Friday 2 November 2012

Tomorrow People - Series 7 (1978)

The Tomorrow People has not stood the test of time.  Actually I used  to think is was embarrassingly bad back in the day as well.  So I must have been feeling generous the day I brought the complete DVD boxset and decided to give it another chance... but it really is irredeemably naff.
Its taken a while to get to the final discs and the final set of stories.  It's consistently cheap and consistently badly written and annoys me even more than it should because at its heart it's such a great basic idea.
Anyway the original space suits as previously blogged had a basic charm and a look of their own but the ones used in series 7 (and series 8) are nothing special at all.  Seen in the stories; Achilles Heel and The Living Skins (And S8; War of the Empires) these suits have the goofiest helmets ever.  What were they thinking.
 

 
Lets never talk about them again.


Steve

4 comments:

  1. Good greif man, this helmet is the winner. I've tried to concieve what process could culminate in this monstrosity but the best I've come up with is that the costume designer hated the cast and wanted them to wear something that looked like a cowpat.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Tee Hee!
    I think it's a motorbike helmet with something plopped on the top; possibly a jelly mould or a cycle safety helmet or indeed a cowpat sprayed silver. Sometimes I think I'm too harsh on the show but then I remember all those wonderful kids shows with great writing and respect for their audience that came from the same decade such as Pertwee/Baker Doctor Who, Children of the Stones, Raven, Sky, etc. Shame on you Roger Price.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeah, some gems there, Sky is one I recall with particular fondness it generated a genuine buzz when it was originally broadcast. I know what you mean about being self conscious about knocking a show though -- it's too easy to take the piss without any appreciation of the obstacles producers and writers have to overcome. The Tommorow People leaves me cold though, I can't put my finger on why, it's not the cheapness or iffy acting, maybe it's like you say, the scripts, they're just too shoddy. There's a kind absolute black and white morality as well, and it plugs into the teen conceit of -we're special- just a bit too eagerly for me to be comfortable with it even when I was a teen.

      Delete
  3. agreed on every point. Not wishing to waste too much more time giving it the kicking it deserves but the theme tune and opening graphics are stunning and encapsulate everything the tv show aspired to be but actually wasn't. I seriously believe that the opening alone is the reason the show lasted two thirds as long as it did, continually hooking us in week after week even though what followed it was piss poor.

    ReplyDelete