Survivors is a remake of a mid-70s BBC show of the same name currently being shown on BBC America. The 2-hour pilot episode introduces us to the characters, kills off 99% of the world and sets the scene for the rest of the series. There have been a bunch of post-apocalyptic series that were influenced by the original show (The Stand, 28 Days Later and Jericho). And the creator of the original series, Terry Nation wrote a book based off the original series that is a slightly different version of the story. That book is the basis for the new show.

Our series starts off with a serious flu epidemic which quickly starts killing people. By the time it is done, 99+% of the world is dead. We start meeting up with our characters. Abby is a mom, who’s worried about her sick son (who’s off at camp) when she catches the virus. She wakes up a few days later healthy, but the rest of the family is dead. She searches for her son and the last anyone saw of him was on the way to the hospital. She’s searching for her son who she hopes is still alive.

Tom is a convicted murderer who killed the last surviving jailer (who was going to lock him in the jail pantry). Tom wants to survive, but isn’t afraid to attack and/or kill. He tries to protect his secret and ends up getting kicked out of a car (while it is moving) before meeting up with Anya. Anya is a doctor who watched every patient she treated die. She helps Tom after he’s kicked out of the car (without knowing why he’s injured).

Al is a wealthy playboy who drowns his fear of the epidemic in champagne and caviar. He tries to be independent and not care, but ends up picking up Najid when he’s all alone. Najid is a devout Muslim boy who watched his entire family die. He has cousins in Blackburn that he’s supposed to find. But he doesn’t know if they’re alive or dead.

The show ends on a secret laboratory that may or may not be involved in the plague. The show is fairly mediocre, but has some promise. I’ll probably watch a few more episodes to see if it’s gets better.