#patrick harbinson

Watched The Day of the Triffids (2009) last night. It was awful. I love John Wyndham's stories, read them as a kid and reread my favourites every year or so ... and one thing he does exceptionally well is build tension.

This had decent performances from the leads but they were overrun with scary plants from the beginning. The disaster should unfold, but no sooner had Bill woken up in his bandages than the hospital looked like a Home Bargains at closing time on 24.12 ... it was not right.

Don't get me started on the African masks. 🤐😦

One of the most exciting scenes in the book is them outwitting and escaping a paramilitary outfit that wants to bring them in. Not exciting enough for Patrick Harbinson, who had to have Eddie Izzard doing crazy stuff and triffids everywhere.

I get that CGI is fun, but it seems to me that a more realistic looking monster does not mean you have to throw out a good story nor does it compensate for the loss of it. Numpties!

I need to watch John Duttine and Emma Relph NOW to take the nasty taste away ...

“What were they thinking? A thriller about killer plants?!” Hey, don’t worry about it, because Day of the Triffids works in this 2009 miniseries based on the novel by John Wyndham. For a 3-hour sci-fi TV show, this is actually quite impressive.

Set in the near future, humanity has solved its oil problems by harvesting plants called Triffids. These mobile, carnivorous plants are kept sedated genetically altered to die after three years. When a strange solar flare blinds 99% of humanity, the world falls into chaos. The people who can see are torn between taking advantage of the situation and doing their best to rebuild the world in a way that will suit the blind. That's bad enough. When the Triffids, begin roaming freely, humanity's reign is over, it is now the day of the Triffids!

It's enjoyable for the same reason zombie movies are enjoyable. Under the perfect circumstances, a single zombie or a single Triffid might be intimidating but nothing we couldn't deal with. Today, however, they're a problem. Then, you’ve got your human menace. There’s something about near-apocalyptic events that always brings out the worst in people and this is no exception. It’s bad enough that we’ve got killer plants, but humans can’t even get along among themselves.

It’s a tried-and-true method that you’ve kind of seen before, but not quite like this. Having plants as the antagonists makes for some creative story choices. They don’t have eyes, aren't stealthy and don't have an obvious weakness. There's no head to shoot! This makes them a credible threat that's just menacing enough to keep things interesting. 

Populating this world are a slew of interesting characters you will care for... and a couple of mustache-twirling villains. I don’t even need to name the main bad guy in this movie because you will be able to spot our antagonist the moment he is introduced. My problem isn’t with him because I could foresee a bad guy making it through the big event that changes everything and messing around with everyone. I can even forgive how predictable his actions are because the rest of the movie is quite interesting and it brings in some nice drama. My gripe is with the slew of other sinister characters that our heroes meet. There’s just too many of them, they’re too easy to immediately identify and they’re not developed well enough to earn their spot in the Legion of Doom. Otherwise, the humans we follow are a lot of fun. They’re intelligent, motivated, act like real people would and are seamlessly integrated into the plot. The performances are pretty good all around, which certainly helps. I mean everyone by the way, not just the heroes. Even those cartoony bad guys were well cast and acted.

The premise of Day of the Triffids makes it sound absolutely nuts, like some cheapo Roger Corman production, which proves it's all about the execution. The fact that they make carnivorous plants a credible threat should be enough to get you to see this film/miniseries, but you’ll also find some pretty solid special effects, nice moments of drama and thrills too. (On DVD, October 14, 2014)

Gisteren heb ik naar de nieuwe “Maigret”-serie gekeken van Patrick Harbinson met Benjamin Wainwright in de hoofdrol als detective Maigret. Alhoewel ze een Britse serie is, ging ze in première op 5 oktober 2025 op PBS Masterpiece in de Verenigde Staten. Continue reading “Maigret” van Patrick Harbinson