Review of Tomorrow People, The Series 6, 7 And 8

Introduction

Beyond Homo Sapien lies Homo Superior, a human being with superior powers to their fellow man. Small groups of these people exist and they work together to rid the earth of evil as The Tomorrow People (dum-dum-dum-dum…).

John (Nicholas Young) is the leader of this intrepid gang, with Mike (Mike Holoway, Liz (Elizabeth Adare), Hsui Tai (Misako Koba) and Andrew (Nigel Rhodes) making up the numbers. Guiding them is computer T.I.M (Philip Gilbert), an omnipotent piece of hardware who not only provides timely information but can also conjure hot chocolate and antiseptic out of thin air and connect the gang with the Intergalactic Trig. Not bad for a set of balls on a moving platform.

The Lost Gods: While being given gliding lessons by John, Mike receives a telepathic message from Hsui Tai. Believing that Mike is the god Kishnu, she tells him that she is waiting for her rebirth. To comply with Eastern religion she must be reborn with Kishnu in mortal form - in other words dies with Mike by her side…

Hitler`s Last Secret - Nazi uniforms have become the latest fashion craze amongst trendy youngsters, but the situation gets intolerable when the kids start acting like thugs. Despite John`s warnings, Mike get swept along with this craze, unaware that a group of old but youthful looking Hitler Youth are guarding a very big secret…

The Thargon Menace - A Thargon slim ship crashes on a pacific island under the jurisdiction of dictator Papa Mimm. The crew, Sula and Flynn, have posh voices and are on the run for unspecified crimes. They plan to evade capture by persuading Mimm to fund a `ripper ray` which he believes they will use to allow him to rule the world.

Castle Of Fear - Guests at a Scottish castle are scared witless by the appearance of a headless apparition. Unfortunately it`s not real, just created by the `breaking out` powers of new Tomorrow Person Andrew Forbes. Andrew`s father owns a failing business at the castle, and Andrew believes that his `ghost` can help attract more business.

Achilles Heel - Andrew becomes suspicious when aliens Yagon and Cantor arrive on earth. It becomes clear quite quickly that the duo have arrived to mine Barlumin, a substance that suppresses the powers of the Tomorrow People. Andrew is exposed and urgently needs assistance…

Living Skins - Balloon-shaped aliens plan to take over the world by taking the form of bubbleskin suits, a new fashion craze. The wearer is brainwashed by the aliens, although John has a cold…

War Of The Empires - Earth becomes entangled in a vicious intergalactic war between the Sorsons and old adversaries the Thargons. The US President forms an alliance with the Sorsons in exchange for weaponry which enrages the Thargons who threaten to destroy Earth. The Tomorrow People would help, but they`ve been exposed to Barlumin, supplied to the Americans by their new allies…

Video

Mix of studio sets, location filming and stock footage which leads to some quite glaring contrasts between shots. The prints are not pristine (well what did you expect?) and there is some quite obvious and visible damage in places.

Audio

Haunting yet familiar synthesised theme tune by Dudley Simpson. Mainly dialogue driven with some fx and incidental music, presented in a Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack. One problem for me is that are no subtitles at all.

Features

Each disc contains text Cast Profiles, and an audio trailer for Tomorrow People audio cassettes.

Each episode has a synopsis, a picture gallery and a fact file containing trivia relevant to that episode.

Commentaries on all episodes by Nicholas Young (John), Mike Holoway (Mike) and Peter Vaughan-Clarke (Stephen in series prior to these), both series 7 & 8 add Nigel Rhodes (Andrew) to the team. Some funny commentaries here, not least because it is clear that no-one has seen the episodes since they were first made and in fact Nigel Rhodes doesn`t even seem to have watched those he was in. None of the team take these things seriously in any way and much laughter and mickey-taking ensues.

Conclusion

Talk about a blast from the past. This is a huge nostalgia fest from the moment the old Thames TV station link appears with the familiar music. As a youngster I was fascinated by The Tomorrow People, watching the series, reading the books and pretending either my belt or watch were jaunting devices. Of all the series, the ones covered by this set are the ones I remember most. Nicholas Young as the ultra-straight John and Mike Holoway as the lippy and gullible Mike are the characters that I remember most. Holoway was actually the drummer in boy band Flintlock who had one minor hit in 1976, and surely acts with one of the most annoying cockney accents in TV history.

The outstanding episode in this collection is Hitler`s Last Secret, an episode I remember in clarity even though I haven`t seen it since 1978. This two-parter also features a young Nicholas Lyndhurst as Hitler Youth leader Karl Brandt with a forced accent and mean pose with a Schmeisser sub-machine gun (just a shame he`s a bad shot). I also enjoyed all the other episodes, although a few were just plain laughable.

A couple of the stories are quite bad and some of the effects laughable if you view them with modern eyes. Remember these were the days of relatively low budget TV and special effects were nothing fantastic at this point. The Thargon Menace is a prime example of this, whilst Living Skins shows telepathic balloons floating to Earth to morph into shell suits ready to take over the world. Don`t just take my word for it though, listen to the cast members split their sides in laughter and disbelief as they re-watch themselves in action.

This is a nice set and perfect for late afternoon viewing. I wouldn`t watch it in front of the kids though, as they will just laugh at what passed for children`s entertainment at the time. This is not about perfection though, this is about reliving yesterday. And The Tomorrow People provide just the right note…