The Tomorrow People

I would like by saying that if you are American (as per the only other review), you may indeed find this series hard going. Not because of the story lines, generally, but because of the woeful effects. By US standard, even at the time, TV and film was way ahead of the game and an effects budget of just £12,000 a series was never going to cut any mustard. However, look through this and let yourself get involved with the plots and story lines and you will find yourself being almost hypnotically drawn into it. For a kids show at this time, it was way ahead of the game and many of us older viewers who remember it did indeed rush home from school to see it. Perhaps because it made a distinction between Saps (Homo Sapiens) and The Tomorrow People (Homo Superior), thus any kid left out of the cruel grim schoolyard politics of the depressive early 70's felt that they were catered for by Tim, Stephen et al. Granted it is exceptionally British middle class, and the characters good and bad are perhaps a little unidentifiable to anyone from, say Pismo Beach CA, but its worth the journey and heres why. The ingredients are all here, dark, strong and at times brooding stories; good well rounded 'good guys', fantastically over the top 'bad guys', bad and laughable effects but again all part of the fun; editing and lighting errors and gaffs (that are still in by the way), a haunting, industrial theme tune and great credits. The Tomorrow People episodes have influenced many contemporary scifi TV pro grammes and the series has been resurrected twice (latest this year).

So I urge you to try the original UK series. Laugh if you must, and you probably will, but I would wager the experience will stay with you for quite a while after. You may even love it as I do, even though you might not know exactly why. The Tomorrow People then. A classic BECAUSE of the flaws.

The Tomorrow People is an unusual series about the next evolution of humanity. Children are being born with the abilities of telekinesis, teleportation, and telepathy, and call themselves Tomorrow People. They cannot kill anyone, and hide their abilities from the saps (homo sapiens, the normals) while getting drawn into adventures by aliens and time travelers determined to exploit their abilities.

It's a startling and refreshing take on kids shows at the time. The Tomorrow People are fully aware of what they are when they "break out" and gain control of their powers, and are aided by Tim, their biological computer. It's very much like a kid's version of Doctor Who but with less horror and nihilism. Good performances from the cast of children actors help as well.

There are problems though. The budget and production values are bad even for seventies television, most noticeable in any monster or spaceship shots. There's a weird homoeroticism to it as well, most noticeable in the story arc "The Medusa Strain" with a bit part from Star Wars actor David Prowse as a loincloth wearing android. Many of the early arcs are split among four or more episodes which lead to a lot of padding and wasted time.

The stories are still oriented towards a kids audience, so adults may find themselves wishing for more depth. While the plots are still fresh the show is dated fairly heavily now, and a lot of the impact is lost since many kids shows cover SF themes. Still, for those of us that watched it as kids on Nickelodeon in the late seventies/eighties, it was a mind-expanding experience, right down to the psychedelic opening sequence. Worth a rental if you like British SF or want to remember it if you watched again, but there are too many flaws to make it a classic.

If like me, you were in your early teens when this first aired, you were probably a fan too of this low-tech but engaging children's sci-fi series. Replacing another favourite in the ITV schedules of the time, "Ace Of Wands", "The Tomorrow People" aimed even more at its target school-age audience by employing child actors in the lead roles of teenage "homo- superiors" with the ability to telepath and "jaunt" through time and space.

Unfortunately this was its biggest weakness, as the young actors in the starring parts are almost universally wooden, every take looking like they're repeating a line learned a minute before. The sets and special effects are similarly dodgy, all cardboard and flashing lights, yet watching the episodes today some forty years on, with its excellent theme tune and arresting title sequence, it still takes me back to my childhood, when I would settle in after school and watch it faithfully.

That nostalgic glow makes it easy to forgive its rather obvious shortcomings and to be fair the stories I've re-watched are okay too, sort of junior Dr Who. The good news is that all the original episodes are currently available to watch somewhere in hyper-space, unlike the late lamented "Ace Of Wands" so enjoy them while you can.

A really excellent series,it started off a bit shaky with the awful Kenny and the overacting Carol while Jon and Stephen were great from the start. Elisabeth brought some real acting to the show and the series really had some good stories especially "The Blue And The Green". I thought the introduction of Mike Hollaway as Mike Bell was good,he was a rebel and argued with Jon,which the others didn't do. The series got better with each season and it was always one of those shows that when it finished you thought Why? I highly recommend the DVD releases. "Castle of Fear" was a gem later on,loved the fact a Tomorrow person could create ghosts and even the Loch Ness Monster! I also really liked Hsui Tai,OK her English wasn't too strong but she was very sweet. I didn't enjoy the 90s remake,they should have watched the original,to see how to do a really good Sci-Fi show!

The late Philip Gilbert was great as the all knowing Bio computer Tim.

A British Sci-Fi children's Classic! Tomorrow people is the PRIME example of the "Golden Age" of British Children's television of the 70's. In 1973 Doctor Who was king and Thames Television decided to give the BBC a run for their money. The result was The Tomorrow People! Since this was produced in the 70's, the show is certainly dated along with campy special effects and wobbly sets (imagine Doctor Who on even a tighter budget!)but there is quite a charm to this series, and certainly will bring back alot of memories (especially those of us in the States who were early Nickelodeon viewers in the early 80's) Fortunately these episodes are being released on Region 0 DVD's in the U.K.! Not only is it great to have these episodes in good quality, but the fine folks at Big Finish Productions (who are also producing new Tomorrow People audio adventures with the original cast) have added recorded commentary from cast members including Nicholas Young (John), Peter Vaughan-Clarke (Steven), Philip Gilbert (Tim), Elizabeth Adare (Elizabeth) and conducted by Nicholas Briggs. The Commentary tracks are actually worth the price of the DVD alone! These give a FANTASTIC insight into the making of and behind the scenes stories. Many times they'll contribute their own comments about the scenes (ala MST3K) or even stray from the subject completely and will have you literally rolling on the floor with laughter! Highly amusing and recommended!