The Tomorrow People

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.

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 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.

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.

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.