The Day of The Triffids - BBC Remake (2009)

[Purdy Bear]

Re: Day of the Triffids. 28th Dec 21:00 BBC1

Its more a remake of the series, not much like the original novel (which I studied some 20 years ago at school, so please excuse it if I'm wrong).

I thought the plane bit was daft, I think an email to Mythbusters might be handy.

I enjoyed it though!

 

[HareBrain]

Re: Day of the Triffids. 28th Dec 21:00 BBC1

Is there any way I can specify that my licence fee in future goes only on making nature programmes and Bargain Hunt?

Ep 2 was truly dreadful. I think it elicited more groans of "Oh, God ..." than any other programme I've seen.

 

[Ursa major]

Re: Day of the Triffids. 28th Dec 21:00 BBC1

Well, HB, if you're not going to give the episode your undivided attention....


I can't say that I was that impressed either. The pacing was a bit strange: it seemed to slow down in odd places (although, I will admit that some of the slower moments towards the end may have been in the service of the rather contrived ending).

Among many less-than-believable things, I thought that the way Uncle Tom Cobley and All could find a place that didn't seem to be marked on even a local map - well done that pilot/navigator - stuck out; as did the triffids in the wood near the abbey, who seemed to be on a permanent diet. (All other triffids go hell for leather - as much as they can, that is - across any terrain, even when unsure that food's ahead, while that bunch waited patiently while they were fed the occasional titbit.)

 

[blacknorth]

Re: Day of the Triffids. 28th Dec 21:00 BBC1

WTF!

What the freak was all that mumbo-jumbo at the end?

Why didn't they just take Wyndham's name off the credits and call it something else?

I think I'm going to have to email a complaint to the beeb, something I rarely do, but they just can't be allowed to get away with this kind of crap.

 

[Dave]

Re: Day of the Triffids. 28th Dec 21:00 BBC1

Okay, so I have recorded both parts of this to watch at some future point in time.

Reading through this thread it does not look like it is something worth wasting 3 hours of my life on. Is it really that bad? I actually watched 'The Hangover' and 'The Holiday' films instead - surely they must be worse? And why can there not be a faithful adaptation of the book? Why do they always have to mess around with it?

 

[HareBrain]

Re: Day of the Triffids. 28th Dec 21:00 BBC1

Dave, was the 1981 BBC version so bad? I watched a few episodes of it last night, the first time I'd seen it since it was first shown (it's been lurking on my HD recorder since it was reshown on BBC4 a couple of years ago), and though it had its faults I liked it a lot more than last night's fiasco.

 

[purple_kathryn]

Re: Day of the Triffids. 28th Dec 21:00 BBC1

Its more a remake of the series, not much like the original novel (which I studied some 20 years ago at school, so please excuse it if I'm wrong).

I thought the plane bit was daft, I think an email to Mythbusters might be handy.

I enjoyed it though!

You got to read this in school? I'm jealous.

 

[AE35Unit]

Re: Day of the Triffids. 28th Dec 21:00 BBC1

Its alright I suppose. They've had to modernise it a bit of course and go all serious but this is TV. Stop comparing it to the book,switch off the brain and enjoy the fun. The plants do look naff tho, they're not triffid in design at all (the word triffid means divided into 3 parts-there's a nebula in space called the Trifid nebula-Wyndham just added a second f to his story to make it sounds like triff id rather than try fid I guess)

 

[HareBrain]

Re: Day of the Triffids. 28th Dec 21:00 BBC1

Stop comparing it to the book,switch off the brain and enjoy the fun.

If it was done tongue-in-cheek, this would be a fair way of approaching it. But it wants to be taken seriously. Many highly paid people put a lot of effort and a lot of (our) money into this, not so that it would be a bit of brainless entertainment, but because they thought it would be a piece of exciting and (to some degree) intelligent drama. Didn't they? Or were they really so cynical that they thought the only important things were big sets and big explosions and that they didn't lose the audience's mayfly attention for a second?

I've never read the book, so I had no axe to grind on that score. And the only other adaptation I've seen was 28 years ago (until I watched a couple of episodes late last night) and I could remember hardly anything about that. I object to this nonsense because the BBC is no longer making any speculative-fiction drama for people who quite like engaging their brains and want to leave them switched on.

 

[AE35Unit]

Re: Day of the Triffids. 28th Dec 21:00 BBC1

I object to this nonsense because the BBC is no longer making any speculative-fiction drama for people who quite like engaging their brains and want to leave them switched on.

Did they ever? TV is a lark,entertainment, in the Beebs eyes,and yet they removed a lot of shows from their schedule because they were too low brow!

 

[HareBrain]

Re: Day of the Triffids. 28th Dec 21:00 BBC1

Did they ever? TV is a lark,entertainment, in the Beebs eyes

They try a lot harder with their costume dramas, and they import US progs such as The Wire and Band of Brothers that are clearly meant to be more than light relief. (OK, they then put them on at times when hardly anyone will see them ...)

As for "did they ever" I think the 1981 Triffids series, the Stone Tape, Quatermass (or was that ITV?) were all made with an emphasis on ideas, rather than on budget and overwrought drama accompanied by overblown background music. But that's only three examples, two of them written by one man, so that probably doesn't advance my case very much in the SFF field.

Outside of the SFF field, though, I think it's obvious that the BBC did once care about ideas in drama much more than it does now. What have they made recently that can compare with I, Claudius, or Dennis Potter?

 

[blacknorth]

Re: Day of the Triffids. 28th Dec 21:00 BBC1

They try a lot harder with their costume dramas, and they import US progs such as The Wire and Band of Brothers that are clearly meant to be more than light relief. (OK, they then put them on at times when hardly anyone will see them ...)

As for "did they ever" I think the 1981 Triffids series, the Stone Tape, Quatermass (or was that ITV?) were all made with an emphasis on ideas, rather than on budget and overwrought drama accompanied by overblown background music. But that's only three examples, two of them written by one man, so that probably doesn't advance my case very much in the SFF field.

Outside of the SFF field, though, I think it's obvious that the BBC did once care about ideas in drama much more than it does now. What have they made recently that can compare with I, Claudius, or Dennis Potter?

Too true, HB - I collect episodes of Play For Today and the Wednesday Play - a fantastic social commentary on the UK throughout the 60's, 70's and early 80's, and wildly entertaining to boot. They wouldn't dream of attempting to provoke such thought now - much too dangerous. I defy anyone to watch Jim Allen's play For Today The Spongers and not want to man the barricades.

PS - The first three Quatermass serials were BBC. The John Mills effort was ITV. Hm. Now. I wonder how many folk here remember Stargazy on Zummerdown.

 

[Moonbat]

Re: Day of the Triffids. 28th Dec 21:00 BBC1

I watched both episodes of this Triffids and was very dissappointed, I almost didn't watch to the end, but then I thought if I didn't I'd get annoyed with myself
It was pretty awful, I realise that they had to re-write parts of the story to fit it into a 3hr TV special, but did they have to write out all the good stuff. The saving the world from fossil fuels was just silly, and the triffid farms, if I remember rightly (from the book) no-one really knew where the triffids came from, they just rained down thier seeds onto earth. But people knew they were dangerous.
And the light show, I remember people waking up blind the next day, not going blind instantly, and as for that idiot at the TV staiton 'what's going on, why is everyone screaming, what's happened to our cameras, I know I'll go and have a look' idiot!
DOTT was always more about people in an apocalyptic world and how they survive or fight amongst themselves, wasn't it? This version was true to that, but I thought it was very badly done.
I did like the fact that Eddie Izzard survived the plane crash in the loo with some life jackets, very plausible! And V Redgrave as an evil nun, nice touch. But all in all a dire re-write of a classic SF tale.

 

[HareBrain]

Re: Day of the Triffids. 28th Dec 21:00 BBC1

Too true, HB - I collect episodes of Play For Today and the Wednesday Play

Please, please, please tell me you somehow have a copy of Penda's Fen.

 

[blacknorth]

Re: Day of the Triffids. 28th Dec 21:00 BBC1

Please, please, please tell me you somehow have a copy of Penda's Fen.

Yes, I do indeed. PM me if you want it passing along.

 

[tangaloomababe]

Re: Day of the Triffids. 28th Dec 21:00 BBC1

We are probably not likely totget this aired in Australia for sometime and it dosn't sound like I am missing to much anyway. Being a fan, sorry huge fan of the book its probably best if I don't watch this, I would only be disappointed.

 

[Dave]

Re: Day of the Triffids. 28th Dec 21:00 BBC1

Dave, was the 1981 BBC version so bad?

No, but the Howard Keel film is terrible.

I think I will watch this sometime and make up my own mind, but I was looking forward to it, and I'm not that bothered now.

 

[HareBrain]

Re: Day of the Triffids. 28th Dec 21:00 BBC1

I object to this nonsense because the BBC is no longer making any speculative-fiction drama for people who quite like engaging their brains and want to leave them switched on.

OT, but just watched Turn of the Screw and it's restored my faith a little. At least they can still do a decent ghost story. Crooked House last year wasn't bad either. Still think it's a shame about the SF though.

 

[AE35Unit]

Re: Day of the Triffids. 28th Dec 21:00 BBC1

OT, but just watched Turn of the Screw and it's restored my faith a little. At least they can still do a decent ghost story. Crooked House last year wasn't bad either. Still think it's a shame about the SF though.

I wanted to watch that but missed it! Henry James story isnt it? Must find and read!

 

[AE35Unit]

Re: Day of the Triffids. 28th Dec 21:00 BBC1

I watched both episodes of this Triffids and was very dissappointed, I almost didn't watch to the end, but then I thought if I didn't I'd get annoyed with myself
It was pretty awful, I realise that they had to re-write parts of the story to fit it into a 3hr TV special, but did they have to write out all the good stuff. The saving the world from fossil fuels was just silly, and the triffid farms, if I remember rightly (from the book) no-one really knew where the triffids came from, they just rained down thier seeds onto earth. But people knew they were dangerous.
And the light show, I remember people waking up blind the next day, not going blind instantly, and as for that idiot at the TV staiton 'what's going on, why is everyone screaming, what's happened to our cameras, I know I'll go and have a look' idiot!
DOTT was always more about people in an apocalyptic world and how they survive or fight amongst themselves, wasn't it? This version was true to that, but I thought it was very badly done.
I did like the fact that Eddie Izzard survived the plane crash in the loo with some life jackets, very plausible! And V Redgrave as an evil nun, nice touch. But all in all a dire re-write of a classic SF tale.

Funny, we thought it was quite good! It is only TV after all, and just an adaptation of the book rasther than a telling of the book itself. In some ways it was like a decent Doctor Who. You know, Doctor Who but actually worth watching!