Episode 1
Bill is the only man he knows who didn’t see the shooting stars.
The triffids, tall, fleshy plants, first appeared around the world decades ago, when Bill was a boy. The oil harvested from the plants promised to ease the world’s energy concerns, but that advantage is offset by the plants’ ability to sense and sting human beings, usually blinding them in the process. Triffids are confined to triffid farms, and tended carefully by workers in protective clothing.
Now an adult, Bill has suffered another triffid sting, landing him in the hospital with his eyes bandaged over. He awakens to discover that the nurses and hospital staff haven’t been to his room yet, on the day his bandages are to be removed. He remembers his doctor and the nurses mentioning an awe-inspiring display of shooting stars the night before, but of course he couldn’t see it – nor, indeed, can he see anything until he risks removing his own bandages.
Then Bill discovers that he is the only man he knows who can see anything. The triffids have taken over the outside world and blinded the human race.
adapted by Douglas Livingstone
based on the book by John Wyndham
directed by Ken Hannam
music by Christopher Gunning
Cast: John Duttine (Bill), Jonathan Newth (Dr. Soames), Cleo Sylvestre (Nurse), Robert Robinson (Palanguez), Ian Halliburton (Grant), Morgan Sheppard (Bill’s Father), Steven Jonas (Young Bill), Edmund Pegge (Walter), Keith Alexander (Newsreel Voice)
Notes: Producer David Maloney (1933-2006) was previously the director of a string of well-regarded Doctor Who serials, and came to this project
fresh from having produced the first three seasons of another BBC science fiction series, Blake’s 7. Morgan Sheppard may be better known to Stateside viewers as W. Morgan Sheppard, and has appeared in numerous Star Trek series and movies, Quantum Leap, Babylon 5, seaQuest DSV, modern Doctor Who, Legend Of The Seeker, Charmed, and countless other shows, but he’ll always be Blank Reg from Max Headroom. Director Ken Hannam helmed several episodes of the early ’70s BBC sci-fi drama Moonbase 3, while Christopher Gunning would later score the ’80s alternate-history drama Knights Of God.
LogBook entry by Earl Green