The Tomorrow People 2:2 - A Rift In Time

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The Tomorrow People 2:2 - A Rift In Time

Video: Revelation PAR 50130. 100 minutes - 4 episodes. Price: £ 8.99-£10.99 (shop around for the best price). Starring Elizabeth Adair, Nicholas Young, Peter Vaughn-Clarke, Chris Chittel, Philip Gilbert, Peter Speight and Stanley Lebor.

In many respects, the 70s second season of 'The Tomorrow People' was a development and growth season.

This particular story explains and demonstrates some simple basic problems of time travel that the youngsters of my day could understand.

Peter (actor Speight) the time traveller from Season One's story 'The Medusa Strain' dreams messages to the future of his enslavement in the past to Stephen and John. This is later followed up with the clue to seek out a Roman vase.

Stephen procures it by convincing a psychic researcher that if a picture of the vase allows him to telekinetically manipulate dice then the real thing would be better. The archaeologist is convinced to let him look it over and only then does Stephen discover it is the lid not the vase that holds the secret and jaunts off with it. The Tomorrow People might be compelled never to do kill anyone but thieving seems to be acceptable.

The message on the lid allows John to create a sub-nuclear acting time-travelling device that inadvertently whisks Stephen into the future. There, he meets one of the Guardians of Time and explains Peter's predicament. The Guardians are not allowed to help each other in the past but does allow Stephen to borrow the necessary devices for the Tomorrow People and Chris to go into the past to rescue Peter.

A discussion with the archaeologist, as well as returning the lid, gives the location where to start looking: a gladiator school in Chichester. In the past, after delivering Stephen to the gladiator school for money, they discover their abilities don't work and realise there is another time traveller interfering with their mission.

They raid the gladiator school with, Chris leading the way, only to prevent the other time traveller from escaping and blowing the place up. It isn't totally destroyed but sufficiently to allow them to set the boy slaves free before returning to the future where they discover things aren't the way that they left it.

The Roman Empire is still thriving because technological advancement had started soon after they left in the past. Realising that an alternative reality had been created, they return to the past to prevent one of the returning slaves, Cotus, from returning to the school and discovering the water pump.

Their moves are followed by the time traveller, himself a Roman leader, who is out to stop them preventing his reality. Ultimately, it is one of his soldiers under his orders whose actions prevent the Roman Empire reality from coming into existence.

As I commented in the first paragraph, the demonstration of not what to do when travelling into the past is graphically depicted and quite sophisticated thinking for 1974. The distribution of action amongst the actors isn't so hot with Elizabeth Adair getting less to do.

Known faces amongst the supporting cast are Peter Duncan who later on became a host on BBC's 'Blue Peter' and Stanley Lebor who later appeared in BBC's 'Ever Decreasing Circles' showing here he was very good at dramatics.

You're either buying 'The Tomorrow People' videos to relive your past or for your children to watch.

Whichever, this is a story worth having a look at.

GF Willmetts

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