The Tomorrow People

The Tomorrow People was a children's science fiction television series, devised by Roger Price and produced by Thames Television for Britain's ITV network between 1973 and 1979.

Price produced a revival for Tetra Films (a Thames Television subsidiary) and Nickelodeon between 1992 and 1994.

The premise of the show concerned the emergence of homo superior, the next stage of human evolution, in the form of teenagers capable of various psi powers, e.g. telepathy, teleportation (jaunting), telekinesis, etc. They operate in secrecy for fear of "saps" (homo sapiens, normal people) victimising them and using their powers for military purposes (they are physically unable to injure people), although they do make their existence known to the British Prime Minister in Secret Weapon in order to rescue some of their members from the clutches of the military's Experimental Weapons Establishment.

In the 1970s series, from the third series some stories involve the "Galactic Federation" which oversees the development of telepathic species, and consequently some stories are set on extraterrestrial planets (which often look like the countryside on the outskirts of London filmed through different coloured filters).

The visual effects have improved considerably by the time of the 1990s series (although the Tomorrow People initially tend to have some difficulty with their teleportations and seem to frequently teleport to just above a swimming pool, or just off the beach of their South Pacific island (actually a beach in Dorset, England), while the 1970s series often suffers from the somewhat primitive colour-separation overlay effects of the time (and a limited budget).

Table of contents

1 1970s series 1.1 Series 1 1.2 Series 2 1.3 Series 3 1.4 Series 4 1.5 Series 5 1.6 Series 6 1.7 Series 7 1.8 Series 8 2 1990s series

1970s series

Series 1

Regular Cast

John - Nicholas Young

Stephen - Peter Vaughan-Clarke

Carol - Sammie Winmill

Kenny - Stephen Salmon

Voice of TIM - Philip Gilbert

Ginge - Michael Standing

• Slaves of Jedikiah

Original UK tranmission 30 April - 4 June 1973

Authors: Roger Price, Brian Finch.

Director: Paul Bernard

Guest Cast:

Lefty - Derek Crewe

Jedikiah - Francis de Wolff

Cyclops - Patricia Denys

• The Medusa Strain

Original UK transmission 11 June - 2 July 1973

Authors: Roger Price, Brian Finch.

Director: Roger Price.

Guest Cast:

Peter - Richard Speight

Jedikiah - Roger Bizley

Rabowski - Roger Booth

Coppin - Dave Prowse

Medusa - Norman McGlen

• The Vanishing Earth

Original UK transmission 9 July - 30 July 1973

Authors: Roger Price, Brian Finch.

Director: Paul Bernard.

Guest Cast:

Lefty - Derek Crewe

Smithers - Kenneth Farrington

Steen - Kevin Stoney

Spidron - John Woodnutt

Series 2

Regular Cast

John - Nicholas Young

Stephen - Peter Vaughan-Clarke

Elizabeth - Elizabeth Adare

Chris - Christopher Chittell

Voice of TIM - Philip Gilbert

Professor Cawston - Brian Stanion

• The Blue and The Green

Original UK transmission 4 February - 4 March 1974

Author: Roger Price.

Director: Roger Price.

Guest Cast:

Grandfather - Nigel Pegram

Robert - Jason Kemp

Police Inspector - Simon Merrick

Johnson - Ray Burdis

• A Rift in Time

Original UK transmission 11 March - 1 April 1974

Author: Roger Price.

Director: Roger Price.

Guest Cast:

Peter - Richard Speight

Professor Sylvia Garner - Sylvia Coleridge

Gaius - Stanley Lebor

Lothar - Leonard Pieroni

• The Doomsday Men

Original UK transmission 8 April - 6 May 1974

Author: Roger Price.

Director: Roger Price.

Guest Cast:

Douglas McLelland - William Relton

Lt General McLelland - Lindsay Campbell

Lee Wan - Eric Young

Doomsday Man - Bill Treacher

Series 3

Regular Cast

John - Nicholas Young

Stephen - Peter Vaughan-Clarke

Elizabeth - Elizabeth Adare

Tyso - Dean Lawrence

Chris - Christopher Chittell

Voice of TIM - Philip Gilbert

Professor Cawston - Brian Stanion

• Secret Weapon

Original UK transmission 26 February - 19 March 1975

Author: Roger Price.

Director: Stan Woodward.

Guest Cast:

Patricia Conway - Anne Curthoys

Col. Masters - Trevor Bannister

Prime Minister - Hugh Morton

• Worlds Away

Original UK transmission 26 March - 9 April 1975

Author: Roger Price.

Director: Vic Hughes.

Guest Cast:

Mrs Boswell - Joanna Tope

Evergreen Boswell - Denise Cook

Lenda - Lydia Lisle

Timus / Tikno - Philip Gilbert

Arkron - Keith Chegwin

• A Man For Emily

Original UK transmission 16 April - 30 April 1975

Author: Roger Price.

Director: Stan Woodward.

Guest Cast:

Elmer - Peter Davison

Emily - Sandra Dickinson

The Momma - Margaret Burton

Publican - Robin Parkinson

Mr Greenhead - Bill Dean

• Revenge of Jedikiah

Original UK transmission 7 May - 21 May 1975

Author: Roger Price.

Director: Vic Hughes.

Guest Cast:

Jedikiah - Francis de Wolff

Sergeant Evans - John Lyon

Evergreen Boswell - Denise Cook

Mustaf - Ali Bongo

Series 4

Regular Cast

John - Nicholas Young

Stephen - Peter Vaughan-Clarke

Elizabeth - Elizabeth Adare

Tyso - Dean Lawrence

Mike Bell - Mike Holloway

Voice of TIM - Philip Gilbert

• One Law

Original UK transmission 21 October - 5 November 1975

Author: Roger Price.

Director: Leon Thau.

Guest Cast:

Inspector - Tim Barrett

Lord Dunning - Harold Kasket

Mr O'Reilly - Patrick McAlinney

Thwaites - Arnold Diamond

• Into The Unknown

Original UK transmission 13 January - 28 January 1976

Author: Roger Price.

Director: Roger Price.

Guest Cast:

Tirayaan - Geoffrey Bayldon

Kwaan - Stephen Garlick

Vaktaan - Brian Coburn

Ralaa - Raymond Boyd

Series 5

Regular Cast

John - Nicholas Young

Elizabeth - Elizabeth Adare

Mike - Mike Holloway

Voice of TIM - Philip Gilbert

• The Dirtiest Business

Original UK transmission 28 February - 7 March 1977

Author: Roger Price.

Director: Vic Hughes.

Guest Cast:

Pavla - Anulka Dubynska

KGB Man - Jan Murzynowski

Senior KGB Man - Gabor Vernon

Major Ann Turner - Vivien Heilbron

• A Much Needed Holiday

Original UK transmission 14 March - 21 March 1977

Author: Roger Price.

Director: Richard Mervyn.

Guest Cast:

Gremlon - Anthony Garner

Trig - Guy Humphries

Trog - David Corti

• The Heart of Sogguth

Original UK transmission 28 March - 4 April 1977

Author: Roger Price.

Director: Vic Hughes.

Guest Cast:

Jake - Roddy Maude-Roxby

Mike Harding - James Smilie

Derek - Derek Pascoe

Bill - Bill Rice

The Fresh Hearts - Flintlock (Jamie Stone, John Summerton)

Series 6

Regular Cast

John - Nicholas Young

Elizabeth - Elizabeth Adare

Mike - Mike Holloway

Hsui Tai - Misako Koba

Voice of TIM - Philip Gilbert

• The Lost Gods

Original UK transmission 15 May - 22 May 1978

Author: Roger Price.

Director: Peter Webb.

Guest Cast:

Matsu Tan - Bert Kwouk

Sage - Robert Lee

• Hitler's Last Secret

Original UK transmission 5 June - 12 June 1978

Author: Roger Price.

Director: Leon Thau.

Guest Cast:

Hitler - Michael Sheard

Professor Friedl - Richard Warner

Major Hughes - Leon Eagles

Karl Brandt - Nicholas Lyndhurst

Willi Frisch - Earl Rhodes

• The Thargon Menace

Original UK transmission 19 June - 26 June 1978

Author: Roger Price.

Director: Peter Yolland.

Guest Cast:

General Papa Minn - Olu Jacobs

Flynn - Michael Audreson

Sula - Jackie Cowper

Major Marcos - Eric Roberts

Series 7

Regular Cast

John - Nicholas Young

Elizabeth - Elizabeth Adare

Mike - Mike Holloway

Hsui Tai - Misako Koba

Andrew Forbes - Nigel Rhodes

Voice of TIM - Philip Gilbert

• Castle of Fear

Original UK transmission 9 October - 16 October 1978

Author: Roger Price.

Director: Vic Hughes.

Guest Cast:

Bruce Forbes - Dominic Allen

Angus McDuff - Bill Gavin

Professor Gail Mayer - Jennifer Watts

Professor Young - Brian Jackson

• Achilles Heel

Original UK transmission 23 October - 30 October 1978

Author: Roger Price.

Director: Gabrielle Beaumont.

Guest Cast:

Bruce Forbes - Dominic Allen

Yagon - Hillary Minister

Cantor - Christian Rodska

Glip - Stanley Bates

Timus - Philip Gilbert

Accompanist - Ted Taylor

• Living Skins

Original UK transmission 6 November - 11 November 1978

Author: Roger Price.

Director: Stan Woodward.

Guest Cast:

Wilton - Ralph Lawford

Girl - Judith Fielding

Guard - Dave Carter

Series 8

Regular Cast

John - Nicholas Young

Elizabeth - Elizabeth Adare

Mike - Mike Holloway

Hsui Tai - Misako Koba

Andrew Forbes - Nigel Rhodes

Voice of TIM - Philip Gilbert

• War of the Empires

Original UK transmission 29 January - 19 February 1979

Author: Roger Price.

Director: Vic Hughes.

Guest Cast:

American President - John F. Parker

American General - Richard Bartlett

Morgan Evans - David Baxt

Thargon General - Oliver Maguire

Chaircreature - David Cann

Sorsen Captain - Terry Woodfield

Thargon Commander - Percy Herbert

Thargon Officer - Anthony Stafford

1990s series

Regular Tomorrow People:

Adam Newman - Kristian Schmid

Megabyte (Marmaduke Damon) - Christian Tessier

Kevin Wilson - Adam Pearce (only until The Culex Experiment)

Lisa Davies - Kristen Ariza

Ami Jackson - Naomie Harris (from The Culex Experiment)

Jade Weston - Alexandra Millman (The Living Stones only)

• The Tomorrow People - untitled story

First UK transmission: November - December 1992

Guest Cast:

Professor Galt - Hugh Quarshie

General Bill Damon - Jeff Harding

Lady Mulvaney - Gabrielle Hamilton

• The Culex Experiment

First UK transmission: January - February 1994

Guest Cast:

Culex - Jean Marsh

Culex' twin henchpeople - Tessa Vale, Deborah Vale

• Monsoon Man

First UK transmission: February 1994

Guest Cast:

Colonel Cobb - William Hootkins

• The Rameses Connection

First UK transmission: January 1995

Guest Cast:

Rameses - Christopher Lee

• The Living Stones

First UK transmission: February 1995

Guest Cast:

Byron Lucifer - Danny John-Jules