The Changes

I remember this from the 70's. I only saw the middle episodes but still had vivid memories of it years later. UK Gold recently screened the whole series and I finally learned what had happened. They don't make children's drama like this anymore, pity. One other thing I noticed, when a threat was dealt with, it was over. These days unless you see the bad guy die you just know he will be back to plague the hero's due to a lack of imagination by the scriptwriters. This series however fell into three subplots which followed on from each other as we followed Nicky through the often Violen and very menacing Changes caused by the Stone.

I first watched this when I was 8 and I blame it for my tinfoil hat mentality today; I still won't have an electric cooker or kettle or a TV in the house! I bought the DVD and, if you are able to suspend disbelief in certain scenes, you will enjoy watching it again. Very much in the 'Survivors' mode, it would likely scare the pants off children today.

I saw this show in the late 70s on the ABC, I was only about 8 or 9 at the time. I remember vividly the scene where everyone goes wild and smashed up everything (notably cars), the comparative kindness of the Indian family compared with the stupid rednecks who seemed to dot the countryside and the big rock at the end. The Changes was very much a product of the environmental push that took place in the 70s. I would be curious to see how the show would be presented today. This show was one of many fine British television dramas for children from the 70s.

I was poking around on the internet, and found this for download, just billed as "1970s sci-fi, very good". I had never heard of it before, but much of what comes out of the BBC in that era was quite good, and this one did not disappoint. As with most British shows, it did not scream "I WAS MADE IN THE SEVENTIES!", like most American shows do. Certainly you can tell, but it was made well enough that it can stand the test of time.

As some have commented on the ending being Merlin, that was true. Nicky explained it as Merlin had found the force and had become one with it, so it was Merlin, and more; it was sort of a focal point for nature's "mind" (my language, not the show's).

I am now going to track down copies of the three Peter Dickinson novels that the series was taken from.

If you can find yourself a copy of this floating around the internet, it's well worth the download. Hopefully they will release it in a proper form some day.

I find it interesting, though, in the cast list here, that they do not list Nicky; the main character in the cast list. Even curiouser is that if you search for Vicky Williams, it is listed in her credits. A bug?

I remember watching this as a child during the 1970;s and it scared the livings daylights out of me!

It was very ahead of its time when it was made and was completely different to anything else around at that time. I can remember the lead actress walking down the street and everyone has gone crazy and they were bashing their cars, and then wandering around like nomads. can't remember the middle episodes much, just the lead character trying to find her parents I think. I vaguely remember her meeting up with other people. I remember the end episode where everything appears to go back to normal again, and the girl, Nicky I think her name was, emerging from some sort of cave or hiding place and there was a shot of a train running over head which indicated everything had returned to normal. It didn't really explain why everyone rebelled against all things electric etc and why it turned everyone crazy. It would be great if the series could be repeated again, and to see if it still held the power to scare children today. Its a pity that another series was not made at the time as I feel there was scope for another series, to see if the madness returned. What a great children's TV classic!