The Stage

TV review

Published Tuesday 5 January 2010 at 11:05 by Harry Venning

The Day of the Triffids imagines an apocalyptic world in which a fortunate minority struggle to re-establish society, all the time menaced by carnivorous plants. Basically it’s Survivors, with vegetables on the side.

The BBC’s latest adaptation of John Wyndham’s sci-fi classic certainly had a lot going for it. For one thing, the casting was spot-on. Dougray Scott made a convincing scientist/action man, Eddie Izzard slimed splendidly across the screen as an opportunistic villain and Joely Richardson was totally acceptable as the journalist heroine.

Moreover, it got off to a cracking start in which the Earth was entertained by an interstellar light show that had the unexpected consequence of rendering all spectators blind.

The special effects were terrific, the atmosphere suitably chilling, the set-pieces impressive and the pace relentless. Liberties had been taken with the original story, incorporating an ecological theme involving the harvesting of Triffid oil as an alternative to fossil fuels, but it fitted in reasonably unobtrusively.

The problem with The Day of the Triffids is the Triffids. Plants just aren’t scary. In fairness to this production, it created plants that were about as scary as plants are ever going to be, but it still wasn’t anywhere near scary enough.

Having said that, a rogue Triffid would have enlivened Sleep With Me no end. How I would have loved to have seen a man-eating vegetable gatecrash one of the film’s tedious social gatherings and squeeze all life out of the smug, self-satisfied, selfish and stupid characters assembled.

Supposedly an erotic thriller, it starred Adrian Lester and Jodhi May as newlyweds whose blissful bourgeoise existence is disturbed by gamine French femme-fatale Sylvie, played - rather well, it has to be said - by Anamaria Marinca. Her seductress tendencies disguised by unflattering clothes and flat shoes, Sylvie wreaks sexual chaos wherever she points her cardigan.

Ninety minutes of enigmatic dialogue, unconvincing relationships and unsexy gropings later, Sylvie writes a bestselling book. And that’s it. The poor, patient viewer isn’t even rewarded with a bunny-boiling climax. Or a rampaging Triffid.

I’m tempted to complain that The Turn of the Screw lacked finesse, opted for thrills over chills and let the cat out of the bag - or ghost out of the grave, if you prefer - way too early in the proceedings. Also, that it laboured beneath a far too strident soundtrack. But for all its lack of subtlety, Sandy Welch’s adaptation still scared me senseless on enough occasions to render such criticisms almost meaningless.

Michelle Dockery starred as governess Ann, desperately trying to protect her young charges from the malevolent spirits of her late predecessor, Miss Jessel, and her depraved lover Quint. Either that or Ann was a sexually repressed hysteric with an overactive imagination.

It was a week of fond farewells. David Tennant finally handed over Doctor Who to Matt Smith. The South Bank Show bowed out with a film about the Royal Shakespeare Company under the artistic direction of Michael Boyd. Ironically, Shakespeare hardly got a look in, the programme focusing on a brand-new work, The Grain Store, written by Ukranian playwright Natal’ia Vorozhbit.

And finally, Gavin and Stacey saw lovesick Smithy interrupt Nessa’s wedding to Dave Coaches with a speech so poignant, funny and beautifully delivered that you could almost forgive writer/star James Corden for Horne & Corden. Almost, but not quite.

Day of the Triffids - BBC1, 9pm, Monday, December 28 and 10.20pm, Tuesday, December 29

The South Bank Show - ITV1, 10.45pm, Monday, December 28

The Turn of the Screw - BBC1, 9pm, Wednesday, December 30

Sleep With Me - ITV1, 9pm, Thursday, December 31

Doctor Who - BBC1, 6.40pm, Friday, January 1

Gavin and Stacey - BBC1, 9pm, Friday, January 1