The Tomorrow People.

I remember rushing home from school to catch The Tomorrow People. It was one of the few, non animated, kids shows that was actually worth watching. This was the 1970's so choice was severely limited and most every kid watched The Tomorrow People because there was nothing else. 

Unlike Doctor Who this was si-fi  you could relate to, well in a way. A group of  kids, with a great hide out in a disused London underground station, with amazing powers. First amongst them the ability to 'jaunt' to go from one place to another in seconds. Every kid, back then, wished they could jaunt. The renegade band were looked over by an all knowing computer with a cut glass accent called TIM. It was essential viewing in the 70's until it wasn't. Apparently there was a 90's remake which no one took much notice of.

Well now The Tomorrow People  are back, 're-imagined ' by Julie Plec, who seems to be knocking out a show a week these days. The format is much the same, young people with strange powers, but given, as you would expect, a lot more pizazz. The first real shock of the show was that Romeo, from Home and Away, is a Tomorrow Person. So while the residents of Summer Bay are still mourning his death, we know the real reason he left. To look chiseled and jaunt around New York, except it's not called jaunting in this version.

 The pilot centred around Stephen (Robbie Amell)  who is trying to adapt to his new found powers. Suddenly he is telepathically contacted by Cara (Peyton List) and soon he meets up with the rest of the renegade group, who are also looked over by an all knowing computer with a cut glass accent called TIM. It turns out they are  being hunted by a shadow organisation, there's always a shadow organisation, out to get them. 

It got a bit convoluted and there was some plot twists I won't give away. But this pilot episode felt too much like Heroes and, around the edges, The Matrix. Plus everyone, as with all of these shows, is unfeasibly good looking. Wouldn't it be a change not to have herds of would be models wandering around and give us a few normal, rough looking people instead. 

Anyway there was enough in this opener to keep us interested, but it remains to be seen if The Tomorrow People will shake off all that Heroes baggage it seems to be carrying. And we all know how badly that turned out.

Over