The Ares Express and the Tomorrow People

We've certainly got a lot of new book reviewers for March, covering Ian McDonald's latest novel, among others. Give these good Nesters a hearty welcome, and get ready for a load of books (and a few video reviews at the end too).

The Encyclopedia Of Cult Children’s TV by Richard Lewis
pub: Allison & Busby Ltd. 354 page paperback-size hardback. Price: Ł 9.99 (UK). ISBN: 0-7490-0576-9

You know how it is. You see a little publicity about a book and think cos its got a low price, there can’t be any harm in buying it for a looksee. If I’d see it on the shelf first, I think I’d have probably left it there. As there is some reference to some TV SF shows here, then it needs to be covered here if for no other reason that you can save your pounds for a more deserving book.

Author Lewis goes out of his way in the introduction to say he is only going to focus on series from the mid-1960s to 1988. Then through lack of material, every cast member from ‘Wacky Races’ and ‘Top Cat’ get separate entries to make up the space that could have easily covered ‘Huckleberry Hound’, ‘Yogi Bear’ (where Daws Butler is first recognised for these voices than for his later work), ‘Space Patrol’ (it isn’t though it wasn’t out on video when this book was compiled) amongst many others.

He even forgets 70s delights like ‘Timeslip’ and the more slightly bizarre surreal ‘Bright’s Boffins’. The latter might not have everyone’s favourite but should have been noted.

When it comes to factual errors, it’s on par with that ‘The Mammoth Encyclopedia Of Science Fiction’ I reviewed last year. Does anyone remember Lady Penelope having a co-starring role in ‘Stingray’?? Me neither. The TV ‘Batman’ entry hits on secondary characters who played the Riddler and Catwoman then those who played them regularly. There’s worse but why dwell on them.

Yes, there is some things that are noted correctly but it isn’t hard to see why as they’re what Lewis either remembered watching or was able to get from source. Anything else got a cursory glance. Whoever was editing him should have been able to have recognised some of the mistakes with minimal research.

Lewis was also extremely patronizing in his attempts at being funny at the expense of the series he notes. Whether this was a demonstration of his own boredom or cheering up the text when he had little to say is debatable.

Personally, if you were going to buy this book for some knowledge or insight about your favourite series then you’re going to be sadly disappointed by this author’s uncaring attitude. Recognising a series has a cult following based on this book’s title, there should have been sufficient detail covering why its appeal has stood the passage of time.

This is obviously a book put together by publishers to make money. It’s a pity that they couldn’t have chosen some author with a better awareness of the subject matter. Certainly there’s enough of us around.

Starlight Man: The Extraordinary Life Of Algernon Blackwood by Mike Ashley
pub: Constable and Robinson Ltd. 395 page hardback. Price: Ł20 (UK). ISBN: 1-84119-417-4

This book's a bit daunting in appearance. It has Blackwood's face on the cover, a face that somewhat resembles Boris Karloff on a bad day, and there are abundant pages containing over 140,000 words which by necessity, require hour upon hour to read.

The first line of the biography is: 'Who was Algernon Blackwood?' This seems to be the main problem. If the author apologizes for the subject's obscurity in the very first line, what hope do others have? And it gets worse. We learn that even after twenty years of research, Ashley still finds his subject elusive and hard to pin down.

This is only by degree but the thought is perplexing in a double-edged way: either it’s full of holes or it’s missing what the author terms ‘important information’ such as what he had for breakfast on the nineteenth of February 1891. His research is undoubtedly meticulous in the extreme and what Ashley thinks is inadequate is detailed enough for me, especially when the subject is Algernon Blackwood.

Apparently, Blackwood never kept notes and a lot of the information is secondhand. He died over fifty years ago at the age of 82. Had this book appeared in the fifties or even the sixties, there would be many more people still alive or sufficiently compus mentus to directly remember his radio and television appearances and it would have been received much better.

I have vague memories of a television series which adapted one of his stories and also a book or two but I must confess, I only remembered them because of a name association I'd made at the time with the short story 'Flowers for Algernon' by Daniel Keyes (1959).

OK, not a good start, you say. However, once forced to read the book, you have to agree that it's actually like the curate's egg - good in parts. Blackwood appears to have had a very interesting life and he was, by all accounts, a person that people remembered in a positive way.

There's a story concerning his contemporary, H.G. Wells, and the construction of a new telescope at Mount Palomar to investigate the distant reaches of the universe. Anyway, Wells, who was a miserable old bugger by this time, said it was a useless exercise but Blackwood was full of enthusiasm and expectation, a character trait which was with him all his life.

All this would have counted for nothing had he not written two hundred short stories and a dozen novels. Personally, I don't like his work. The short story entitled 'The Willows' is reputedly one of his best but I found it to be overly verbose and tediously descriptive. Although it didn't lack pace, it was a pace that varied from dead slow to stop. I know this will come as utter sacrilege to many but Blackwood's work is deeply rooted in the worst that the late Victorian era had to offer.

I don't believe in spirits, ghosts and associated mumbo jumbo and much of the fiction in this genre has no effect on me. To my mind, there's enough horrors in real life without imagining them. For those not spiritually insensitive and for those with a liking for the above, Blackwood's stories are reputed by some to be amongst the best on offer. Some are still in print, including compilations by Mike Ashley.

This review concerns the biography which describes Blackwood's life from it's semi-aristocratic beginnings through hell in New York to general stability as a writer in later life. Blackwood had ants in his pants.

He couldn't settle anywhere apparently and roamed the globe to visit lonely and desolate places where he found spiritual solace. I suppose it was better than a steady job in the mill or down the pit. His play, 'A Prisoner in Fairyland', was used the basis for Elgar's 'The Starlight Express' in 1915 but it was a failure. What? Webber? Never heard of him!

‘How much of Blackwood is spin’, that's a question I asked myself? As the biography describes, he was a bit of an entrepreneur in his time but his varied enterprises failed. Even a century ago, spin and image were important. This is easier to manufacture if information is scanty, perhaps deliberately so, and what's there has to be embellished. It's not beyond possibility that Blackwood, on the success of his writings, cultivated a mysterious and spiritual image.

After all, if you're going to sell horror and ghost stories, all the better to be a bit odd yourself. Later, during his broadcasting career, he was dubbed the 'ghost man' - a title which he reputedly didn't like but one which may have been lucrative. Inwardly, I wonder if Blackwood laughed at it all, thinking that here he was, a joker, making money out of his life's experiences at last.

Mike Ashley is himself an accomplished author with more than fifty books to his credit, including 'Who's Who in Horror and Fantasy Fiction' and 'The Pendragon Chronicles' but this biography and other works concerning Blackwood Blackwood seem to be his main preoccupation.

He's been interested in the author for almost forty years. Such dedication is commendable but, absorbing as he finds the subject himself, this feeling isn't necessarily reciprocated by a wide sector of society. By its nature, this biography must have a narrow field of view and a relatively limited readership.

In summary, the fact that the finished script was much longer than the printed book and some forty thousand words had to be taken out, speaks for the author’s dedication. If you are of a like mind with plenty of time to spare and with a penchant for weird Victorian/Edwardian characters, then this book is for you.

Blackwood comes through as an eccentric, kindly character but I think most people would prefer to be introduced to his life story by a fifty minute episode of BBC's Timewatch, for example, rather than this hefty volume which is more for the purists.

Planet Of The Apes (Video)
20th Century Fox Home Entertainment: 22080S. Time: 115 minutes plus 23 minute ‘Making Of’ documentary. Price: varies but around Ł12.99.) Stars: Mark Wahlberg, Tim Roth, Helena Bonham Carter and Michael Clarke Duncan.

This is a very odd film. I came away from watching it convinced that director Tim Burton was rushing along doing this film even though it clocked in just under two hours.

If anything, it is less than 48 hours in the life of astronaut Leo Davidson (actor Wahlberg). He starts off attempting to rescue an astro-chimp caught in a space anomaly and finds himself propelled by a space warp to a planet dominated by apes.

Captured amongst a set of primitive clad humans by said apes for slavery, Davidson convinces some of them to join his escape plan and is aided and abetted by chimpanzee Ari (actress Carter) and her gorilla majordomo in his search for his mothership that he discovers is on the planet. In pursuit of them is homicidal General Thad (actor Roth) and his gorilla army. That’s it essentially without giving away the ending which is very similar to Pierre Boulle’s original book, ‘Monkey Planet’.

From a scenery and make-up POV, no one can doubt the imagery that is set up in this film. It is in stark contrast to the original 1968 film. The Ape City is set in the jungle amongst the trees rather than as a ground settlement and has the simian attitude to dimensionality. Rick Baker and his studio team’s makes the cast far more ape-like as well. Hardly surprising with Baker’s speciality expertise in this field. It’s a pity someone overlooked all this effort for an Oscar nomination for such splendid work

As I commented above, plot-wise this film moves far too fast. You’re not given a chance to think until afterwards which is where I am when I’m typing this review. Everything falls into place too easily and too obligingly.

No one really questions the motives for their own actions or for why they are on opposite sides other than Ari is in a minority of one wanting humans to be treated as equal to humans. We discover Thad’s motivation but this is never truly seen from Davidson’s side. The sides are quickly drawn. You know who are the goodies and who are the baddies and know there is going to be a confrontation to bring a conclusion.

There isn’t much time given for any real SF kind of thinking. The plot could easily have been transposed into any period piece or current time film. Davidson is portrayed as a hick astronaut who questions nothing about his predicament. He doesn’t find it odd that apes speak, let along in English.

He doesn’t even ask the speaking humans where they came from which might have given him some clue as to what has gone on. Essentially, we have a future 25 years from now where intelligence has taken a nose-dive.

From that perspective, I can appreciate why so many were unhappy as they were expecting more from this film. Unlike the original, I can’t see any sequels being made to follow this up although it wouldn’t surprise me if someone won’t be considering creating a TV series from the premise again.

Before I forget, the ‘Making Of’ feature isn’t too bad. Make-up buffs will appreciate seeing the ape applications being put on although less happy how quickly it's sped through.

Techno-Life 2020: A Day In The World Of Tomorrow by Lois Gresh
pub: ECW Press. 205 page enlarged paperback. Price: $22.95 (US). ISBN: 1-55022-459-X. European distributor Turnaround

Joe Leinster lives in a future world where the pretentious, unprincipled and downright unethical take centre stage. He should know - he designs promotions that have the potential to impregnate customers with addictive chemicals. As a consequence of this struggle for superficial perfection, no one who becomes addicted to it is happy.

The renegade Hot Mary Molly Madame X is old, gross and shouts. Having made a fortune from on-line porn in the 90's, she can afford to scorn the culture of superficiality and have a contentment of sorts. In a TechnoLife 2020, you either run with the technological advances, have enough wealth to ignore them or fall through the cracks in a society fractured all the way down to the bedrock of poverty.

The first part of the book is a novella that deals with the consequences of being able to indulge self-interested and irrational fantasies about perfection and total comfort. The author also touches on the less palatable truths invoked about the possibility of how severely damaged humans may be treated.

There is always a risk of being over-simplistic when dealing with the speed of technological advance. Often the basic bloody-mindedness of human beings is not taken into account when it comes to change that makes inroads into their lives.

Perhaps not so much on the other side of the Atlantic: explanations and references here are geared specifically for the North American market. The European reader will probably enjoy the speculation then go back to counting their euros. (It would be useful to know how much this book retails for in sterling - if not the euro.)

The desire to have plastic children, hopefully, does not have the same imperative for everyone. Put tasty food before many human beings and, like their lab counterparts, they will eat it regardless of calories. Tell the same people to shell out the greater portion of their income to become dependent on this ‘advanced’ technology, even though it may include the gene for weight loss, and they would probably learn to love themselves as couch potatoes.

The author's humour frequently casts a cool look at her contentious subject. Joe Leinster's libido is fixated on a fish with a routine that would have made Mae West blush. The story is also a validation for everyone who nurses contempt for superficially dull people who, having a nothing else to recommend them, aspire to visual perfection.

Following the novella is an unneeded chapter explaining the motives of these characters - they speak eloquently enough for themselves. While there is a comprehensive and informative bibliography, an index would have also been useful for the non-fiction half of the book.

Overall, I preferred the dissertation that discusses in detail, amongst other things, the consequences of germline intervention in the human embryos, techniques to inhibit ageing, transgenics, biomimetics, advances in computing and nanotechnology.

Lois Gresh has an impressive track record when it comes to elucidating these fields without technobabble. She's obviously well informed and draws the line at jumping wholeheartedly at progress regardless of cost, also appreciating that many people find it an anathema.

‘TechnoLife 2020’ is sponsored by The Canada Council, Ontario Arts Council and Government of Canada and is an impressive a fusion of fiction and speculation about a world that future technology may have in store for some of us who can afford it.

The things that most concern people are usefully put into a context that is easily digestible for the layperson and it is a highly recommended read for anyone intrigued, or a little dismayed, by the rapid development of technology.

The Complete History Of Jack The Ripper: New Edition by Philip Sugden
pub: Constable and Robinson Ltd. 532 page enlarged paperback. Price: Ł 8.99 (UK). ISBN: 1-84119-397-6

Science Fiction has freely borrowed from the Whitechapel murders over the decades. If it isn’t Robert Bloch then it’s ‘Star Trek’, ‘Babylon 5’ and the more recent ‘From Hell’ film. To ignore a factual book on the subject as a potential reference book, well, it’s not done, is it?

As noted in the title above, this an update of the book released 8 years ago. It’ll have to be left to the individual as to whether they want to buy a new edition although there is an examination of some new evidence regarding potential suspects.

Saying that, if you’re an advocate for the Sir William Gull angle then this isn’t your book. Sugden convincingly notes that many of these other Ripper books borrow off each other to match a particular hypothesis than go back over the original evidence.

This book covers not only the murders, but also the situation of the time, both on the streets and in the police force procedure of the time. All reference material is noted for source and an extensive index which brings the actual reading matter down to 470 pages plus an 8 page photo insert.

The author’s style does not deter with giving vital factual evidence and is well presented. Any speculation over the suspects is weighed up by their potential to do the crime and only one shows any potential as being the killer himself. Sugden’s even gotten me convinced that the letters that are supposed to be from the Ripper as only a journalist prank.

Did I draw any conclusions from the evidence presented? A serial killer who saw prostitutes as easy targets and turned them into anatomy lessons than sexual objects.

Whatever the century, such murderous acts would have been condemned. The fascination with this subject comes largely from the fact that the killer was never caught. Even if irrefutable evidence was ever unearthed, I doubt if this would sully the Whitechapel murderer’s notoriety after all these years.

Knight’s Dawn (The Red Pavillions: Book 1) by Kim Hunter
pub: Orbit. 374 page paperback. Price: Ł6.99 (UK). ISBN: 1-84149-090-3

Soldier is a stranger in a strange land. After awakening from what he believes was a great battle he has no knowledge of himself, where he came from or the land in which he now finds himself. He only knows that he is different, marked an outsider by his unique blue eyes. The only clue to his past identity is that he has fighting skills and is dressed as a warrior. So he becomes known as ‘Soldier’.

In the city of Zamerkand, he attempts to begin a new life. The people of the city distrust strangers and he is pitted against foes, both man-made and natural, at every turn. Driven by a need to find the answers about himself, he struggles for survival and for power in a bizarre and power-hungry world, ruled by a half-mad queen and corrupt government officials.

Slowly, he begins to become familiar with his new home, rising from mistrusted outlander to a member of the Red Pavilion mercenary army to a lieutenant within that same army. When he falls in love with the Queen's sister, also cursed with madness, he finally feels that his luck has changed. She saves his life but sadly this just creates more problems. Forever trying to prove himself, Soldier then begins a quest to find the find a cure for the Princess's madness, and to find the truth about his past.

'Knight's Dawn' is the first in Hunter's 'The Red Pavilions' series. An introduction to the city of Zamerkand and to Soldier, told from his point of view. Full of sorcery and magic, it paints a vivid picture of a complex land and people. While the action appears a little slow at times, the description is rich and we learn about the city and it's inhabitants and rules as Soldier does.

This is sometimes frustrating - there is much he does not know but does help to build the tension. Soon I began to feel sympathy for Soldier and he serves to capture the imagination enough for the reader to want to learn the truth about his past life. Unfortunately, very little is learnt, and I can only assume that more is to be found in the next in the series.

The only problem I personally found with 'Knights Dawn' was its somewhat slow pace. However, if a gentler pace, at least in places, does not bother you, then you will find this a worthwhile and absorbing read.

Ares Express by Ian McDonald
pub: Earthlight/Simon and Schuster. 553 page paperback. Price: Ł7.99 (UK). ISBN: 0-671-03754-4

Imagine a Mars encased in a diamond greenhouse. Imagine great trains with an intricate society hurtling across the surface of Mars. Imagine one girl saving the reality of her world by saving metallic angels that circle above Mars. If you can imagine all this and a thousand and one other ideas then you must be insane or reading ‘Ares Express’.

This book is a huge sprawling colossus of a book that at times will give you a huge sprawling colossus of a headache. It is packed with ideas and theories about life and alternative realties.

It has fantastic and strangely believable characters that you follow with such intensity that they jump straight off the page and into your brain. At its heart (which must beat at 2500bpm, this is such a fast moving book), this novel is a rip-roaring, gut-wrenching good story. It roars along carrying you with it, like the trains that dominate the landscape of Ares Express (ouch, I did try to avoid that cliché, but sorry it's true!).

The fact that it is just a story is made clear by McDonald all the way through the text. The heroine - who has the greatest name - only survives calamity after calamity because she is the heroine. McDonald describes incidents in terms of the story eg "but was this the Third Act Last-Minute Reversal of Fortunes, or was this the ultimate Point of No Return" therefore you know the ending almost from the start.

This allows McDonald to let his mind and pen run free. It is almost like taking your pen for a walk - hitting certain points, but allowing yourself to explore a whole range of possibilities no matter how surreal. It is magically surreal - from a guest appearance from the Glenn Miller Band to a time traveller who can travel to any point in time but only in the confines of his town.

It made me gurgle with laughter at the images he projected into my brain. Sometime the images and ideas can be overpowering and I found that during certain passages I had to take breaks from reading just to assimilate what he was saying.

In fact, I would compare this book to getting drunk. It is intoxicating: from the very start. It grabs and doesn't let go showing great flashes of insight about how the world operates.

It can make you feel ill if you overdose at one sitting and sometimes you wonder if what is spinning: your head or the world! But like getting drunk as soon as you have finished the book, you forget all the negatives and just remember what a great book it is.

If you like the sprawling complexity of ‘Titus Groan’ or the black humour of Michael Marshall Smith, then try this book. If you like a simple read to relax after a hard day's work then I would steer clear. This is a book that you will either like or loathe from the first chapter.

If you hate the first chapter then there is no point struggling through the rest but if you love it then sit back and enjoy one of the strangest, weirdest, fantastic reads of your life.

Remnant Population by Elizabeth Moon
pub: Orbit. 360 page paperback. Price: Ł 6.99 (UK). ISBN: 1-84149-136-5

Ofelia's children are grown and married. She's widowed and now all she wants is to tend her garden in peace. But when the Company loses the franchise on the planet Ofelia is colonising, she's expected to leave 40 years of her life behind and re-enter cryogenics for the transfer to a new home.

Ofelia helps the rest of the village prepare to leave but decides to stay. She hides from the Company, who - given her old age - makes little attempt to track her down. They'll simply tell Ofelia’s family that she died in transit. Ofelia is alone on the planet.

Soon, another group of colonists land on a different part of the planet - only to be savagely slaughtered by seemingly primitive indigenous creatures that Ofelia's colony was unaware existed.

Ofelia hears the massacre over the radio. Then the indigenous creatures arrive in Ofelia's village, inquisitive about human culture and technology but as disruptive as toddlers. Ofelia fears that if their interest in Earth technology wanes, her life could be in danger. Meanwhile, Earth dispatches a mission to discover what massacred the colonists.

Ofelia is beautifully drawn. Indeed, she is one of the most rounded, one of the most real characters in any SF book. Moon takes you inside Ofelia's mind.

You come to understand how older women feel once their offspring leave the nest, their partner dies and they face their declining years alone.

Moon takes her time to draw Ofelia's character in considerable detail. The plot moves little for 50 or so pages as Ofelia explores the abandoned village, her memories and her feelings.

Indeed, ‘Remnant Population’ is, in general, a slow-paced book that takes its time to explore its characters and subjects. However, ‘Remnant Population’ is never dull, never boring, never less than totally engaging.

Moon also gets inside the mind of the indigenous creatures to create a real sense of 'alieness' which is often lacking in SF. When Ofelia first makes contact, Moon generates a sense of unease and disquiet that she sustains for a considerable time.

If I have one criticism, it's that the communication and empathy with the indigenous creatures comes too easily and with too few complications. Indeed, everything in ‘Remnant Population’ is resolved somewhat too simply and too neatly. Life isn't usually like that. However, it's a minor criticism taken against Moon's considerable achievement.

One of SF's great strengths is its ability to step back, isolate and comment on current issues facing society. As Thomas Disch notes in ‘The Dreams Our Stuff Is Made Of’ much SF "is not about predicting the future but examining the present". And ‘Remnant Population’ deals with a couple of important contemporary themes.

Firstly, Ofelia is a font of pragmatic wisdom and experience. Yet this lifetime of experience and the old women herself are often disregarded and ignored. ‘Remnant Population’ is a powerful and poignant look at the wisdom that comes with age - and the way younger people misjudge and misinterpret that wisdom and the elderly themselves.

Secondly, the mission from earth sent to investigate the massacre exudes a dangerous mix of ignorance and arrogance. Indeed, you can read parts of ‘Remnant Population’ as a post-colonialist view of the hubris and racism of more technologically advanced civilizations towards economically deprived nations on Earth.

However, Moon offers some hope for the human race: Empire building isn't on the future Earth's agenda. Nevertheless, ‘Remnant Population’ offers several insights into contemporary racial and ethnic problems.

As you've probably gathered, ‘Remnant Population’ is extremely well written and on the literary end of the SF spectrum. Indeed, it's about as far from the space opera of Bova or Asimov as it's possible to get. However, with the increasing proportion of older people in the population and pervasive racial tension throughout society, ‘Remnant Population’ is a remarkable, timely, thought-provoking novel that I cannot recommend too highly.

The Champions Volume 8: Episode 15: The Gilded Cage and Episode 16: The Shadow Of The Panther
Video: Carlton: 30074 22353. Time: 98 minutes. Price: varies from Ł 8-99 to Ł 9.99. Stars: Stuart Damon, Alexandra Bastedo, William Gaunt and Anthony Nicolls.

I haven’t bought any Champions videos in a long while although I have been watching the releases. It’s been over a decade ago since they were last released on video but some of the episodes were missing. Fortunately, ‘Autokill’ came out on a compilation, but there were still three missing.

With the recent releases, which are now being done in episode order, the missing episodes are now turning up. Better still, at a price that should be within everyone’s price range who have ever had an interest in this 70s ITV series. This particular tape carries the voodoo story ‘The Shadow Of The Panther’ guest-starring Donald Sunderland before he thought making odd noises in ‘M*A*S*H’ and ‘Kelly’s Heroes’ was characterisation.

For those reading who are too young to remember and haven’t looked around at the various websites devoted to the series, what’s it all about? Three agents, Craig Sterling, Sharon Macready and Richard Barrett, operating for a Geneva based organisation called Nemesis crash in the Himalayas while returning from a mission.

Near death, they are all restored to life by a hidden civilization and allowed to go on their way, discovering that their re-birth had given their bodies super-human capabilities. These abilities, including telepathy between themselves, were the basis for survival in their consequence missions. The only promise they kept was never to reveal to outsiders their capabilities although there must have been a few raised eyebrows over the years.

In this day and age, series with super-humans isn’t nothing new. Back in the early 70s, ‘The Champions’ was probably the first series to have super-humans who didn’t wear zootsuits with optional external pants and outside of Superman, there wasn’t any others anyway.

It also followed in the tradition of many other UK ITV series that although foreign locations were used, the cast rarely left the studio. Production values were placed where it counted by having good scripts and an experienced cast. Although the series lasted only one season of 30 episodes, the material was varied with nothing you could truly call duff. Some episodes are even regarded with favour even today.

As commented above, on this tape we have a rather hypnotic voodoo-based episode and another where Barrett is kidnapped and coerced into solving an encrypted formula. Both good episodes and worth having a look at to see what we 40 somethings got off on a few decades ago.

Checking my episode guide, there are only two more episodes those of us who picked up the original set need and should be out around volumes 13 and 14.

The Tomorrow People: The Slaves Of Jedikah
Video: Revelation/Fremantle: PAR 50122. 125 minutes. Price: varies from Ł10.99 to Ł 9.99. Stars: Sammie Winmill, Nicholas Young, Peter Vaughn-Clarke, Stephen Salmon and Philip Gilbert

This is a 1973 children’s TV series that is long over-due for release on video. It’s up there with ‘Ace Of Wands’, ‘Timeslip’, ‘The Freewheelers’ and ‘Sky’ as series most of my generation grew up watching and would love to have in their collections to watch again. The wait it over. The series is coming out both on video and DVD with each volume devoted to a single story. ‘Jedikah’ is a 5 episode story containing the next week previews and everything as it was shown in my youth.

The Tomorrow People are adolescents whose powers ‘breakout’ and they develop telepathy, teleportation (they call ‘jaunting’ - shades of Gully Foyle in Alfred Bester’s ‘The Stars My Destination’) and telekinesis and are regarded as the next step in Man’s evolution.

‘Breaking out’ is traumatic for these Tomorrow People and the story starts with the latest, Stephen Jameson (actor Vaughn-Clarke) collapsing in the street and being whisked off to hospital. The three current Tomorrow People have to find him while unknowingly another presence, Jedikah and his two motor-bike driving henchmen also have the same plan.

Although the motivations change somewhat towards the end of this story, especially in regard to Jedikah’s boss, a green-skinned one-eyed alien, this series does hold the distinction for being the UK’s first children’s show with youngsters with super-powers. Even under budget, it’s apparent that effort was taken in both making the series look plausible and to show them jaunting.

At the time, it probably also fulfilled every kid’s dream of being someone special, having a secret HQ and putting the world to rights. Whether today’s generation would see it that way is debatable but sales will show. It’s also got a great musical score by Dudley Simpson that you’ll be humming for days afterwards.

For me, it was an enjoyable step back into my past that I’d only been able to see on a scratchy copy in recent years. There have been a lot of TV series that have needed to have been archived and shown again. ‘The Tomorrow People’ is certainly amongst them and the early seasons were also a demonstration of reasonable story-telling from 30 years back.