they later chose to stick together into two 90 minute blocks to put on over the Christmas break when everyone is hepped up on Baileys and Quality Street. Missed Gary Oldman too although the Izzard character was probably meant to be an updating of his.