The Tomorrow People 4.1 - One Law

By now, Price had become tired of his creation and attempted to end it by killing off the leads at the conclusion to Series 3, but Ruth Boswell made him rewrite it so that they survived. Thames Television had a ratings winner (as well as excellent overseas sales) and insisted he continue the programme, albeit in shorter, staggered seasons from now on. Price only ever allowed one attempt by another writer to work on it solo, with John E. Watkins penning the story "Into the Unknown" broadcast in early 1976. Price was not satisfied with the final episodes and decided from now on he would be sole writer. Having fewer episodes to write every year, Price would have more time to work on his comedic and light-entertainment productions, which he enjoyed more than the demanding sci-fi drama. At the start of the fourth series he attempted to give a boost to the format with the introduction of teenage idol Mike Holoway as Mike Bell. Holoway was the drummer with pop band Flintlock who were the regular house band on Price's "You Must Be Joking" and Price hoped that his young charge would be Britain's answer to Donny Osmond or David Cassidy. Mike's arrival swells the ranks of TPs in the Lab to five (Tricia had remained on the Trig) which made things look a bit overcrowded, this led to the decision to sack Vaughan-Clarke as Stephen, who ignobly disappears off screen after the season finished and is never even mentioned again. Mike was now very much being touted as the show's hero and with this change, it was noticeable that John and Elizabeth took on a more parental role as both actors entered their mid-20s. Tyso also vanished after the fourth year but his character had been mostly redundant for some time due to not having been written into scripts that year. His late inclusion was only addressed a couple of weeks before filming started when Price discovered from Lawrence that he was still available to appear in the programme (he had been led to believe that he had moved abroad). This meant Tyso only had limited screen time and very few lines. Anne Curthoys was asked back to play Tricia but was committed to a daytime soap at Thames.