Interview with Total Sci-Fi - Survivors

Zoe Tapper: Doctor in the House

In Survivors, Zoe Tapper plays Anya Raczynski, a new character created for the 21st Century incarnation of the series. After her girlfriend Patricia and her flatmate Jenny die in the virus outbreak, Anya has a breakdown, and subsequently doesn't want to admit to anyone that she used to be a doctor... Words: Paul Simpson

Was the fact that Survivors was a remake of an old show a factor in taking the job?

I'm embarrassed to say I had no idea what it was when I first was approached.

Had you even heard of it?

No I hadn't, but having said that, as soon as you do start talking about it, it's amazing how many people do remember it, love it, and were obsessed with it. It was a real hit, and people wanted to stay in to watch it. It's had an extraordinary response to it.

Would you classify it as science fiction?

It's sci-fi in the sense that it's something that could be a real possibility. We're dealing with something that could potentially happen in the future but hasn't happened. It has got those elements of sci-fi in it. But I think we wanted to focus very much on the human story, and the virus itself is very much dealt with in episode one. That's when you see everyone experiencing it, then when you move into the subsequent episodes, there's more hope. We're not always talking about our past and our families. Obviously that is an element of it, but it is very much looking forward.

How would you describe your character's place in the community Abby Grant builds?

Greg [Paterson Joseph] and I veer more to being outsiders. I certainly have a problem with what's happened, and I'm in denial. I'm a doctor, and I've experienced first hand the extent of the virus, with everyone dying on me and not being able to save anyone's life. I think that's such a massive thing for a doctor, whose profession it is to save lives, not to be able to save lives. That causes her huge distress, and she really has to make a strong decision to move on because she has a huge breakdown. For that reason, she's then very distrustful of people, and keeps her secrets very well guarded.

People don't find out that she's a doctor for a fair way through the series. In that way, she automatically becomes a little more of an outsider than some of the others who are very much more willing to talk about their lives and who they are.

Do you feel that everyone is equal in the community?

They've made a point of making sure that we all have our say. There are certainly many domestic situations where we discuss things at length, sit round the kitchen table and vote on issues and what we're going to do. Going back to the original series, what I've gleaned is that it was very much the men who were the leaders and making all the decisions. That's thankfully changed quite a bit.

What's the dynamic like between the men?

It's great. You've got Greg and Tom Price [Max Beesley], who are these two alpha males who are coming from very different backgrounds. They really spark off each other, and connect as well. It's a brilliant dynamic. Then you've got Al, who's much more carefree and laidback and lovely. Then you've got Najid who's often the voice of reason. When we're least expecting it, the child comes out with the true nub of what we're dealing with.

How much input have you had into your character?

We don't see the scripts hugely far in advance, which I think is probably a good thing. Give actors too much leeway and they'll all be rewriting everything. But at the same time, I've been very happy with how my character has been written. Certainly if there's anything that I think in the future about the direction that she's going, I'd be more than happy to discuss it with Adrian, but as far as we've been going so far, I've been very pleased.

What's fantastic as well is he plants lots of little seeds and there's lots of opportunities for characters to go in a number of directions. That keeps it really alive and exciting.

Did you ask yourself how you'd cope if there was such a disaster?

That's what's interesting when you look at it, especially with our lives: what would you do? As an actor, what other skills do I have to offer the world? I'm not sure a post-apocalyptic world needs actors! It's such a huge thing.

I do believe that the human instinct does prevail. That survival instinct is huge in everyone and I don't think you realise it until you are in that situation but I'm sure I'd be hopeless. I'm terrible. I can't even go camping!

Why do you think there's such a fascination with these apocalyptic shows?

Every time you turn on the news, there's a hurricane, an earthquake, a tsunami, a threat of avian flu. It's quite real, so Survivors doesn't seem that weird or that sci-fi because it does seem that it's something that could happen to us all.

All of us have read this dark and brilliantly written book called The Road by Cormac McCarthy. That is a few generations on from the setting of Survivors. It's just terrifying, the complete lack of food, the complete lack of resources everywhere.

Would you like to return for a second series?

There's definitely scope for it.

What would you like to see happen to the Survivors?

See how we get better at surviving and then as our confidence grows, how relationships then change. At the moment, we have these relationships with people but they're so linked to the fear of what might happen, that we can't have really normal relationships, but as it goes on, and we get more confident, those relationships can thrive.

Original article here.