In these days of Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and the rest, there is a lot of talk about this being the golden age of television. Stuff and nonsense, I say.
Anyone of a certain vintage will tell you the real golden age of telly was when you were a kid in the 70s – especially on the drama front.
That was when programmes were made to not just entertain you, but stretch your imagination, make you think and, on occasion, make you too scared to sleep without a light on.
To this day I have a doll phobia, courtesy of Doctor Who. (For the geeks among you it was the Terror of the Autons in 1971 when the Master made a troll doll out of plastic that came to life and killed folk – I had nightmares for a week!).
They weren’t
as popular as
Doctor Who.”
But there was a whole host of kids serials that ranged from the brilliant to the out-and-out weird which now come under the heading of “cult classics”. Which means they weren’t as popular as Doctor Who and the like.
So here’s a scamper through some of those that have stayed in my memory for the better part of 40 years.
The Tomorrow People
Ah, even the theme tune and opening titles starts a rush of nostalgia for this sci-fi series about teenagers who are the next evolutionary jump as Homo Superior. Blessed with telepathy and the ability to teleport (or jaunt), their superhuman powers only develop when they get to a certain age (that’ll be puberty, then, but no one ever said so, although the target audience knew what they were on about). In the series, the arrival of their new skills is called “breaking out”. For those watching that meant acne rather than mind-reading.
At the time (1972) I thought it was gripping stuff, but even I knew it was on a shoestring (a scene of someone nearly dying in a vacuum involved the actress puffing out her cheeks and squinting).
And even for sci-fi it lost touch with reality when it tried to convince its audience Hitler was really a shape-shifting robot. But for all that, it did try to address big themes of the day, like classroom and football violence.
Sky
Some kids’ TV back in the day demanded a bit of work from the viewers. Sky is a perfect example. An alien boy suddenly arrives in rural Englandshire – you know he’s alien because he has solid blue eyes (at the time I thought they were solid black but that was because we didn’t have a colour telly – sure it was 1975, but we weren’t posh).
Turns out Sky is a psychic being displaced in time who recruits three kids to help him get home. Meanwhile, the “world soul” of Earth tries to reject him like an invading virus while taking on a human form. Like I said, high concept to the point of bafflement.
But it was eerie, heady stuff with leaves and mud creating an intimidating enemy with more than a Wicker Man whiff about him. Interesting that in those days a kids’ show pitched the spirit of nature as the villain of the piece, standing in the way of progress.
But that was back before recycling was a thing, let alone Greta Thunberg even being a twinkle in her parents’ eyes.
Timeslip
So, you have an abandoned airfield where two kids vanish into thin air and find themselves back in the war era, then at an Antarctic research station in the far future (1990… bless), then in an alternate reality version of 1990 where climate change has run riot and Britain is a hothouse jungle. Oh, and it turns out a mysterious authority figure is actually a clone and the real one has been in prison since 1965. Confused? I was.
But Timeslip was one of those can’t-miss shows of 1971 that kept you guessing. It was also the first introduction many of us children born in the 60s had to the idea climate change might be a thing. Although back then it was firmly far-fetched sci-fi and nothing for us to be worrying about.
Escape Into Night
Now, this is where I admit I don’t remember much about this ITV series that aired in 1972.
In fact, I had to Google “TV series where girls’ drawings come to life” to find out what it was called and what it was about.
What I can tell you is the abiding memory of some lass in a creepy remote cottage drawing pictures of menacing standing stones with eyes that turn up in her nightmares and then end up outside her house. Even worse, she can’t even rub them out because the supernatural forces at work won’t let her. Again, nightmares for a week (I was a sensitive child). Tell you what though, check out the opening titles and tell me I was wrong.
Arthur Of The Britons
This one is here just to avoid leaving the impression I was an ubergeek who watched only science fiction (although I was).
And I suppose the fact it was about King Arthur gives it an ostensible fantasy edge.
Except this one wasn’t.
It was actually a gritty portrayal of a Celtic warlord bringing together disparate bands, tribes and factions, including the Saxons, in post-Roman Britain.
So, no Round Table, no Merlin, no Guinevere and no Lancelot. But it was a more “historical” take on the myth… plus plenty of action, sword-fighting to keep the kiddywinks entertained in 1972.
It also had quite the cast, what with Oliver Tobias and Brian Blessed in the mix. And if you’re looking for star power, the theme tune was written by Elmer Bernstein. Yeah, that Elmer Bernstein. The one who composed music for movies like The Magnificent Seven, The Great Escape and True Grit.
And the rest…
Of course, between all this sci-fi, swords and fantasy I was your average 70s pre-teen who preferred Blue Peter to Magpie, couldn’t stand How? and would never miss an episode of Basil Brush.
So, what were you watching?
