The Day of the Triffids
from archive.org
This podcast is offline, as the MP3 files it linked to appear to have been removed permanently from archive.org.A serial in six parts by Giles Cooper from the novel.
The Day of the Triffids is a 1951 post-apocalyptic novel by the English science fiction author John Wyndham. After most people in the world are blinded by an apparent meteor shower, an aggressive species of plant starts killing people.
Bill Masen, bandages over his wounded eyes, misses the most spectacular meteorite shower England has ever seen. Removing his bandages the next morning, he finds masses of sightless people wandering the city. He soon meets Josella, another lucky person who has retained her sight, and together they leave the city, aware that the safe, familiar world they knew a mere twenty-four hours before is gone forever.. . .
1: The End Begins
It all begins with the end - the end of the world - almost. It happens during a night of brilliant green flashes - meteors? Perhaps - or satellite weapons. Who can say? It all begins, too, with a cloud of seeds floating, like white vapour, drifting wherever the winds of the world should take them, and the appearance of a vegetable growing on a rubbish heap.
Bill Masen: Gary Watson
Josella Playton: Barbara Shelley
Elspeth Cary: Freda Dowie
The Managing Director: Ralph Truman
Umberto Palankuez: Garard Green
Bill as a boy: Michael Deacon
Mr Masen: Peter Pratt
Walter Lucknor: Peter Baldwin
Nurse: Jan Edwards
Commentator: John Pullen
House Surgeon: Rolf Lefebvre
Publican: Haydn Jones
2: A Light in the Night
'...London was a city of the blind, the capital of a blind country in a blind world.'
Bill Masen: Gary Watson
Young man: Christopher Bidmead
Child: Hilda Kriseman
Mother: Pauline Letts
Blind man: John Wyse
Josella: Barbara Shelley
Archer: Anthony Jackson
3: Conference and Confusion
'There's a light... someone's trying to get the sighted people together - we're not alone!'
Bill Masen: Gary Watson
Josella: Barbara Shelley
Coker: Peter Sallis
Colonel Jaques: Antony Viccars
Michael Beadley: Michael McClain
Elspeth: Freda Dowie
Ivan Simpson: Nigel Graham
Miss Durrant: Hilda Kriseman
Miss Berr: Marjorie Westbury
Vorless: Victor Lucas
Alf: James McManus
Mac: Michael Deacon
Lucy: Jan Edwards
4: Dead End
'How am I supposed to find supplies like this - chained to a lot of blind men?'
Bill Masen: Gary Watson
Alf: James McManus
Mac: Michael Deacon
Lucy: Jan Edwards
Woman: Ann Murray
Coker: Peter Sallis
Miss Durrant: Hilda Kriseman
Stephen Brennell: John Pullen
Vera: Rosalind Shanks
Sid: Wilfrid Carter
5: World Narrowing
'The utter loneliness was beginning to get on my nerves.'
Bill Masen: Gary Watson
Susan: Jill Cary
Josella: Barbara Shelley
Dennis: David Brierley
Joyce: Margaret Robertson
Mary: Freda Dowie
6: Strategic Withdrawal
'Look at the window. Triffid leaves - they're all round the house. They must want us very badly.'
Bill Masen: Gary Watson
Josella: Barbara Shelley
Susan: Jill Cary
Joyce: Margaret Robertson
Dennis: David Brierley
Ivan: Nigel Graham
Torrence: Haydn Jones
Elspeth: Freda Downs
Actors: Alexander John
Leonard Fenton
Music: David Cain, BBC Radiophonic Workshop
Producer: John Powell
BBC Radio 4 FM, From: 20 June 1968 19.00
In Giles Cooper's distinguished and infinitely cool and threatening adaptation of this classic science-fiction novel, a world in darkness and a monstrous example of ambulant plant life assume both a reality and a validity which long outlive their immediate entertainment value. (John Powell)
No MP3s found. The
MP3 files used by this podcast appear to be missing. They may have been removed permanently from their source location.
- The End Begins (0Mb)
- A Light in the Night (0Mb)
- Conference and Confusion (0Mb)
- Dead End (0Mb)
- World Narrowing (0Mb)
- Strategic Withdrawal (0Mb)
MP3 files hosted by archive.org.