Ask JKM a Question #34: Post-Apocalyptic British Television?

A reader named Dan asks:

“My question for you is: do you have any plans to review post-apocalyptic TV shows broadcast in Great Britain in the 70s and 80s? 

You have reviewed many of the US TV shows from that genre and time, such as Ark II, Logan's Run and Return to the Planet of the Apes.  I would love to read your reviews of BBC shows such as The Changes, Survivors, Threads, Tripods or Day of the Triffids?

That’s an excellent question, Dan, and I thank you for posing it here. 

I’m a huge admirer of British television, and love the post-apocalyptic milieu, so I do hope to feature some of the very programs you mention above. 

I did review the premiere of Survivors (1975 – 1977) -- a series I love -- here.  That is a terrific show, from Blake’s 7 creator Terry Nation, and I have no doubt I’ll return to it. 

I have been trying to get my hands on an affordable copy of The Tripods for the better part of a year that will play on a Region 1 DVD device.  I watched both seasons religiously when they aired on American PBS stations in the mid-1980s, but have not seen the series since that time.  I am actively pursuing this one, and would love to revisit this series.

Threads (1984) is one of the grimmest, darkest, most-depressing made-for-television movies I’ve ever seen, and I’ve been hiding from it ever since I saw it in my high-school Social Studies class.  I should probably watch it again, because I do remember that it was beautifully and brilliantly conceived and executed. 

I have never seen the TV version of Day of the Triffids (1981), but remember reading about it in the pages of Starlog long, long ago.  If I recall correctly, the series ran for just one season of six episodes.  I’d love to watch it, and see that it is currently available for free streaming for Prime customers at Amazon, so it looks like a good candidate for a retrospective or review. 

I know very little about The Changes (1975), except that it aired in 1975 and concerned a modern England that has disowned modern technology and other 20^th century conveniences.  I would love to see this one too, but I don’t think it’s currently available on any (official) at-home format. 

So for right now, I’m pursuing The Tripods, and will get my hands on Day of the Triffids.  I may have to work up to Threads, however...

Thanks, Dan!

Don’t forget to ask me your questions at Muirbusiness@yahoo.com.