The Tomorrow People

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 A television show that today is outdated but can be seen anyway.

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!

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.

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.

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.