The Day of the Triffids
A 1951 novel about blind survivors and killer plants.
In 1951, English science fiction writer John Wyndham published *The Day of the Triffids*, a post-apocalyptic novel. The story follows a global catastrophe where a strange meteor shower blinds most of humanity, leaving them vulnerable to a deadly, mobile plant species that begins attacking people. Though Wyndham had previously released novels under other pen names derived from his real name, this was the first book to appear under the byline "John Wyndham."
The novel has been adapted into a 1963 feature film, three radio dramas (1957, 1968, and 2001), and two television series (1981 and 2009). It received a nomination for the International Fantasy Award in 1952, and in 2003 it was included on the BBC's *The Big Read* survey. The book served as inspiration for the 2002 film *28 Days Later*. In 2021, the Royal Mail selected it as one of six classic British science fiction novels for a series of UK postage stamps.
The protagonist, Bill Masen, is a biologist who has earned his living working with triffids—tall, venomous, carnivorous plants that can move. The origin of the triffids is left ambiguous in the novel, though Bill briefly speculates they might be a biological accident or a natural mutation. Triffids are widely cultivated worldwide due to the valuable industrial oil they produce.
The story opens with Bill in a hospital, his eyes bandaged after being splashed with triffid poison. During his recovery, he learns of an unexpected green meteor shower. The next morning, he discovers that the light from the display has blinded everyone who watched it. (Later, Bill speculates the "meteor shower" might have been accidentally triggered satellite weapons.) After removing his bandages, he finds the hospital in chaos, with blind staff and patients. He wanders through a blind London and meets novelist Josella Playton, rescuing her from a blind man forcing her to guide him. Seeing a single light atop the Senate House, Bill and Josella find a group of sighted survivors led by a man named Beadley, who plans to establish a rural colony. They decide to join.
Beadley's plan for rebuilding society involves polygamy, which appalls some members, especially the religious Miss Durrant. Before the plan can proceed, a man named Wilfred Coker sets a fire at the university and kidnaps several sighted people, including Bill and Josella.
Quick Facts
- Author
- John Wyndham
- Country
- United Kingdom
- Language
- English
- Genre
- Science fiction, post-apocalyptic science fiction
- Publisher
- Michael Joseph
- Release Date
- December 1951
- Media Type
- Print (hardback & paperback)
- Pages
- 304 (first edition, hardback)
- Isbn
- 0-7181-0093-X
- Isbn Note
- (first edition, hardback)
- Oclc
- 152201380
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
When Bill wakes one morning to find the survivors have left him, he returns to the Senate House to seek Josella, but his only lead is a note from Beadley. Joined by a repentant Coker, Bill drives to a country estate called Tynsham in Wiltshire. There he finds a separate group of survivors led by Durrant, who eventually tells him that Beadley went to Dorset a few days before he arrived; there has been no sign of Josella. Bill and Coker decide to follow Beadley, finding small groups of blind and sighted people along the way. Eventually, they decide to separate, Coker returning to help at Tynsham, while Bill heads for the Sussex Downs after remembering a remark Josella made about friends she had there. En route, Bill rescues a young girl named Susan, whose younger brother's death is left ambiguous—not explicitly attributed to a triffid attack.
Reader's Guide
The Day of the Triffids has been adapted into a 1963 feature film, three radio drama series (1957, 1968, 2001), and two television series (1981, 2009). It was nominated for the International Fantasy Award in 1952 and listed on the BBC's survey The Big Read in 2003. The novel inspired the 2002 film 28 Days Later, according to director Danny Boyle. In 2021, it was one of six classic science fiction novels by British authors selected by the Royal Mail for a series of UK postage stamps. Wyndham frequently acknowledged the influence of H. G. Wells' The War of the Worlds (1897) on the novel. The triffids are related, in some editions, to brief mention of the theories of Soviet agronomist Trofim Lysenko. During the Blitz, Wyndham was a fire watcher and later member of the Home Guard; his letters to his long-term partner Grace Wilson describing the uncanny silence of London after bombardment found their way into the novel. Critical reception has been mixed: praised by Arthur C. Clarke as an 'immortal story' and by Anthony Boucher and J. Francis McComas for its 'detailed plausibility and human immediacy,' but criticized by Brian Aldiss as a 'cosy catastrophe' and by John Clute as 'safe.' The novel's themes include science and technology, and it has been regularly chosen for school syllabuses.
Narrative Architecture & Plot
The novel tracks Bill Masen, a biologist whose career has been built around studying triffids—tall, venomous, carnivorous plants that can locomote. His professional familiarity leads him to suspect they were bioengineered in the Soviet Union and inadvertently released into the wild. The story opens with him bandaged in a hospital after a stinger incident, where he learns that a strange green meteor shower has blinded everyone who witnessed it; he later speculates it may have been orbiting satellite weapons triggered by accident. From there, the narrative follows his journey through a chaotic, sightless London, his rescue of novelist Josella Playton, and his joining a group of sighted survivors under a man named Beadley. The plot escalates through Coker's kidnapping scheme, a mysterious illness, a trek to Tynsham in Wiltshire, the rescue of a young girl whose brother was killed by a triffid, and the eventual establishment of a colony in Sussex. The climax pits the group against a despotic militaristic faction, culminating in a honey-sabotaged armoured car and their escape to the Isle of Wight, where they vow to one day destroy the triffids and reclaim the world.
Adaptations & Cultural Resonance
The novel's reach extends far beyond the printed page. It was adapted into a 1963 feature film bearing the same title, and it inspired three separate radio drama series in 1957, 1968, and 2001, as well as two television series in 1981 and 2009. Its influence on modern cinema is equally notable: the 2002 film 28 Days Later drew direct inspiration from Wyndham's work. In 2003, the novel was included in the BBC's landmark survey The Big Read, and in 2021 it was selected as one of six classic British science fiction novels to appear on a series of Royal Mail postage stamps. These recognitions span more than seven decades, underscoring how the core premise—a sudden mass blinding event followed by an aggressive plant-based threat—continues to resonate across generations and media formats, from mid-century radio to contemporary philately.
Publication History & Authorship
Although Wyndham had previously published novels under various pen name combinations drawn from his real name, The Day of the Triffids marked his first appearance under the single name "John Wyndham." The 1951 copyright in the United States was held by Doubleday & Company, and a condensed version ran in Collier's magazine across January and February of that year. An unabridged paperback edition followed in the late 1960s, published under the Crest Book imprint of Fawcett Publications World Library in arrangement with Doubleday. The novel also received critical recognition early on, earning a nomination for the International Fantasy Award in 1952. This publication trajectory—from serialized magazine appearance to hardcover to paperback—reflects the mid-century publishing landscape and helped cement the book's place in the science fiction canon for readers well beyond its original 1951 audience.
Literary Influences & Thematic Lineage
Wyndham himself frequently acknowledged the debt his novel owed to H. G. Wells' The War of the Worlds (1897), whose working title had been The Day of the Tripods—a near-identical phrasing to Wyndham's own. Beyond this direct lineage, the novel weaves in references to Soviet agronomist Trofim Lysenko and his discredited Lamarckist theories. In one passage, Bill notes that information exchange with Russia had once yielded reported successes in biology before a fundamental split in methods and philosophy led Lysenko to steer the field in an entirely different direction. This detail grounds the triffids' origin in a plausible Cold War context of bioengineering gone wrong. The combination of Wellsian invasion narrative, post-war anxiety about Soviet scientific ambition, and the specific horror of a mobile, venomous plant species gives the novel a layered thematic architecture that distinguishes it from simpler disaster fiction of its era.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who wrote The Day of the Triffids and when was it published?
English author John Wyndham published the novel in 1951. It was the first of his books to appear under his real name rather than a pseudonym.
What is the main premise of The Day of the Triffids?
A sudden meteor shower strips most of humanity of their sight, and the remaining sighted survivors soon discover that a previously overlooked species of mobile, carnivorous plants has become the dominant predator. The story follows a small group of unblinded individuals as they struggle to survive and find a way to fight back.
What are triffids in the novel?
Triffids are large, mobile, tentacled plants that kill humans with a venomous stinger. They had coexisted with people for some time but only turned into a lethal threat after the mass blinding removed humanity's ability to flee or defend itself.
How does The Day of the Triffids end?
The surviving group identifies a chemical compound that proves fatal to the triffids, allowing them to clear the plants from their area. The novel closes on a cautiously hopeful note as the blind population begins to regain partial sight and a new society starts to form.
Why is The Day of the Triffids significant in science fiction?
It is widely regarded as one of the earliest and most influential post-apocalyptic novels, helping to establish the template of a sudden global catastrophe followed by small-group survival. The story has since been adapted into a 1963 film, two television series, and three radio dramas, and is noted as an inspiration for the 2002 movie 28 Days Later.
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