# The Day of the Triffids (1981)

> After a meteor shower blinds most of humanity, a merchant navy officer must find a way to defeat the aggressive triffid plants that are preying on the survivors.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/2480

## Facts

- Seasons: 1
- Episodes: 6
- Episode runtime: 26 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: science fiction, drama
- Created by: Douglas Livingstone
- Network: BBC One
- Cast: John Duttine, Emma Relph, Maurice Colbourne, Denis DeMarne, Eva Griffith, Jonathan Newth, Ian Halliburton, William Morgan Sheppard
- TMDB rating: 7.3/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0081850/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: measured
- Intensity: strong
- Complexity: accessible
- Violence: moderate
- Tone: eerie, suspenseful, bleak, atmospheric, tense

## Synopsis

The Day of the Triffids (1981) is a British six-episode miniseries created by Douglas Livingstone for BBC One, adapted from John Wyndham's classic novel. After a mysterious meteor shower leaves most of humanity blind, merchant navy officer Bill Masen, played by John Duttine, must find a way to conquer towering, aggressive plants that are feeding on people and animals. Jo Payton, played by Emma Relph, and Jack Coker, played by Maurice Colbourne, are among the principal figures who join him as he navigates a countryside unraveling into chaos. The engine of the story is survival: scavenging for food, avoiding the menacing plants, and searching for a way to restore order to a society where sight has become rare and valuable. Each episode carries the weight of a breakdown in civilization, depicted with a slow, unsettling sense of gradual collapse. The tone is eerie and suspenseful, grounded in a earnest British television style that feels dated but still atmospheric. Fans of Survivors, The Quatermass Experiment and 28 Days Later will find resonance in its blend of post-apocalyptic dread, human resilience and classic science fiction menace. The series is a compact, self-contained story told across a single season.

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