The Tomorrow People | |
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Genre | Fantasy / Drama / Sci-Fi |
Created by | Roger Price |
Starring | Nicholas Young, Elizabeth Adare, Peter Vaughan-Clarke, Margaret Burton, Philip Gilbert, Stephen Salmon, Sammie Winmill, Dean Lawrence, Mike Holoway , Misako Koba, Nigel Rhodes |
Music by | Dudley Simpson |
Country of origin | United Kingdom |
No. of episodes | 68 (List) |
Production | |
Running time | 30 minutes |
Release | |
Original network | ITV |
Original release | 30 April 1973 – 19 February 1979 |
The Tomorrow People | |
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Created by | Roger Damon Price |
Starring | Kristian Schmid, Christian Tessier, Adam Pearce, Kristen Ariza, Naomie Harris, Alexandra Milman |
Country of origin | United Kingdom |
No. of episodes | 25 (List) |
Production | |
Running time | 30 minutes |
Release | |
Original network | ITV |
Original release | 18 November 1992 – 8 March 1995 |
The Tomorrow People is a British children's science fiction television series, created by Roger Price. Produced by Thames Television for the ITV Network, the series first ran from 1973 to 1979. A remake appeared in 1992, with Roger Price acting as executive producer. This version used the same basic premise as the original series with some changes, and ran until 1995. A series of audio plays using the original concept and characters (and many of the original series' actors) was produced by Big Finish Productions between 2001 and 2007. In 2013, an American remake of the show premiered on The CW. It is shown on E4 in the UK.
All incarnations of the show concerned the emergence of the next stage of human evolution (Homo novis) known colloquially as Tomorrow People. Born to human parents, an apparently normal child might at some point between childhood and late adolescence experience a process called "breaking out" and develop special paranormal abilities. These abilities include psionic powers such as telepathy, telekinesis, and teleportation. However, their psychological make-up prevents them from intentionally killing others.
The original series was produced by Thames Television for ITV. The Tomorrow People operate out of a secret base, The lab, built in an abandoned London Underground station. The lab was revamped at the beginning of Series 6. The team constantly watches for new Tomorrow People "breaking out" (usually around the age of puberty) to help them through the process as the youngsters endure mental agonies as their minds suddenly change. They sometimes deal with attention from extraterrestrial species as well as facing more earthbound dangers. They also have connections with the "Galactic Federation" which oversees the welfare of telepathic species throughout the galaxy. In addition to their psychic powers (the so-called 3T's of telepathy, telekinesis and teleportation), they use advanced technology such as the biological (called in the series "biotronic") computer TIM, which is capable of original thought, telepathy, and can augment their psychic powers. TIM also helps the Tomorrow People to teleport long distances, although they must be wearing a device installed into a belt or bracelet for this to work. Teleportation is referred to as jaunting in the programme. The team used jaunting belts up to the end of Series 5, after which they used much smaller wristbands.