The Tripods (TV series)

Last updated

The Tripods
The Tripods (BBC series) titlecard.jpg
The Tripods Titles
Genre Science fiction
Based on The Tripods
by John Christopher
Written by
Directed by
Starring
  • John Shackley
  • Ceri Seel
  • Jim Baker
Composer Ken Freeman
Country of origin
  • United Kingdom
  • Australia
Original languagesEnglish, French, Italian, German
No. of series2
No. of episodes25
Production
ProducerRichard Bates
Running time25–30 minutes per episode
Original release
Release15 September 1984 (1984-09-15) 
23 November 1985 (1985-11-23)

The Tripods is a television adaptation of John Christopher's The Tripods series of novels. It was jointly produced by the BBC in the United Kingdom and the Seven Network in Australia. [1] The music soundtrack was written by Ken Freeman.

Contents

Series one of The Tripods, broadcast in 1984, had 13 half-hour episodes written by Alick Rowe, the author of many radio plays, and covers the first book, The White Mountains; the 12-episode second series (1985) written by Christopher Penfold covers The City of Gold and Lead . Although a television script had been written for the third series, it was cancelled by BBC executives Michael Grade and Jonathan Powell due to the adaptation failing in the ratings. [2]

The first series was released on both VHS and DVD. The BBC released Tripods — The Complete Series 1 & 2 on DVD in March 2009. [3]

Production

The series introduced several minor changes from the book, notably the shape of the Masters and Tripods, which have tentacles (although the Tripods do have a mechanical claw-arm that they sometimes use) in the book; the Black Guard[ clarification needed ] was introduced to serve as a tangible human antagonist as overuse of the Tripods themselves would be expensive to film and undermine their dramatic presence; gravity inside the Golden City was increased artificially, which is not mentioned in the TV series; the introduction of "cognoscs", spiritual life-forms vastly superior to the Masters themselves; and more other main characters, including love interests for both Will and Beanpole. The original texts have few female characters. John Christopher was asked about this for an interview on Wordcandy, [4] replying that at the time of writing the series, it was generally accepted that girls would read books with boy main characters, but not vice versa. He also stated that he felt the addition of an entire family of girls to the TV series was somewhat "over the top". [4] The series is also notable for featuring non-humanoid aliens, which was uncommon at the time.

Charlotte Long, who played Will's love interest Eloise, died in a car crash shortly after the start of transmission of the first series. For the second series, the role was briefly recast, with Cindy Shelley appearing as Eloise during a dream sequence.

The models of the Tripods used throughout the two series were built by Martin Bower from designs by Steve Drewett. [5] [6]

Filming locations

The following is a list of fictional locations in the show, the series, the episode in which the location appeared, and the actual location (all in the UK except where shown):

Fictional locationSeriesEpisodeActual location
Village of Wherton and mill pond11 Friday Street
Parker Family mill11 Friday Street
Village of Wherton and mill pond11 Headley Mill, Hampshire
Vagrant Bridge11Gutte Pond Bridge, Wotton Estate, Wotton, Surrey
Tomb11Evelyn Mausoleum, Brickyard Lane, Wotton, Surrey [7]
Rhymney11-2Charlestown Harbour, Charlestown, Cornwall [8]
cave entrance13Charlestown Harbour, Charlestown, Cornwall
Airfield control tower14Radlett Field, Frogmore [9]
Metro station entrance14Intersection of Cornhill and Threadneedle Street, London [10]
The Chateau Ricordeau15-8 Saltwood Castle, Hythe, Kent [8]
Canal "chemin de fer"18Section of the Gloucester and Sharpness Canal, Gloucester [8]
Tunnel (exterior shots)19Windsor Hill Tunnel, New tunnel, North portal, Downside
Tunnel (interior shots)19Highgate Tunnel, Holmesdale Road, Highgate, London
Vichot's Vineyard19-10Wootton Vineyard, North Wotton [8]
Waterfall/creek crossing111 Swallow Falls, Betws-y-Coed, Gwynedd, Wales [8]
Viaduct111-12Pensford Viaduct, Pensford [11]
French festival location111 Haughmond Abbey ruins, Shropshire [8]
French village archway111 Portmeirion, Gwynedd, Wales [8]
French village court house111-12Court room scenes were shot inside Town Hall in the Hercules room, Portmeirion, Gwynedd, Wales [8]
Stone quarry building112floor six mill, Diffwys slate quarry, Blaenau Ffestiniog, Gwynedd, Wales
Stone hut112Diffwys slate quarry, Blaenau Ffestiniog, Gwynedd, Wales
Black pipeline/interrogation building113Lake llyn Cowlyd, Trefriw, Wales
Alpine chapel21, 12 St-Jean, Switzerland [8]
Boxing ring21Lake Ffynnon Llugwy, Wales
Freemen camp21, 12Lake Ffynnon Llugwy, Wales
Swiss capping site21Rue du Village, Grimentz, Switzerland [8]
Ship graveyard22 Purton Ship Graveyard, Purton, Berkeley [12]
Basel docks (where the boys find the barge Erlkoenig)22Victoria Basin of Gloucester Docks, Gloucester [8]
Württemberg docks (where the barge Erlkonig is moored)22Lydney docks and harbour, Lydney
The Pit22Town Hall Square, Unterseen, Switzerland
Bachara docks (Will and Beanpole meet Zerlina and Papagena)23 Lake Thun Next to Oberhofen Castle, Oberhofen, Switzerland
Church clock tower23St Mauricius Church, Thun, Switzerland
Will and Beanpole are chased into alley by Black Guards after Will escapes from the pit23Alley off of Spielmatte Strasse, Unterseen, Switzerland
Will and Beanpole are chased by black guards after Will escapes from the pit23 Oberhofen Castle, Oberhofen, Switzerland
Will and Beanpole miss the barge to the games23Lydney docks and Harbor on the River Severn, Lydney
Derelict house where girls scare boys24, 11Gwylfa Hiraethog, (former hunting lodge), Wales
Games stadium24Former site of White City Stadium at Trafford, Manchester [8]
Gardens in City of Gold26, 7The Barbican conservatory, Barbican Centre, London
City of Gold interior shots27-10 Dinorwig power station, Wales
Beanpole rescues Will from river211 River Wye. The house is known as "The Gatehouse" and was formerly "the Boatman's Rest", Hole-in-the-Wall. [8]
Market where Beanpole tries to sell chess pieces211City Hall Plaza, Thun, Switzerland

Reception

In the book The Classic British Telefantasy Guide, Paul Cornell, Martin Day and Keith Topping wrote "The Tripods could have been one of the most impressive of all BBC Telefantasy productions but sadly, due to a mixture of lacklustre scripts, the inexperience of several of the young cast, some cheap special effects and a plodding snail's pace, it fell flat on its face. On a brighter note, the performances of John Shackley, Roderick Horn, John Woodvine and Pamela Salem were, at least, watchable." [13]

Video game

BBC Enterprises licensed a video game adaptation of the TV series in 1985. It was designed by Watermill Productions for the ZX Spectrum and published by Red Shift. [14]

Film adaptation

Disney has owned the film rights to The Tripods since 1997. It was reported in 2005 that a cinematic version was in pre-production with Australian-born director Gregor Jordan signed on to rewrite and direct for Walt Disney's Touchstone Pictures label. [15] In 2009, Alex Proyas was hired to direct a feature film adaptation of The Tripods and Stuart Hazeldine would write the screenplay starting with "The White Mountain" without Murphy & Touchstone. [16] [17]

DVD and soundtrack

A DVD release of the complete series 1 and 2 was released on 23 March 2009 (Region 2). A new soundtrack album, The Tripods: Pool of Fire Suite by original composer Ken Freeman inspired by the unmade third series of Tripods was released at the same time.

The Tripods: Pool of Fire Suite
No.TitleLength
1."A Plan of Action"3:46
2."The Green Man"6:40
3."A Drink With Ruki"7:32
4."The Pool of Fire"6:31
5."Summers of Winds"4:40
6."Freedom"5:31
7."The Conference of Man"5:33
Total length:40:12

Related Research Articles

<i>Agatha Christies Poirot</i> British television detective series (1989–2013)

Agatha Christie's Poirot, or simply Poirot, is a British mystery drama television programme that aired on ITV from 8 January 1989 to 13 November 2013. The ITV show is based on many of Agatha Christie's famous crime fiction series, which revolves around the fictional private investigator Hercule Poirot. David Suchet stars as the title character. Initially produced by LWT, the series was later produced by ITV Studios. The series also aired on VisionTV in Canada and on PBS and A&E in the US.

The Tripods is a series of young adult science fiction novels by John Christopher. The series takes place in a post-apocalyptic world where humanity is enslaved by "Tripods" – gigantic three-legged walking machines piloted by an alien race later identified as the "Masters". The first two books were the basis of a science fiction TV series, produced in the United Kingdom in the 1980s.

<i>Jeeves and Wooster</i> British comedy-drama television series (1990–1993)

Jeeves and Wooster is a British comedy-drama television series adapted by Clive Exton from P. G. Wodehouse's "Jeeves" stories. It aired on the ITV network from 22 April 1990 to 20 June 1993, with the last series nominated for a British Academy Television Award for Best Drama Series. Set in the UK and the US in an unspecified period between the late 1920s and the 1930s, the series starred Hugh Laurie as Bertie Wooster, an affable young gentleman and member of the idle rich, and Stephen Fry as Jeeves, his highly intelligent and competent valet. Bertie and his friends, who are mainly members of the Drones Club, are extricated from all manner of societal misadventures by the indispensable Jeeves.

Amicus Productions was a British film production company, based at Shepperton Studios, England, active between 1962 and 1977. It was founded by American producers and screenwriters Milton Subotsky and Max Rosenberg.

Troy Kennedy Martin was a Scottish-born film and television screenwriter. He created the long-running BBC TV police series Z-Cars (1962–1978), and the award-winning 1985 anti-nuclear drama Edge of Darkness. He also wrote the screenplay for the original version of The Italian Job (1969). His last film was Ferrari (2023), which was posthumously released.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clive Swift</span> English actor and songwriter (1936–2019)

Clive Walter Swift was an English actor and songwriter. A classically trained actor, his stage work included performances with the Royal Shakespeare Company, but he was best known to television viewers for his role as Richard Bucket in the BBC sitcom Keeping Up Appearances. He played many other television and film roles.

<i>Play for Today</i> British television anthology series

Play for Today is a British television anthology drama series, produced by the BBC and transmitted on BBC1 from 1970 to 1984. During the run, more than three hundred programmes, featuring original television plays, and adaptations of stage plays and novels, were transmitted. The individual episodes were between fifty and a hundred minutes in duration. A handful of these plays, including Rumpole of the Bailey, subsequently became television series in their own right.

<i>The Wednesday Play</i> British TV drama anthology (1964–1970)

The Wednesday Play is an anthology series of British television plays which ran on BBC1 for six seasons from October 1964 to May 1970. The plays were usually original works written for television, although dramatic adaptations of fiction also featured. The series gained a reputation for presenting contemporary social dramas, and for bringing issues to the attention of a mass audience that would not otherwise have been discussed on screen.

<i>The Grove Family</i> British TV soap opera (1954–1957)

The Grove Family is a British television series soap opera, generally regarded as the first of its kind broadcast in the UK, made and broadcast by the BBC Television Service from 1954 to 1957. The series concerned the life of the family of the title, who were named after the BBC's Lime Grove Studios, where the programme was made.

<i>Juliet Bravo</i> British police procedural TV series (1980–1985)

Juliet Bravo is a British television police procedural drama series, first broadcast on 30 August 1980, that ran for six series and a total of 88 episodes on BBC1. The theme of the series concerned a female police inspector who took over control of a police station in the fictional town of Hartley in Lancashire. The lead role of Inspector Jean Darblay was played by Stephanie Turner in series 1 to 3, but in series 4 to 6 she was replaced by Anna Carteret for the role of Inspector Kate Longton. Carteret remained with the series until its conclusion in 1985.

<i>The Rag Trade</i> British TV sitcom (1961–1978)

The Rag Trade is a British television sitcom broadcast by the BBC between 1961 and 1963 and by ITV between 1977 and 1978. Although a comedy, it shed light on gender, politics and the "class war" on the factory floor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tigon British Film Productions</span> British film production and distribution company

Tigon British Film Productions or Tigon was a film production and distribution company, founded by Tony Tenser in 1966.

<i>Murder Rooms: Mysteries of the Real Sherlock Holmes</i> 2000 British TV series or programme

Murder Rooms: Mysteries of the Real Sherlock Holmes is a television crime drama series created by David Pirie, and co-produced by the BBC and WGBH Boston, a PBS station. Six episodes were made and were first broadcast on BBC Two, the first two on 4 and 5 January 2000, and the other four from 4 September to 2 October 2001.

Philip Jackson is an English actor. He appeared as Chief Inspector Japp in both the television series Agatha Christie's Poirot and in BBC Radio dramatisations of Poirot stories; as Melvin "Dylan" Bottomley in Porridge; and as Abbot Hugo, one of the recurring adversaries in the 1980s series Robin of Sherwood.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Duggie Brown</span> English comedian and actor (1940–2022)

Duggie Brown was an English comedian and actor. He was the younger brother of actress and singer Lynne Perrie.

Agatha Christie's Partners in Crime is a 1983 British television series based on the short stories of the same name by Agatha Christie. It was directed by Paul Annett, Tony Wharmby and Christopher Hodson, and starred Francesca Annis and James Warwick in the leading roles of wife and husband sleuths Prudence 'Tuppence' and Tommy Beresford. Reece Dinsdale co-starred as Albert in all but two episodes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stuart Hazeldine</span> British screenwriter, film producer and director

Stuart Hazeldine is a British screenwriter, film producer and director. He is best known for his 2009 psychological thriller Exam, for which he was nominated for a BAFTA Award for Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer. He also directed the 2017 film adaptation of William P. Young's novel The Shack. He currently resides in London.

<i>A Ghost Story for Christmas</i> British television series

A Ghost Story for Christmas is a strand of annual British short television films originally broadcast on BBC One between 1971 and 1978, and revived sporadically by the BBC since 2005. With one exception, the original instalments were directed by Lawrence Gordon Clark and the films were all shot on 16 mm colour film. The remit behind the series was to provide a television adaptation of a classic ghost story, in line with the oral tradition of telling supernatural tales at Christmas.

<i>The Forsyte Saga</i> (1967 TV series) 1967 UK television series

The Forsyte Saga is a 1967 BBC television adaptation of John Galsworthy's series of The Forsyte Saga novels, and its sequel trilogy A Modern Comedy. The series follows the fortunes of the upper middle class Forsyte family, and stars Eric Porter as Soames, Kenneth More as Young Jolyon and Nyree Dawn Porter as Irene.

Theatre Night is the umbrella title under which adaptations of classic and contemporary stage plays were usually broadcast on BBC 2 between 15 September 1985 and 21 July 1990.

References

  1. McGown, Alistair. "Tripods (1984-85)". BFI Screenonline. British Film Institute. Retrieved 24 October 2022.
  2. Josie Santomauro, ed. (2011). Autism All-Stars: How We Use Our Autism and Asperger Traits to Shine in Life. Jessica Kingsley Publishers Ltd. p. 190. ISBN   978-1843101888.
  3. "Tripods — The Complete Series 1 & 2 DVD". Amazon.co.uk. Retrieved 18 June 2010.
  4. 1 2 Wordcandy review of The White Mountains
  5. "The Tripods (1984) - Original Tripod filming miniature". The Prop Gallery. Retrieved 22 October 2022.
  6. "Tripods". Martin Bower's Model World. Archived from the original on 4 November 2016.
  7. "Evelyn Mausoleum". mmtrust.org.uk. Retrieved 23 August 2015.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 ""The Tripods" in the making (ii)". Gnelson.demon.co.uk. Archived from the original on 31 March 2013.
  9. "Handley Page: Radlett airfield". Controltowers.co.uk. Retrieved 22 July 2013.
  10. "The Tripods [Season 1 - 10/06/84#4]". Nickcooper.org.uk. Retrieved 22 July 2013.
  11. "Pensford Viaduct". forgottenrelics.co.uk. Retrieved 23 August 2015.
  12. "Friends of Purton". friendsofpurton.org.uk. Retrieved 23 August 2015.
  13. Paul Cornell; Martin Day; Keith Topping (2015). The Classic British Telefantasy Guide. Orion. ISBN   9780575133525 . Retrieved 7 May 2020.
  14. The Tripods at SpectrumComputing.co.uk
  15. Dunkley, Cathy (4 January 2005). "Jordan to control 'Tripods Trilogy'". Variety. RBI. Retrieved 1 January 2010.
  16. Tenney, Brandon (29 January 2009). "Alex Proyas Moving Forward with Dracula Year Zero and The Tripods". FirstShowing.net. Retrieved 8 March 2024.
  17. Reynolds, Simon (9 October 2009). "Stuart Hazeldine gives 'Tripods' update". Digital Spy . Retrieved 8 March 2024.