Survivors - Series 01

Result: A plausibly real and graphic series depicting the take down of the human race by a virus that ravages the world and murders a huge chunk of the population. That absolutely should resonate with the bulk of the population of this planet. Of course this first series was pre-pandemic, which makes it chillingly aware of where things are going and just how disturbing things could have ended up. Terry Nation often had his finger on the pulse. There is an air of disquiet throughout this releases that automatically elevates it above the majority of Big Finish's other ranges, a sense that this could actually happen. That the desperation of the human race to behave in appalling ways if the basic structure of society and law and order fell apart is chillingly accurate. The tension is palpable. Especially in first episode, Revelation by Matt Fitton, which is essentially a remake of the original pilot of TV series but introduces us to a whole new set of regulars (and brilliantly, not ALL the regulars, which means people come and go in these pockets of survivors, just as would happen in real life) and people still have a sense of hope that this illness will sweep through the population and life can be resumed once it has done its work. We know where this is heading and that life will never be the same again and so much of the tension is waiting for the other characters to catch up. There's a swift pace to this episodes, the deaths of the characters friends and family comes fairly rapidly and whilst it is contained to England there is still a real sense of spread to the setting. There is definitely a sense of don't get too close to anybody because if the sickness doesn't get them, the human beings exploiting it will. Chase Masterson and Terry Molloy make the strongest impression here, trapped in an airport with the sick and trying to figure out the scale of the situation. 

Exodus by Jonathan Morris ups the ante considerably in turns of character drama and doesn't have the purpose of introducing the concept of the series and can just show people reacting to the situation they have found themselves in. I thought it was the strongest of the four, and the one that truly revealed the depths of horror and emotion of the scenario that goes above and beyond the norm of BF's Doctor Who releases. Jackie Burchall is memorably introduced caring for her family (who we never hear talk) and I was just waiting for the moment when the episode told us that her husband and children are already dead and there was a frightening inevitability to that expectation. Louise Jameson's raw and devastated reaction to hearing the words said aloud is something that you will never forget. She's the strongest of an incredible cast that has bought into the reality of this horror completely. The twist later that she killed them herself to spare them from the plague and committed suicide never expecting to wake up is bleak in a way that Terry Nation excelled at. It feels like a very real reaction to a horrible situation, but is shocking operatic drama at the same time. I had goose bumps. Two characters that you think might be regulars are wiped out here too, as a community that has risen up out of the nightmare and is prepared to go to any lengths to ensure that their way of life isn't threatened. Having our heroes find salvation only to have it snatched away as they realise that a new kind of terrifying martial law a hold of this community with a chilling figure at its core, James Gillison, who will go to any lengths to keep control and things working his way. As two characters that we thought were regulars are shot in the back and one barely gets away with her life you realise that nobody is safe anymore. This is the most overtly scary instalment. I genuinely feared for the characters lives. 

Gillison gets real focus in Judges by Andrew Smith, a drama that brings characters from the TV series into the fold. He's astonishingly played by Adrian Lukis, who gives him a sense of moral righteousness and true belief that he is right to behave in the way that he is. I absolutely believe that this kind of egomaniac would seize control if this scenario played out, that somebody would wind a community around their finger and murder anybody that threatened to even doubt it let alone act out against it. The communities in England are exchanging food and Gillison suspects that the group they are trading with are trying to poison them and thus begins as tense sequence where he goes to trade with a plan to wipe them all out. The Survivors need to try and warn them and a plan is hatched to try and stop the raid. Just who reveals to Gillison what they are planning might surprise you. It shows that this show isn't going to take the easy route. The raid takes place and lots of people die and I realised this wasn't Doctor Who territory where things tend to end well. I thought this was the weakest of the four - it wasn't setting up the story, it didn't have any overtly interesting character work (although this does flesh out Gillison more) and it doesn't have the claustrophobia of the finale - but it is still a brilliant listen. Let that be an endorsement of how good the set is as a whole. This also where they successfully integrate the new audio characters with the TV ones and it feels like a perfectly natural fit. I'm pleased they left it this long to allow the original characters to bed in. 

Things come to a head in Esther by John Dorney, where the Survivors (both old and new) are trapped within Gillison's community and facing execution. Essentially this is an hour of this nightmare within a nightmare and it looks like nobody is going to get out alive. Gillison is willing to go without a fight and I really liked how the series refused to salvage the character, whilst it still gave him a motivation for why he was behaving so appallingly. Sometimes people have gone too far and they cannot be brought back to edge. 

There's something palpably exciting about a first series that gets things as right as this that means that that excitement can never quite be captured again and Survivors starts on such a strong and unforgettable series of stories I cannot see how they will top this for sheer drama in the future. Ken Bentley deserves huge kudos for his bravura direction of this piece. He has executed so many Doctor Who's at this point that he understands the medium completely but this is a cut above even his very best work elsewhere. There's a conviction to the sound design, a willingness to deliver this in as a real a fashion as possible with minimal (and well chosen) music and a willingness to cast outside of the box. Chase Masterson shows know signs of Vienna as Maddie Price, Louise Jameson couldn't be further from Leela as the tortured Jackie Burchall but the standout turn for me was Adrian Lukis, who injects Gillison with real steel and believability. That could have been a ranting villain role and he is chillingly real. 

Bravo to everybody concerned, this is brave in a way I haven't seen from Big Finish in years: 9/10 (8/10, 10/10, 7/10, 9/10 respectively)