God I'm depressed....

I think 1 in 10,000 is mentioned in one of the episodes.

Just wait for Law and Order...

Yes that is good!

Just wait for Law and Order...

I dont think I would want to be a survivor

Oh, a shower scene... are we in Xenon base after all?

That edges out The Way Back as the best opening episode to anything!

Actually, seeing this again, it makes me less worried about covid....

Actually, seeing this again, it makes me less worried about covid....

Just for OSP...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17oca...7ocaZb-bGg

My review from a previous rewatch:

(1.1) “The Fourth Horseman” by Terry Nation
Directed by Pennant Roberts

“Oh God, please don’t let me be the only one”.

EXTRAORDINARY!!!

The first episode of "Survivors" is simply amazing. It tells the spread of the Death and the vast majority of the population being wiped out.

The storytelling here is so clever. We see few very deaths (Jenny's friend is the first dead body we see). There is the odd snatch of a radio broadcast, or a tannoy announcement, as we gradually find out how serious things are.

At the centre of the episode is Carolyn Seymour's Abby Grant, upper-class housewife, whose comfortable life in the plush commuter belt is brought crashing down to Earth. Abby is terribly posh – she even has servants. And she’s married to Peter Bowles. Abby catches the Death herself, but almost uniquely recovers from it.

This episode is neatly split in two, as Abby lies on her bed for four days, as she fights off the Death.

Before that, we see plenty of life. Yes, lots of people not very well, but people thinking: "blimey, this will is going to leave a hell of a clean-up operation in a week.” There's quite an adult scene where three looters threaten to rape Jenny (hope they died in great pain!).

We then see reality starting to set in, especially the conversation between Peter Bowles and the local Doctor (whose wife has died). It's the last words we ever see David Grant utter.

And then the aftermath. There's plenty of shocking moments (such as Abby seeing David's dead body in the mirror - they killed Peter Bowles!!), but it's all very nicely underplayed. The characters here are completely knocked sideways, but there's no hysterics, which is much more like the natural reaction.

We see five people alive in the last 20 minutes: Abby, Jenny, Tom Price, the almost deaf character played by Peter Copley (Bronson the teacher), and the man with the bag of money that Jenny discovers with the Death... make that four people alive. There are plenty of nice directorial shots from Pennant Roberts, especially the shot from above of Abby alone walking from the church.

It's interesting to see the difference between Jenny and Abby... Jenny craves company and stays the man until he is dead, while Abby just leaves Bronson to his own devices (she’d be better teaming up with him, but clearly she’s not thinking straight at this point).

And then Abby symbolically ends her old life. That plush Tudor House, her dead husband, her locks of hair, all burnt down to the ground. The only thing left of her old life is the hope that her son Peter is somehow alive.

A very downbeat, but very effective opening episode. Oh, and I can't go without mentioning the brilliant opening titles, plus the evocative title music.

TT Og heads out of ten:

Like Huggy (?was it you Huggy?) said, she should have been leaving a note for her son just in case he did show up.

Actually, it was Nixxie.
Strange, I seem to be always on your mind...

But seriously, for me the burning works. That was a quicker, less strenuous and less icky solution to giving her hubby a decent burial as oppsosed to digging a hole in the garden and carrying the corpse over). Plus, it was a symbolic act - making it clear to herself that there is no way to go back.

Of course, leaving a message for her son would have been the sensible thing to do.

And there is also the question of fire hazard to the whole neighbourhood...

[quote name=trevor travis post=603]My review from a previous rewatch:
Was there anything with as much impact/similar storyline before this?