I am Ashley Elsdon

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Tag: Survivors

Survivors was a TV show from the 1970’s which was about an apocalyptic event. A pandemic which killed almost everyone. A few people were immune. The survivors.

The series finished on TV, but Big Finish brought it back on Audio with many of the original cast. It’s really good.

Survivors: New Dawn 1

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Firstly, I have to say that is great that Survivors is back. I am really pleased that Big Finish decided to revive the series. I thoroughly enjoyed the nine box sets that they produced over the years, and, even if they had finished there it would have been excellent. I think I’ve listened to them about three times so far. I expect I will feel the urge to listen to them all again at some point.

New Dawn is exactly what it says it is. A new start for the Survivors series and set some years after the last set of stories. More than that I won’t say, as I wouldn’t want to spoil it for you if you do plan to listen to it.

Without giving anything away, what I can say is that the production values on this set of stories are just as good as all the previous ones, and the same with the performances. I am looking forward to hearing New Dawn 2 in a couple of months.

Here’s to more Survivors.

Survivors: Ghosts and Demons

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I bought this audiobook last year as I am a big fan of the ‘Survivors’ stories. But you probably know that already. This story was narrated rather than being a full cast story, full cast being my preferred format. Having said that it is a good story. It fits neatly into the existing timeline and uses the existing characters.

Overall I am just so glad that Big Finish are still making these stories.

Given that the world is still in the midst of a pandemic it might seem odd to be listening to an audiobook about a deadly pandemic. You might even think it was a bit morbid. But I really like these stories. Not that I am saying that they are some way of dealing with what is happening in the real world. Not at all. It’s really just a good story and a good reminder of what happens when our rules and systems break down.

Not for everyone I know. But I would recommend this.

More Survivors

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I posted a while ago that Big Finish were planning to bring out some more Survivors stories. Well they have, in fact, two have come out this week.

The first is ‘Ghosts and Demons’, which is a narrated story. Not that I particularly dislike a narrated story, at times they can be very good actually. This one is narrated by Carolyn Seymour, who is of course one of the main actors in the Survivors series anyway. I have listened to her narration before, and it is always great.

The second audiobook is a full cast drama with three individual stories.

I don’t know why I am such a big fan of the Survivors stories. I think it has something to do with the world being reset. Not always in a good way of course. Not always with positive outcomes. I find that I am drawn to these kinds of apocalyptic stories more and more. I don’t think that has anything to do with the pandemic in particular, although it does bring it home somewhat. But I always have enjoyed these kinds of stories.

I hope that Big Finish manage to keep Survivors going for some time to come. I had thought that it was done after season 9, but I’m always up for more, and I’m looking forward to hearing these.

Survivors is coming back

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Big Finished announced this today. There are more Survivors stories coming!

After the ninth season of Survivors Big Finish said that there would be no more of the current iteration of Survivors but mentioned that there might be a spin off. Now it is real. Two new box sets coming in November this year and February next year. With Abby and Lucy. This is excellent news. At least it is for me anyway.

Revisiting Survivors

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Survivors is a relatively little known TV show from the 1970s. It was about a virus that killed off almost the entire population of the planet. The people who were left were the ‘Survivors’. This is of course the subject of quite a lot of TV shows and films these days, but back then I think it was quite ground breaking.

It only got 3 seasons on TV, but, a few years ago, Big Finish, a company that makes some of my favourite audiobooks brought it back, with the three lead actors as well. Big Finish produced 9 seasons of it, each with 4 hour long episodes. It was brilliant. In fact, so much so that I’m revisiting the whole thing this year. Starting with the TV series. Which, in my opinion, stands the test of time, and is actually better than a lot of TV these days.

Survivors from the 1970s took a slow approach to storytelling. Or maybe that was the norm back then? Either way, it took its time in each episode. It had a natural feel too that somehow made it more believable.

I’ve enjoyed watching this again, and remembering the characters, the story and the where it took us.

Now that I’ve finished watching it I’m going to move on to listening to all of the audio stories that Big Finish Productions created. There are 9 box sets of these, so that will probably take me a while to get through I should think. When I do, I think I might post a summary of my thoughts on the whole thing.

Big Finish: Survivors – Series 6

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I’ve been waiting for this for some time now, and really looking forward to it. Today it is released, and I’ll almost certainly be buying it today.

In preparation for series 6 I decided to listen to all previous 5 series in order. That’s the Big Finish series of course, not the original television series or the remake. I thought it would be a good wait to get ready and have the timeline and stories straight for series 6. I’d forgotten just how good Big Finish have made survivors. They’ve done an amazing job on it. It’s totally consistent with the original and yet extends it seamlessly.

When I’ve absorbed series 6 I’ll let you know the verdict.

Survivors Season 4

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Survivors Season 4
Survivors Season 4

This season was ok, but I’d have to say that I’m not sure that it was as good as the previous season, or for that matter any of the others so far. Perhaps I need to listen to it again though. I did feel that it came together in the end, and it started well too, it had a lot of promise in the beginning, but I’m just not sure that there was enough going on in these stories.

Survivors Series 4 is coming in June

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I’m a big Survivors fan. I’ve watched both the 1970’s and most recent TV versions and the Big Finish audio series 1 through 3. So I am looking forward to the next installment. I like how Big Finish have taken the whole thing in a different direction in a way whilst also staying consistent with the original book. That’s something that the 1970’s TV show didn’t entirely manage.

I’m really glad that Big Finish is maintaining the series and developing it, and also using a number of the original actors as well. They do it so well. Long may it last.

After listening to Survivors series 3

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I have to say it was another good series. It moved the story on in a similar but slightly different direction to what’s gone before. I like that. If I have any complaints at all, and really, I don’t, it’s that I would’ve wanted something just a little more dramatic. It was good though.

I really like what Big Finish have done with it. Not just because I like the fact that Survivors is still going because of them, but because of the way they’ve put it together, keeping the feel of the original, and even some of the original cast, but expanding it and taking it in new and yet consistent directions.

I won’t give any spoilers though.