Bill Masen

Bill Masen was the central character from the BBC produced 1981 mini-series The Day of the Triffids. Played by John Duttine, he appeared in all six episodes of the series. Steven Jonas played young Bill Masen in the pilot episode.

Biography
From an early age, Bill Masen's life was destined to intertwine with the dangerous carnivorous plants known as Triffids. As a young boy, his father and he discovered one of the large Triffids growing in their back yard. A short time later, young Bill saw a science film detailing the culture of a Triffid colony found in Equador. Frightened by what he had seen, he raced home and began digging his Triffid out from the roots. The plant defended itself by lashing at the boy with its stalking, injecting a poison into his system. Fortunately for Bill, this particular Triffid was too young for its poison to be fully effective and the doctors were able to save his life.

As an adult, Bill found himself working at a Triffid farm with his mentor, Walter. Walter had his own wild theories about the nature of Triffids and even suspected that they were partially sentient. One of the Triffids attacked Bill, stinging him in the face, blinding him. Walter was able to administer and antidote, which saved his life, but was still temporarily blind.

He was taken to a hospital and treated for ten days. On the evening of the ninth day, a meteor shower appeared in the skies above England inexplicably causing everyone who witnessed the spectacle to suddenly go blind. As Bill was already blindfolded due to his injuries, he was unaffected by the phenomenon. In fact, once he removed his bandages, he discovered that he was one of the few people who still possessed perfect vision.