Survivors (2008 TV Series) - Differences From The Source Material

Differences From The Source Material

In the credits, the re-imagined series is said to be based on the 1976 novel by Terry Nation; however, there are a number of differences between the series and its source material. In the novel, Jenny Richards survives, whereas her counterpart in the 2008 series, Jenny Collins, does not; this means that Greg Preston and Jenny cannot have a child as the years unfold. Abby Grant still falls in love with Jimmy Garland; however in the book, he eventually dies from septicaemia.

There is a Tom Price in the 1970s novelisation and series. However, in the 1970s novelisation, he was a Welsh tramp who witnessed the climactic accidental killing of Abby Grant by her son, Peter. In the 1970s television series, he joined Abby's community.

There are no direct counterparts to Anya Raczynski, Najid Hanif and Al Sadiq in the book. Samantha Willis does not appear in the book, either, but her characterisation incorporates and parallels some of the personality and leadership ambitions of Arthur Wormley, a "ruthless former trade union leader," who establishes a paramilitary organisation called the National Unity Force which is responsible for Abby's community's eventual decision to leave Britain for the Mediterranean in the latter chapters of the novelisation.

At the end of the book, Peter Grant, who has joined a nomadic gang of feral adolescents, accidentally shoots and kills Abby, who he has not seen for the last four years. However, at the end of the current incarnation of Survivors Series 2, Peter shoots but doesn't kill Tom and Abby is finally reunited with Peter, without her accidental death.

Sarah Boyer is probably the closest character to her portrayal in the 1970s novelisation. Her companion was named Vic, not Bob and in the 1970s series, she was named Anne Tranter. Vic's fate is not revealed in the novelization, but it can be inferred that he starved to death. In the 2008 version Bob survives his initial abandonment. In the 1970s series, Anne (Sarah in the 2008 version) leaves during Episode 11 but in the 2008 version she dies from a mutated version of the virus.