The Tomorrow People 2.1 - The Blue And The Green

Box Set. 3 DVD cases. 13 episode. The success of the first series saw another 13 episodes go into production quite soon after, but with a number of changes. Off-screen, both Bernard and Finch departed leaving Price to take more control as writer, director and producer, while on-screen Kenny and Carol disappeared (sent to the Galactic Federation's headquarters The Trig to work as ambassadors for Earth). Salmon was simply not asked back as there was a feeling the character had failed to work and his acting was considered wooden (plus Salmon had never been very keen to appear as he had no interest in acting), while Winmill's departure was voluntary as the actress was concerned about being associated with a long running series. In their place came student school teacher Elizabeth M'Bondo, portrayed by Elizabeth Adare. Adare initially thought her character was to be a teenage girl and made every effort at her audition to look and act like an adolescent. However, Price and Boswell were suitably impressed to change the Elizabeth character so that she breaks out at an older age due to a latent puberty. Elizabeth is uncovered by Stephen when working at his school where she is doing her teacher training. This was the start of a near-annual event where a new TP would be introduced in the first story of each series, a handy way of maintaining interest for returning viewers and a convenient way for Price to re-establish the basic premise of the show for new audiences every year. Adare would stay until the end in 1979 but grew increasingly unhappy with the quality of later scripts. However she knew how important and ground breaking it was for a black actress to be the female lead in a British TV production so consciously decided to stick around. Filming of Series 2 began in late 1973 with Michael Standing returning as Ginge, but on the first day he fell off his motorbike and broke his leg, prompting a speedy rewrite whereby Ginge's younger brother, Chris (Chris Chittell), was now seen as the new Sap regular. Chris was mentioned in the dialogue as already being known to the Tomorrow People, so little in the way of changes had to be made to the script. Ginge's absence was explained on-screen by his having been admitted to hospital following a fall from his motorbike, reflecting Standing's real-life accident. Price later commented that he felt neither Ginge or Lefty had ever felt right for the format.