The Day of the Triffids (2009)

If you check up on my blog regularly you will know that over the Christmas holiday I was excited about the BBC’s new adaptations, The Turn of the Screw and The Day of the Triffids. Unfortunately I wasn’t a huge fan of The Turn of the Screw, great production as per usual for the BBC but not to my taste, for my review go here. So my hopes were pinned this to restore my faith in the BBC’s adaptations. Improving on from The Turn of the Screw this production has a star-studded cast including Dougray Scott, Eddie Izzard, Joely Richardson, Vanessa Redgrave and Brian Cox. So my expectations are pretty high. I only read John Wyndham’s original novel (review) only last year so it was still very fresh in my mind when I watched this adaptation. What I remember most about the book was how matter of fact Wyndham’s writing style was, as if he was writing a piece of non-fiction. Wyndham’s writing style plus the excellent concept made for quite a disturbing read, in a good way! So I was very interested to see what the BBC would do.

The press hails the triffids as the savior of the Earth, no more fossil fuels instead we have triffid farms producing a clean bio-fuel, which has revolutionised human’s lives. Bill Mason is a scientist working on a large triffid farm just outside London, where he is stung by a triffid in the face, fearing for his sight he is rushed to hospital. So on the big night of the year when the world is watching the fantastical lights from space, Bill is instead lying in hospital with his eyes bandaged. Bill awakes the next day to find the hospital in chaos he removes his own bandages to find that his vision is saved but anyone who saw the lights the night before are now blind. Bill knows that without our sight humans are at the mercy of the triffids who in the chaos of the lights have managed to escape from the farm. With the help of Jo Playton a news presenter another sighted person, Bill tries to warn the people of London of the imminent danger they are in. This task is made even harder by Terrence a character with a shady background who wished to use the chaos of the blindness to gain power and money. In the end it comes down to do you try to help the blind or just save yourself.

If you have read the book or seen the original 1962 film you may notice that the synopsis for this production is quite different. The main characters and action has been kept but the producers have opted to modernise the setting, this production being set in a parallel now to us. In the book the triffids were farmed for a type of oil that could be used to enrich food to fight a food shortage in the world while as this production was instead about using them for fuel. A clever idea but one I agree and disagree with. One I think that a food shortage is as relevant today as it was when Wyndham wrote this story, if not even more so with the current debate of GM foods. However on the other hand I can see that for the majority of viewers they may recognise the fuel shortage concept more.

Joely Richardson and Eddie Izzard pulled out top notch performances, Izzard was a perfect charismatic bad man in his portrayal of Terrence. Brian Cox is a great actor but I must admit I think his character which was added for this production was pretty superfluous. All in all though great cast, good performances and a clever concept, this production was very entertaining which is what it is all about after all.

I do recommend you give this a go if you’re an existing The Day of the Triffids fan, book or film. As well as if you love a good Sci-fi drama. This production isn’t for everyone but I can’t see you hating it, you’ll either love it or like it most probably