Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #25045 in DVD
• Released on: 2007-03-26
• Rating: Parental Guidance
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Format: PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 4
• Running time: 676 minutes

Synopsis
The final series following the aftermath when a deadly virus escaped into the atmosphere. A number of survivors, seemingly immune to the disease, search each other out and try to rebuild humanity. Includes all 13 episodes.

Customer Reviews

A fitting conclusion to a great drama series
Like Series Two, this season is of an uneven quality, but as a whole it deserves five stars. In less talented hands,'Survivors' could have ended up as a serious version of 'The Good Life', with Greg, Jenny, Charles and the kids getting to grips with animal husbandry and spinning wool. Instead we are given of vision of post-Death Britain that is much less cosy, but far more convincing.

It is three years on from the plague that killed all but around 50,000 people. Packs of wild dogs roam the countryside and there are new diseases to contend with. Shot mainly in winter, Britain seems a grim and desolate place, but the outlook isn't entirely pessimistic. Some successful communities have been formed and have learned to become virtually self-sufficient. Also, some older technologies like wind and steam power have been revived. It is clear that a lot of thought went into what direction this series would take. The cast were, quite rightly, made to look more ragged and emaciated and the the complaint by some that only middle-class people survived has clearly been addressed.

In today's political climate, with global warming, terrorism, bird flu and the end of oil threatening our expectations of continued progress, this superb drama series seems more poignant than ever.

The DVD is very well produced, with an informative booklet about the background the the series. I strongly recommend this to anyone who likes thoughtful, well-written drama.

Terrific! Highly recommended
I only saw series one and five episodes of series two back in the seventies, so it's an unusual experience to find out what happened to the characters after so long. A testament to the power of the series that I was so moved, the characters seeming real enough to shed tears over.

Series two was a dud apart from one episode, although there were individual good scenes. The applied wisdom should be that once a series is in decline, it cannot recover. How surprising then that this third series is stunning. Interesting, compelling and moving, its photography and vistas especially remind me of Tarkovsky. Unlike series two, I will be watching all these again except the Bron one (that scarf doesn't do it for me!)

The departure of Carolyn Seymour at the end of series one baffles me to this day and Survivors always suffered for it, like carrying on the James Bond series with Felix Leiter. To build up a strong female character with a truly wonderful performance from the actress and pass on it in favour of the chauvinist Charles character from a particularly creepy episode in series one called 'Corn Dolly' seems perverse. Likewise, Greg only saw himself as 'enforcement', not a leader in series one, he becomes something else again here (although admittedly for practical reasons as he only wanted to appear in two episodes.) One feels an opportunity was lost with the Abby Grant character in favour of more traditional masculine leads. It also leaves a plothole as to why after traipsing the breadth of the country, the survivors do not come across her.

Nevertheless, this series stands up as the best without her and I did not find the absent Greg arc at all annoying. The producers seamlessly used it to enhance rather than hinder the narrative, introducing some interesting sexual politics and I especially liked some of the arguments and shouting matches the characters would get into for not always rational reasons, I thought that was very true to life. I disagree that the series should have ended with 'Long Live The King'. The final episode built up a full head of steam (if perhaps too abrupt a finish.) It was a rousing, fitting ending.

Lucy Fleming comes into her own after a somewhat colourless and flatly delivered performance previously. Hubert, while not always dependable, proves his staunch loyalty and usefulness and I even warmed to Charles. There are always interesting ironies and parallels, such as Frank's guilt mirrowed by Greg's in McCulloch's self-penned 'The Last Laugh'. He is a strong writer too. Somehow you don't expect that from an actor which is uncalled for, obviously.

No Seymour, but it would be churlish to give this outstanding third series anything other than five stars.

As good as (if not better than) the previous series
Charles (Denis Lill) takes a more prominent role (as Greg has gone off to explore Norway) and a fine job he makes of it, too. This series seems to have better production quality than the others but don't let that put you off watching Series 1 and 2 first; it helps to understand the progression after "The Death". This series focuses more on reviving the technology and dealing with the longer term effects of widespread population decimation such as shortage of medical expertise and the emergence of packs of rabid dogs.

The acting is a bit hit and miss but largely very good, though the mis-casting of 'The Captain' left me with a smile; however, without the dramatic special effects seen in the likes of 28 Days Later, the plot and dialogue are made more meaningful. The desolation of the landscape (apart from neatly manicured country hedgerows, ahem) gives the whole production a good degree of authenticity.

Well worth renting or buying if you like decently acted and immensely enjoyable drama. Given pandemic flu and bio-terrorism, it couldn't really happen... could it?