The Day of the Triffids

Adaptations

Film adaptations

  • London-based film producers Albert R. Broccoli and Irving Allen purchased the film rights and in 1956 hired Jimmy Sangster to write the script.[24] Sangster believed that Wyndham was one of the best science fiction novelists writing at the time and felt both honoured and "a little bit intimidated" that he was about to "start messing" with Wyndham's novel. Sangster claims he was paid for his work but never heard from the producers and the film was not made. He later said that he did not think that his script was good.[25]
  • A British cinematic version, directed by Steve Sekely, with a screenplay by Bernard Gordon, was filmed on location in Spain and released in July 1962.[26] Not in agreement with the novel, it suggested that the triffids arrived on Earth via spores from the meteor shower.
  • In September 2010, Variety announced that a 3D film version was being planned by producers Don Murphy and Michael Preger.[27]
  • The anime film Crayon Shin-chan: My Moving Story! Cactus Large Attack! (2015) had a similar setting with Triffids replaced by killer cacti.[28]

Game adaptations

  • Prázdninová škola Lipnice, a non-profit organisation that pioneered experiential education summer camps in Czechoslovakia in the 1980s, developed an outdoor game based on the story.[29]
  • The Italian version of the 1983 Advanced Dungeons & Dragons "Shambling Mound" Fantasy Adventure Figure by TSR, Inc. named the creature Il Trifido dinoccolato "The slouching Triffid."

Print adaptations

  • Marvel Comics adapted the story in the magazine Unknown Worlds of Science Fiction (1975).

Radio adaptations

Character 1957 1968 2001
Bill Masen Patrick Barr Gary Watson Jamie Glover
Josella Playton Monica Grey Barbara Shelley Tracy Ann Oberman
Coker Malcolm Hayes Peter Sallis Lee Ingleby
Col. Jacques Arthur Young Anthony Vicars Geoffrey Whitehead
Michael Beadley John Sharplin Michael McClain
Ms. Durrant Molly Lumley Hilda Krisemon Richenda Carey
Dr. Vorless Duncan McIntyre Victor Lucas
Susan Gabrielle Blunt Jill Cary Lucy Tricket
Denis Brent Richard Martin David Brierly
Mary Brent Shelia Manahan Freda Dowie
Joyce Tailor Margot Macalister Margaret Robinson
Torrence Trevor Martin Hayden Jones
  • There were readings of the novel in 1953 (BBC Home Service – 15 × 15 minutes, read by Frank Duncan)
  • Giles Cooper adapted the novel in six 30-minute episodes for the BBC Light Programme,[30] first broadcast between 2 October and 6 November 1957. It was produced by Peter Watts.[31]
  • A second version of Cooper's adaptation, for BBC Radio 4, was first broadcast between 20 June and 25 July 1968. It was produced by John Powell, with music by David Cain of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop.[32][33]
  • It was adapted in Germany in 1968 by Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR) Köln (Cologne), translated by Hein Bruehl.[34] Most recently, it was re-broadcast as a four-episode series on WDR5 in January 2008.
  • It was adapted in Norway in 1969 by Norsk Rikskringkasting (NRK), translated by Knut Johansen, and most recently re-broadcast as a six-episode series on NRK in September and October 2012. The Norwegian version is also available on CD and iTunes.[35]
  • There were readings of the novel in 1971 (BBC Radio 4 – 10 × 15 minutes, read by Gabriel Woolf)
  • A 20-minute extract for schools was first broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on 21 September 1973, adapted and produced by Peter Fozzard.
  • There were readings of the novel in 1980 (BBC Radio 4/Woman's Hour – 14 × 15 minutes, read by David Ashford)
  • An adaptation by Lance Dann in two 45-minute episodes for the BBC World Service was first broadcast on 8 and 22 September 2001. It was directed by Rosalind Ward, with music by Simon Russell. Episode 2 was originally scheduled for 15 September 2001, but was rescheduled due to the September 11 attacks. Each episode was followed by a 15-minute documentary on the book.
  • There were readings of the novel in 2004 (BBC Radio 7 – 17 × 30 minutes, read by Roger May)

Television adaptations

  • The Outer Limits episode "Specimen: Unknown".[36]
  • A six-episode (each episode 30 minutes in length) television serial version was produced by the BBC in 1981 and repeated first on UKGold in the early 1990s (as 3x50 minute episodes, as it was edited for international sales) then on BBC Four in 2006, 2007, 2009 and 2014. It starred John Duttine as Bill Masen and was fairly faithful to the novel, albeit moving the timeline to a then-contemporary setting, with Triffid oil being farmed as an energy-saving fuel additive.
  • In December 2009, the BBC broadcast a new version of the story, written by ER and Law & Order writer Patrick Harbinson.[37] It stars Dougray Scott as Bill Masen, Joely Richardson as Jo Playton, Brian Cox as Dennis Masen, Vanessa Redgrave as Durrant, Eddie Izzard as Torrence and Jason Priestley as Coker.[38][39] An estimated 6.1 million people viewed the first episode.[40] In this version the Triffids originally evolved in Zaire, and their oil is used as an alternative fuel, averting global warming. The elements of repopulating the Earth and the plague were overlooked in this adaptation; another difference in the plot was that the Earth was blinded by a solar flare rather than a meteor shower.
  • Amazon Studios announced a planned television series adaptation of the novel with Johan Renck set to direct and executive produce for Angry Films.[41]

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