{"id":22713,"date":"2022-09-27T10:00:47","date_gmt":"2022-09-27T08:00:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiotimes.com\/?p=1704767"},"modified":"2022-09-27T10:19:13","modified_gmt":"2022-09-27T08:19:13","slug":"john-duttine-on-1981s-the-day-of-the-triffids-i-do-bump-into-people-who-say-it-scared-the-pants-off-them","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/rss_feed\/john-duttine-on-1981s-the-day-of-the-triffids-i-do-bump-into-people-who-say-it-scared-the-pants-off-them\/","title":{"rendered":"John Duttine on 1981\u2019s The Day of the Triffids: \u2018I do bump into people who say it scared the pants off them!\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By Mark Braxton\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Tuesday, 27 September 2022 at 12:00 am<\/p>

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The BBC\u2019s 1981 adaptation of the John Wyndham novel The Day of the Triffids is back! It\u2019s now on BritBox<\/a> for a new generation to enjoy, as well as existing fans, enabling\u00a0Radio Times<\/strong> to reappraise this acclaimed TV drama.<\/p>\n

The six-parter generates unease from the first moment, with the main character, Bill Masen, in hospital with bandaged eyes and everyone around him witnessing the spectacle of a meteor shower that will blind most of the world\u2019s population.<\/p>\n

Masen has worked on a farm where Triffids \u2013 mobile, carnivorous plants \u2013 are cultivated for their oil. But the poison from one of their stingers got into his eyes, hence being operated upon to restore his sight. On removing the bandages, he discovers a global catastrophe\u2026<\/p>\n

Over the years, the intelligence of Wyndham\u2019s stories has been much admired and there have been many adaptations of his books \u2013 a 1962 film of Triffids plus another TV series in 2009, while The Midwich Cuckoos<\/a> has only recently been serialised by Sky. But few have caught the public imagination quite so forcefully as the BBC\u2019s 1981 drama. Radio Times<\/strong>\u00a0caught up with its star, John Duttine, to talk about the show.<\/p>

John, how did you react when you were first approached about the project?<\/strong>I was very excited. I was working at the BBC at the time so I was aware that it was doing the rounds. Then I was suddenly asked to go and see Ken Hannam, the director.<\/p>\n

Had you read the novel, or any John Wyndham, beforehand?<\/b>That sort of science-fiction wasn\u2019t my cup of tea, as it were, but I did get into it after that.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It involved a lot of location work\u2026<\/span><\/b>It was great to get out and about. What I do remember is being able to film in the city of London at the weekend, when there was nobody about. Also in Surrey and Sussex \u2013 just up the road from where I live now.<\/p>\n

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It\u2019s a very serious piece, and it\u2019s played dead straight \u2013 were there any opportunities to let off steam?<\/b>\n[Laughs] I don\u2019t happen to recall any!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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How long did the whole thing take to shoot?<\/b>Six to ten weeks I would think. I\u2019m going back in time here.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
In the early scenes, in which meteor showers blind most of humanity, your character, Bill Masen, is himself blindfolded after an operation. Did you have to do much preparation for those scenes \u201cin the dark\u201d?<\/b>That was done by [writer\/adapter] Doug Livingstone to avoid some kind of preamble. We couldn\u2019t do it by voiceover or subtitles, so he came up with the idea of me talking into a recording machine and describing what had happened leading up to that fateful night. That was novel and it was great \u2013 except that I couldn\u2019t see and I had to learn rather a lot of monologue.<\/p>\n
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