'Survivors' star studied series on YouTube

Survivors actor Philip Rhys has revealed that he studied the original 1970s series in preparation for his role in the BBC's new reimagining of the show.

Rhys, who plays Al in the science-fiction drama, told Last Broadcast: "I YouTubed the original series when I was auditioning for the part, and what Adrian has done is update the concept and make it more relevant to today, taking in events over the last ten years or so.

"More than ever before, fear of what the future holds for us is rife - people talk about Armageddon, sell stuff and run campaigns off the back of it. That fear is everywhere."

The actor, who has previously appeared in Nip/Tuck and 24, added that the killer virus premise of Survivors is perfectly plausible.

"The idea behind the series is not such a vast stretch of the imagination for most of us," he said. "Adrian Hodges, the writer, spoke to scientists during his research who said, you know, if you take a strain of Ebola and change this, this and this, the Survivors scenario is very possible."

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