What's the 2009 Day of the Triffids remake like? Part 1

30 December 2009

John Howell

The first half of the BBC's adaptation of John Wyndham’s iconic post-apocalyptic science fiction novel, The Day of the Triffids (first published in 1951) has now been screened. So what was it like? Here's a summary of how reviewers have reacted so far. When we get a chance to look at both episodes, we'll publish our own review in What's the 2009 Day of the Triffids remake like? Part 2.

The new Triffid cast includes UK comedian Eddie Izzard, veteran actress Vanessa Redgrave, Dougray Scott, Joely Richardson, Brian Cox, and Jason Priestley. Izzard plays Torrence, the leader of a squad of soldiers who rounds up survivors after the Triffids take over Britain, while Scottish actor, Dougray Scott, plays the lead, Dr Bill Masen.

Io9 reports that "new CG Triffids are definitely scarier than the old foam-rubber versions" and they are "liking the new Day Of The Triffids pretty well". The only weak link in the cast they found was Eddie Izzard as the evil Torrance. "He seemed a bit bored by the whole exercise" and not menacing enough.

Mark Pickavance at Den of Cool said "the first half of this story isn’t massively divergent from what’s in the Wyndham original work" but there were a few holes in the episode's logic later when a new twist is introduced. "While the story and the characters got distinctly better as it went on, I’m not convinced to the point that I’d actually say this was a ‘classic’ interpretation until I’ve seen the second half," he said. "There is potential here, but it could so easily be squandered." Interestingly, he also said that the character Torrance in contrast to io9 is "played brilliantly by Eddie Izzard".

ShadowLocked.com was only mildly happy:

"If you find a lot of the dialogue in new Doctor Who stilted and uninspired (and this production has been targeted heavily at Who fans), there isn't anything much more literate on offer here. Torrance's apotheosis from Wyndham's tyrant to a 'Master'-style villain was an inevitable result of the demographics behind this production, as is the wall-to-wall music."

And later:

"But Day Of The Triffids is a pretty good stab at a book that is truly worth a read... we are also compensated by the cinematic scope and speed of an interesting and occasionally thought-provoking look at the final disintegration of whatever English values survived in the decades since the author mapped out his apocalypse."

While reviewers seem more positive in their analysis of the first episode, comments left on some review articles were highly critical.

"This was absolutely awful and I suggest Mark Pickavance re-reads the novel a.s.a.p as then his critical review giving damning praise will turn into a damning review giving people praise for switching their television off," wrote Fowardlook07, on Den of Geek.

JohnWoundup, on Total ScifiOnline, commented "...Izzard's Torrance is simply unbelievable. Masen's character is turned into an action hero. A 2/10 if I ever saw one."

We'll have our own review and analysis in Part 2 of this article shortly.  Let us know what you think of the new Day of the Triffids when you've had a chance to watch it yourself!

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