The Tomorrow People

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 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!

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.