La gente del mañana

The first thing to note is the originality and creativity of the series' premise. A group of teenagers who have evolved above the rest and can communicate through telepathy and have the ability to teleport, this was a very advanced idea for the 70's where most of the fiction series focused on space travelers or invasions aliens The problem with the program was the small budget it had. The scenarios were made of painted cardboard, the FX extremely primitive, since it was not made in film format, these details were even more noticeable. In spite of everything, the production managed to do a lot with so little. The scripts were the strong point, with some really creative stories. A television show that today is outdated but can be seen anyway.

This was the 3rd British SciFi series from the 70's/80's that we decided to introduce our daughter to during the Covid lockdowns via BritBox; although at the moment they only have the first 4 series rather than all 8.

This one is aimed more at the younger audiences than the other 2 (Blake's 7 and Sapphire & Steel) - and although I wasn't so keen on the 1st Series, it certainly seemed to find its feet after that, even although some of the plots do have the odd hole in them.

Despite being aimed at the younger audience we all enjoyed watching it - and I thought it was better than the attempted 2013 relaunch.

My memory of the show was completely buried from when I had seen it on Nickelodeon when I was a kid. Then I saw mention of it somewhere not long ago, and it all came rushing back to me, memories of what had been my favorite TV show at the time. That prompted some searching, and as a result, I am the proud owner of the first two seasons of The Tommorow People on DVD, which I ordered from Blackstar in the U.K. Watching it was quite an experience, being torn between thinking "this is so cheesy" and "this is absolutely brilliant". As I found watching the commentary, I wasn't the only one. Featuring Nicholas Young (John), Peter Vaughn-Clarke (Stephen), and Philip Gilbert (the voice of Tim), they made what I thought was going to be a technical commentary into a hilarious inside look at the making of the show, which they obviously thought was as cheesy and brilliant as I did. Everyone thinking of getting the DVD's should watch it. This is especially easy as the DVD's you order from the U.K. are Region 0, which means they can be watched all over the world (don't be fooled by blackstar.co.uk or amazon.co.uk when they mark them as Region 2 on the websites, they are all Region 0). Well worth the money for anyone who remembers the show and wants to take a stroll down memory lane.

Due to a timeslot conflict back in the days before even VCRs I never saw this back in the day so I am taking advantage of social distancing to binge it online to see what I am missing. I have been told that this was Thames TV's pale imitation of Doctor Who which is both factually correct but misses the point. First of all it had a fair run for any series. Dr Who is almost unique for it's long run so it's a bit unfair to use that yardstick. The effects and sets are cheaper than Dr Who but not as cheap as late Blakes 7. If I had seen it as a kid I am sure I would have loved it just as much as other stuff I was watching then. As an adult I am smirking a bit but definitely a fan. There is a tendency for villains to give up a bit easily (perhaps in fear of Whitehouse?) but there are some very sophisticated ideas being thrown about and (mostly) the science is real rather than technobabble with a credited science adviser. The worst thing about it is that either it was hurriedly rehearsed or they were too pressed to re shoot as flubbed lines are a bit too common and last night I lost it laughing at the boom mike popping in and out of shot but that's minor.

The Tomorrow People debuted in March 1973 and was mean't to be an answer to the BBC's Doctor Who but curiously was shown on a Monday instead of Doctor Who's Saturday. It followed the adventures of several teenagers who were the first to gain telepathic powers in the next stages of human evolution. Nicholas Young was cast as John and remained with the series until it ended in 1979. Peter Vaughan Clarke was also one of the first to join the series as well as their computer Tim, voiced by the late Philip Gilbert. Elizabeth Adare joined in Season 2 and she was certainly one of the finest characters in the series alongside John. The show became very popular and ran for 6 years with eight series being produced and shown on ITV. The series certainly has it's classics and the writing by Roger Price (also the series creator) was alway's very good. Strong episodes include 'The Blue and the Green' and 'Vanishing Earth' but to me the ultimate classic is the 1978 two parter 'The Living Skins' (also Nicholas Young's favourite) featuring the Bulboids. To me this story had everything. Good humour, excellent (if funny) aliens, but more importantly despite this it was still very menacing something which I felt earlier stories never maintained. Later 'Tomorrow People' include, Andrew Forbes, Mike (played by Flintlock Drummer Mike Holoway) and Hsui Tai (she tried bless her!) and the series went out on a high in 1979 with 'War of the Empires'. The Tomorrow People remains a science fiction classic which came number 8 of the top ten sci-fi programme on Channel4 in 2001. The series really disappeared apart from some video releases in 1991 until 2001 when DVD releases of the series began to be produced by Revelation films. The commentaries are truly excellent with the wonderfully cynical Nicholas Young providing a lot of laughs. Big Finish productions are now also making new 'Tomorrow People' audio dramas. In conclusion, although 'The Tomorrow People' was sometimes quite shallow and certainly not a patch on Doctor Who it did provide science fiction thirsty children with some excellent stories and perhaps more importantly a good laugh! The show was packed full of humour throughout it's six year run. Certainly a good series, and one among the science fiction greats.