Set in the present day, Survivors is a BBC drama series that focuses on the world in the aftermath of a devastating virus which wipes out most of the planet’s population.
Deprived of traditional 21st century comforts – electricity; clean running water; advanced technology – the resilient group of survivors at the heart of the series face terrible and unexpected dangers. With no society, no police and no law and order, they now must struggle to find food and water under the ever present and deadly threat of other survivors.
Although the production crew made sorties to Doncaster and to Stoke-on-Trent to shoot underground scenes in a mine, Birmingham streets and buildings – many of them abandoned – provided the perfect backdrop to the majority of the series.
Survivors producer Hugh Warren said there were many reasons why the Birmingham area was chosen as the show’s base and location for the majority of the shooting of the second series, which aired in January 2010.
“Last year, we shot in Manchester but we decided we needed to move to get a fresh variety of locations,” he said. “Birmingham was our choice for lots of reasons, primarily because of the variety of locations within the city.”
- Production Company: BBC Drama Productions