The BBC is remaking the John Wyndham science fiction classic, The Day of The Triffids, a story about poisonous plants running amok after almost everyone has been blinded by a solar storm (or was it a military experiment gone awry?). With most of the population blind, even the slow moving Triffids have a Darwinian edge.
Triffids feed on rotting meat, walk around on three stumpy legs, wield a lethal whip-like poisonous sting, and appear to possess rudimentary intelligence. In the novel they seem to communicate with each other, although the exact level of intelligence is never explicitedly stated.
John Wyndham's novel is a post-apocalyptic masterpiece that captured the imagination of readers worldwide when it was released in 1951 during simmering Cold War tensions. Arthur C. Clarke called it an "immortal story", while SF and Horror writer and editor Karl Edward Wagner listed it as one of the thirteen best science-fiction horror novels.
The BBC's remake is set in 2011 when the world's fossil fuel supply is almost gone and the Triffids are being used as an alternative fuel source. According to the BBC's press release, the Triffids will roam the planet "with a fatal sting and a retributive taste for human flesh". A sighted survivor, Dr. Bill Masen, must lead an epic battle against the Triffids’ reign of terror, while avoiding the maniacal opportunism of other sighted survivors, to prevent the last days of mankind.
Using the words "taste for human flesh" suggests the BBC's new TV adaptation may emphasise the horror element, which was not the case in the last TV version starring John Duttine as Bill Masen in 1981 (also by the BBC). It will be intriguing to see how they visualise the three legged plant monsters using modern special effects. In the 1981 TV production, a Triffid was made from latex, sawdust, string, clear gunge and fibreglass, and operated by a man crouching inside. A fan installed in the Triffids neck kept him cool.
The only major movie adaptation of The Day of the Triffids was the shockingly bad 1963 version directed by Steve Sekely and staring Howard Keel as Bill Masen. It ended with Masen spraying the Triffids with sea water, causing them to dissolve. The Triffids dissolve and “the world is saved”! If you've read the book, it's hard to imagine a more inappropriate ending.
"The new series will be a combination of the familiar and the new," BBC Vision's director Jana Bennett announced at a Media Festival in Manchester. While no casting decisions have been made, the screenplay for this modern day version will be written by Patrick Harbinson, most famous for writing ER and Law & Order.
The new two part BBC adaptation of The Day of The Triffids is due out in 2009.
Now if only a few producers would start developing some of Wyndham’s other novels for the big screen. I would love to see The Kraken Wakes or The Chrysalids as large scale Hollywood productions.
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