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The Day Of The Triffids

M

Mighty_Emperor

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As it is being repeated on UKGold at the moment (I watched the second episode tonight) I thought I'd start a thread (feel free to discuss the book and film too).

I am impressed by how good it still is and how you can see the influences in 28 Days Later, etc.

Some links:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/ilove/tv/triffids/

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0081850/

It will be available on DVD/VHS from 21st Feb 2005:
http://www.bbcshop.com/invt/bbcdvd1452

[edit: Now avaialble in the UK:

www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0006 ... ntmagaz-21 ]

Avoid the poor quality copies being flogged elsewhere.
 
I HEART THE TRIFFIDS! I think it's a great flick, really, and still scary.

Here is a great general John Wyndham website:

http://www.liv.ac.uk/~asawyer/wyndham.html

John Wyndham (1903 - 1969) best known as the author of The Day of the Triffids was one of the few science fiction writers who crossed over into mass appeal due, perhaps, to the accuracy of his portrayal of British unease in the 1950s. His best-selling novels, often featuring traumatic disasters, remain in print and have frequently been adapted for radio and television. Recent BBC Radio 4 adaptations of The Kraken Wakes and Chocky, and the optioning of virtually the entire Wyndham catalogue by Samuelson Productions, the makers of Wilde, show that interest in the author remains strong. At least one biography is being planned.

The authorised sequel to The Day of the Triffids is to be be published in 7th June, 2001. To know more, click to the webpage of its author, Simon Clark
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As I recall, the Triffid is a real, if non-lethal plant.
 
My neighbours opposite seem to have a triffid growing out of their drainpipe. Ain't nature wonderful?
 
Mr. R.I.N.G. said:
I HEART THE TRIFFIDS! I think it's a great flick, really, and still scary.
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The book's even better, it's my favourite book in fact (next to LOTR). It's so real and frightening to me because it's set in London and Southern England. It's a fantastic example of "what would happen if...." science fiction.
BBC7 did a reading of it a while back, and I would dearly love to buy that.
 
Never saw the TV series but liked the film years ago. Also read a lot of his books. Anyone read the sequel which came out a few years ago by another author?
 
I fear there may be Triffids at a local building site. It has a notice: "Beware Of Moving Plant"!
 
I don't think that I've seen the film, and I read the book a very long time ago, but the bit that always springs to mind is a really sad one. A man guides his girlfriend out of a second floor window to their deaths because of their helpless and hopeless situation. As far as I can remember, this is just a tiny scene in the book, but I found it haunting.
 
I love John Wyndhams work (and thanks to Mr. R.I.N.G. for the link to the John Wyndham archive - a very important collection!!). The IMDB for 1962 film is here:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0055894/

Given its obvious influence on films like 28 Days Later and the taste for apocalypic movies (and concern over GM, etc.) it would be ideal for a remake (as would I Am Legend) - they'd probably ruin it though but.........
 
I would support a new version of the film, but I think the 80s TV version was actually a really good adaptation of the book. (While the 62 film had little in common with the book, really.)

All we could really offer to a new version is CGI, or maybe improved animatronics.
 
A decent CGI film of Day of the Triffids, with a genuine dark/creepy horror ambience (a la say Dawn of the Dead), is long overdue - it has the potential to be easily as dark and "horrific" as any zombie film...

28 Days Later very blatantly ripped it off... man wakes up in hospital to discover London empty...

a film would have to replicate a genuine 50s London atmosphere, and keep the social satire (genteel Britishers can't quite get their heads round the fact that civilisation's collapsed) but also amp up the psychological horror, and perhaps include a bit more (but not too much more) action, although it ought to keep fairly close to the real plot of the book...

...or at least closer than that truly awful 60s film, in which they find a little girl who sobs woodenly because of having to leave her pony, and they go to Spain where they discover that triffids (which in this film were nothing like John Wyndham's drawings, but resembled a cross between a drunk spider and a saguaro cactus) are killed by salt water, hence solving everything... :rolleyes: People laugh at DotT as a cheesy monster story because of that film, rather than seeing it as the intelligent what-would-happen-if-civilisation-collapsed? sci-fi/satire/horror novel that it was...
 
BBC radio 7 played the radio (oddly enough:D ) version a few months back (er, maybe last year actually). That was good, I vaguely remember seeing the TV series but I was probably too young to appreciate it at the time. Good book, not keen on the film either, the way it ends is a little bit forced.

If it was redone I wouldn't mind seeing it set in the current time though
 
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/no ... iffids-bbc

Day of the Triffids to be remade by BBC


A new generation is set to be terrified by giant plants following the BBC's decision to remake The Day of the Triffids.

Adapted from the 1951 novel by John Wyndham, the modern day version for BBC1 will be penned by ER and Law & Order writer Patrick Harbinson.

Whereas the BBC's 1981 version was set in the late 20th century, the new Day of the Triffids will take place in 2011. A film version, starring Howard Keel, was released in 1962.

Updating the sci-fi tale for modern audiences, the two-part drama revolves around a hunt for alternative sources of energy after the world's fossil fuel supply runs out.

Triffids are found to be a good replacement fuel, but a reign of terror begins when the lethal plants escape following a solar storm that blinds most of the world's population.

The Day of the Triffids has been commissioned by outgoing BBC Fiction chief Jane Tranter.

Casting has yet to be confirmed.

BBC Vision director Jana Bennett announced the commission at the Media Festival in Manchester today.

"The new series will be a combination of the familiar and the new," Bennett said.

Bringing a further terrifying dimension to the drama, the Triffids will also be recreated in high definition for viewers with HD televisions.

The Day of the Triffids is being produced by independent producer and distributor Power and will air next year.

BBC1's new adaptation will be executive produced by Power's Justin Bodle and the BBC Wales head of drama, Julie Gardner.

Gardner said: "The Day of the Triffids is a classic title. I'm excited that its powerful story is being remade for television. We're hoping to attract a legion of fans as well as give nightmares to a new generation of viewers."

There have been a number of adaptations of The Day of the Triffids before. The BBC made versions for radio in 1953, 1957 and 1968.

BBC television productions followed in 1971, 1973, 1980 and 1981 starring John Duttine as Doctor Bill Masen, one of the few survivors of the solar storm who has not been left blind.

There have been calls by sci-fans for a new version of The Day of the Triffids following the success of remakes of Doctor Who and new apocalyptic BBC1 drama Survivors.
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Hey! In the new version, Prince Charles could speak to the Triffids, win them over and together, Ireland, Britain and the Triffids could defeat the Eurocrats.
 
The book is fantastic, despite what some certain other SF writers (*cough*Aldiss*cough) have said about it: that it's a nice, middle class 'cosy catastrophe' kind of story. In fact, it's nothing of the sort - there's a frightening bleakness about it, and Wydham pulls off the neat trick of making the Triffids - which would merely be ridiculous in lesser hands - nasty in a way that you can't really describe...and hence even nastier for it.

As an example, picture this - for some reason, I found it one of the most unsettling parts of the story: a sheep, bleating in terror, as a triffid attacks it. Because the animal's wool is so dense, the sting can't find purchase...so the triffid keeps lashing at it, over and over. As the sheep continues to bleat in terror.

I dunno ... it's just nasty.
 
Here's the cast:

The confirmed cast list includes: Dougray Scott as Bill Masen, Joely Richardson as Jo Playton, Brian Cox as Dennis Masen; Vanessa Redgrave as Durrant, Eddie Izzard as Torrence and Jason Priestley as Coker.

Justin Bodle, Executive Producer, Power says: “We are enormously excited to have secured this stellar cast for The Day of the Triffids. Together with its amazing effects and iconic locations, will deliver the drama mini series event of 2009.”

Julie Gardner, Head of Drama, BBC Wales adds: “The incredible cast lined-up for The Day of the Triffids is testament to the quality of Patrick Harbinson’s script. We hope audiences, both old and new will be captivated by this modern take of John Wyndham’s classic best-selling novel.”

Currently filming in the South-East until April for transmission later this year, The Day of The Triffids is a Power production for BBC1. The Executive Producer is Justin Bodle (Power). Stephen Smallwood is the producer (Murphy’s Law) and the director is Nick Copus (The Summit, EastEnders). Further Executive Producers are Jay Firestone (Prodigy Pictures) and Julie Gardener (BBC).

The Day of the Triffids is part of the broad mix of dramas commissioned for BBC1 for transmission in 2009 which includes Occupation, Small Island, Emma and Sherlock Holmes.

The Day of the Triffids is also being shown on BBC HD – the BBC’s High Definition channel available through Freesat, Sky and Virgin Media.
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From: http://www.offthetelly.co.uk/?p=6644

That's the kind of cast you'd expect from a movie version. That must be a really good TV script they have there.
 
I recently watched the original bbc mini series, finally available over here in the states, and loved it. So much better than the horrible movie version.
 
I remember when I was very small my brother had the book and there was a comic book version as well. The pictures scared me but I was fascinated in a horrified way, because I kept drawing pictures of triffids in nursery school and that's how I came to be labeled "creative". :lol:
 
Eden welcomes the Triffids
2:05pm Monday 21st December 2009
By Stephen Ivall »

A new Power/Prodigy production for BBC One of the sci-fi classic The Day of the Triffids was partly filmed at the Eden Project earlier this year.

The adaptation of the seminal John Wyndham novel, which boasts an all-star cast including Joely Richardson, Brian Cox, Vanessa Redgrave, Eddie Izzard and Dougray Scott, used Eden as a stand-in for the Congolese jungle.

The scenes shot at in the project’s Rainforest Biome are flashbacks of the young Bill Masen’s first encounter with the deadly triffids.

As well as being a filming location, Eden also served as inspiration for production designer Joel Collins, whose previous credits include The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and Son of Rambow. When designing the triffid itself in March last year, Joel came to Eden looking for inspiration and found it in the sinister visage of one of the project’s plants. Susan Hill, Eden’s Marketing Director, said: “We’re really looking forward to what promises to be a great piece of sci-fi action and to see how the Eden Project jungle handles one of its most high-profile roles to date. With the biggest tract of rainforest outside the tropics, Eden was the natural choice for the producers and we enjoyed hosting a ‘triffidly’ exciting day of filming.”

The Day of the Triffids will be broadcast on BBC One on December 28 and 29 2009 at 9pm.

http://www.falmouthpacket.co.uk/news/tr ... _Triffids/
 
yeah me to, lets see how part 2 pans out, eddie izzard makes a good villain, wierd
 
I've just watched it on iPlayer - very good, very grim.

But it's obviously updated from the original book. I read most of John Wyndham's stuff in the 60s - not sure if I did read Triffids (if I did, it would have been more than once), but mostly I seem to remember an early film version.

I must try to re-read the original - in many ways it must seem very dated by now.
 
The D of the T is my favourite book as it happens, read/listened to it 6 or 7 times. I was happy that they didn't change any of it unnecessarily, just enough to make it modern and televisual. First time anyone's managed to make the triffids look anything other than silly on screen too. They owed a lot to aloes and bromeliads but they were actually believably menacing. :)
 
I haven't seen it all yet....about half an hour in our TV signal vanished!

All four channels completely blank (yes, yes....four)....the triffids must have go to Newhaven transmitter!

It came back on five minutes from the end! And, weirdly, part 2 had still not appeared on the PS3 iPlayer when I went to bed.
 
I thought it worked pretty well, most of the updating was to make it work for television...glad they weren't tempted to change the ending and find a way to destroy the triffids.

The plants were very well done, have a nasty feeling I've seen something similar at my local garden centre.

Now can they do "The Kraken Awakes"...there was a fairly good radio version a few years back.
 
It was OK, but strangely... I don't know what the right word is, "uncharismatic" maybe. Grim, yes, but otherwise lacking in something distinctive to give it that necessary oomph. I preferred the eighties one from when I was a kid, it had scarier music too.

The Triffids looked er, t'riffic, though.
 
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