The Changes (TV series)
| The Changes | |
|---|---|
Title image from end credit sequence
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| Genre | Fantasy |
| Written by |
Peter Dickinson (novel) Anna Home (adapter) |
| Directed by | John Prowse |
| Starring |
Victoria Williams Keith Ashton |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of series | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 10 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) | Anna Home |
| Location(s) | Bristol |
| Release | |
| Original network | BBC1 |
| Original release | 6 January – 10 March 1975 |
The Changes is a British children's science fiction television serial filmed in 1973 and first broadcast in 1975 by the BBC. It was directed by John Prowse and is based on the trilogy written by Peter Dickinson: The Weathermonger (1968), Heartsease (1969), and The Devil's Children (1970) (the books were written in reverse order: the events of The Devil's Children happen first, Heartsease second, and The Weathermonger third).
The Changes posits a Britain where a sudden enveloping noise emanating from all machinery and technology causes the population to destroy them. The resulting upheaval displaces many people and reverts society to a pre-industrial age where there is a deep suspicion of anyone who may be harbouring machinery. Even the words for technology are taboo. The remnants of modern technology that escape destruction (such as electricity pylons) produce a physical and sometimes violent repulsion among those left in Britain.
The Changes are seen through the eyes of teenage schoolgirl Nicky Gore (Victoria Williams), and the 10-part series, originally broadcast every Monday from 6 January to 10 March 1975, traces Nicky's quest to reunite with her parents and solve the mystery.
Despite its modest budget, The Changes was noted for its extensive location filming in Bristol, the Forest of Dean and Sharpness. Some of the village scenes were shot at Stanford Dingley in Berkshire. Its original premise, downbeat tone and Sikh characters make it an acclaimed example of 1970s British television.
The theme and incidental music, composed by Paddy Kingsland, combines the sound of an EMS Synthi 100 synthesiser with a small live band (horn, sitar and percussion). Kingsland went on to score both the radio and TV adaptations of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and incidental music for a number of Doctor Who stories in the early 1980s.
Described by BBC continuity as "a serial for older children", the TV series was freely adapted by Anna Home from a trilogy of novels by Peter Dickinson. The series took most of its material from The Weathermonger which, together with Heartsease and The Devil's Children has recently been reissued in a single volume in the UK. In the original books, however, the lead character of Nicky Gore appears only in The Devil's Children — the books have entirely separate characters, and Nicky is introduced into scenarios in which she does not appear in the books, mixing with characters from the other two books. In addition, the timespan of The Changes is considerably reduced from that of the original trilogy.
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