The Tomorrow People Re-view

The Blue and The Green

In the early 70s, ITV was responsible for two fondly remembered science fiction series. The first, from 1970, was the excellent Timeslip which only lasted for one series on TV, but which covered a huge amount of dramatic and scientific ground. The second series, which started in 1973, was The Tomorrow People. Both series were overseen by Ruth Boswell, a leading figure in children’s drama whose approach was never to talk down to her audience, but rather encourage them to stretch themselves. Alongside her two most famous series, she was responsible for Escape into Night in 1972 and the anthology series Shadows in 1976. All four were high quality productions where the ideas were central to their appeal. If you have seen them, you’ll know what I mean, and if you haven’t I urge you to track them down.

The Story

The Blue and The Green is perhaps the best regarded, and certainly the best remembered, story in the series, and it is the story that introduced Series 2. The episode starts with two Tomorrow People in their hidden lab, John (Nicholas Young) and Stephen (Peter Vaughan Clarke). Stephen is attending school, where his art class is being taught by Elizabeth M’Bondo (Elizabeth Adare), a new student teacher. He quickly realises that she is a Tomorrow Person, although she is quite a bit older than the others who had ‘broken out’. John tells Stephen to tread carefully, but soon the new potential Tomorrow Person is a minor problem compared to Stephen’s new classmate. Robert (Jason Kemp) produces a painting he calls ‘The change of weather on Rexil 4’, a name he insists he made up. However, Stephen knows that not only is there a planet called Rexil 4, but that he has painted it entirely accurately. The situation gets much worse when Robert brings a box of badges to school, in two shades, blue and green. When the whole world takes sides, there seems to be little even the Tomorrow People can do. What is Robert’s story? How will Elizabeth cope with becoming a Tomorrow Person? These two questions drive the five episode story as it becomes progressively darker.

Reactions

My first reflection when re-watching a programme I’d last seen when it was first broadcast in 1974, was how well the central concepts still stand up. The way that human nature tends towards inexplicable violence is just as pertinent now as it was then, perhaps even more so. It is one of the programme’s strengths, at least in the first three series which were overseen by Ruth Boswell, not to sugar coat the more controversial elements of the programme. The ongoing conflict in Northern Ireland is referenced, as is racism. Cleverly, the points are not laboured, but they are unsettling and left firmly in the viewer’s minds. The apparently random introduction of the Blue and Green badges is extremely clever, because their effect is immediate and occasionally shocking, but the explanation for that effect is deliberately left until Episode 5. The viewer is left wondering what is going on and even Tim (voiced by Philip Gilbert), the Tomorrow People’s powerful computer is at a loss to explain what is going on. He does, however, mention that the Roman Empire fell after the citizens split themselves into Blue and Green factions. This occurred in the 6th Century and initially took place within the Byzantine Empire, which was centred around Constantinople. This proves to be an important plot point. The denouement is interesting and brings the best story, in my opinion, to a satisfying close.

The weaker points are few, but one of them centres around the uncomfortable marriage between high concept science fiction and children’s television at the time. Robert has a ‘grandfather’ (Nigel Pegram) looking after him who has been brainwashed into thinking that Robert is his flesh and blood. He looks, and acts, like Dick Van Dyke in his role as the manager of the bank in Mary Poppins! It’s a clowning performance that seems to have wondered in from a completely different programme, perhaps Rentaghost. The fight scenes are badly choreographed, but then again they couldn’t be too realistic for a programme shown before 5pm, so some allowances are needed when judging them. That said, there is significant footage from conflicts around the world and that gives a more unsettling feel to the programme which offsets it. Finally, there is a non Tomorrow Person who helps out called Chris (Christopher Chittell). His role is providing the muscle, given the Tomorrow People’s prime barrier which largely stops them from acts of violence. In this episode, Chris gets involved in breaking and entering as well as seemingly random car chases that, once again, seem out of place in the show. Finally, the way the solution is enacted can seem quite amusing in places, but if you suspend disbelief I think it’s actually quite effective.

Things to look out for include early appearances by those Birds of a Feather Pauline Quirke and Linda Robson, the former immediately recognisable, and their castmate from ‘You Must Be Joking’ Ray Burdis. An interesting aside from Tim introducing himself to Elizabeth is his description of himself as Artificial Intelligence. This reflects the fact that The Tomorrow People, like Timeslip, had a scientific advisor.

Final Thoughts

So there you have it. The Blue and The Green definitely stands up extremely well all these years later. It is thoughtful, intelligent science fiction that is the perfect showcase for this 70s classic. Even if the story hadn’t been as effective I could watch the opening titles on a loop! The combination of music and images still sends shivers down my spine in the same way as it did when I was just 8 years old.