The Day of the Triffids (2009 TV Series)   Starring: Dougray Scott, Joely Richardson, Eddie Izzard, Brian Cox, Vanessa Redgrave and Jason Priestley Showbox Home Entertainment RRP: £19.99 SBX427 Certificate: 15 Available 01 February 2010

With traditional global fuel sources dwindling, mankind's search for an alternative has led to the cultivation and harvesting of the Triffid, a relatively newly discovered plant rich in oil extracts. When a highly anticipated, worldwide solar storm results in the billions of spectators who witness it being rendered totally blind, civilized society begins to collapse leaving those few sighted survivors to watch helplessly as disorder unfolds. Amidst the chaos, the once-captive Triffids find freedom and, with a voracious appetite for human flesh, begin roaming the planet, evolving and breeding rapidly as they descend upon towns and cities in search of food. With mankind facing imminent annihilation, it is left to a select few people to take a stand against the Triffids' reign of terror and fight an epic battle to save the future of the human race...

The Day of the Triffids 2009 TV series is the latest adaptation of John Wyndham's classic sci-fi novel. Spread across two 90-minute episodes, this series was originally broadcast on BBC1 on 28 and 29 December 2009.

This version stars Dougray Scott as Bill Masen, Joely Richardson as Jo Playton (Josella in the original book) and Eddie Izzard as Torrence (a new character, but is designed to be a more modern version of the book's Beadley).

It also stars Jason Priestley as Coker, Brian Cox as Dennis Masen and Vanessa Redgrave as Durrant (who only appears briefly).

As a modern take on the classic, this two-part series isn't half bad. There's quite a bit of below average acting (more to do with the occasional spot of poor scripted dialogue) and some of the situations are a little too ridiculous (like Torrence's survival of the air crash at the beginning of the film and his rather strange decision to immediately reinvent himself and pretend that his real identity died in the wreckage of the plane. Now there might be a good reason for this, but it's never explored.

Is the lack of any back story to Eddie Izzard's character inspired (it's refreshing sometimes to see a character for what they are without understanding what makes them tick), or due to lazy script writing? Personally I thought it a little lazy. Maybe if we knew more about his background we'd understand why he immediately made his way to Downing Street and managed to take control of the ragtag army that had been formed.

I also felt that the plot took so long to build and the script tried to fit too much in (building love story, Bill's estranged relationship with his father, Torrence's power struggle and Bill and Jo getting separated and having their own storylines for a while) that the closing acts just rushed forward too quickly. Again, this could be to hide weak plot points - like why on earth after years of Triffid experience Bill's father lets his guard down so easily, and how did Cocker get to join the Isle of Wight group so soon and why was he flying a plane dropping leaflets about this group?

The most impressive aspect of the production is how the cinematographer has managed to shoot this in such a way that it looks like a much more lavish production.

Extras include six deleted scenes; a Making of documentary (34 min, 03 sec); and more interviews than you can shake a Triffid at (all of the main cast are interviewed as well as several of the key crew members).

While it could have been a lot more polished, the end result isn't half bad.

6

Darren Rea