Action TV Online - The Changes episode guide

The Changes
BBC 1975

Largely considered one of the peak products of BBC Television's occasional flirtation into the realms of telefantasy, The Changes was based on Peter Dickinson's trilogy of novels, The Devil's Children, Heartsease and The Weathermonger, and adapted for television in ten twenty-five-minute episodes by series producer Anna Home.

The story itself was viewed through the eyes of young Nicky Gore (Vicky Williams), living in a United Kingdom of the near future in which adults have been possessed by a mysterious force which causes them to violently smash and destroy any form of machine and revert back to the dark days of superstition. A throbbing electrical noise is driving the adults to perform these violent deeds, much to the bewilderment of the children who are seemingly unaffected by these sudden and inexplicable "Changes".

Alone in a nameless city (actually filmed on location in Bristol) after her parents have evacuated to France she encounters a group of Sikhs in search of somewhere to live - and somehow unaffected by the noise which drives others to destroy. In the course of her association with this unusual band of people, she becomes embroiled in a kidnap plot by a band of criminals who have captured the local village's children, meets Mr Davy Gordon (David Garfield) and stands trial as a witch (as the world plunges back in time to the dark days of suspicion and finger-pointing at those different from the common herd).

She makes her escape in the company of two other children, Jonathon and Margaret (Keith Ashton and Zuleika Robson), and the former accompanies her on the Heartsease, a boat which will take them on a dangerous journey towards the centre from which the strange weather conditions and the mysterious sounds are emanating from. After the craft is struck by lightning, they swim ashore and emerge in a mysterious and deep cavern whereupon they encounter Mr Furbelow (Oscar Quitak), who imparts to them his knowledge of a bold plan to hurtle the world back to the pre-Industrialised age by way of the dark powers of Merlin.

Their combined forces, in a bid to return the world to its proper time and place, put paid to the "Changes", but not before an allegorical lecture has been delivered to audiences of the dangers of mass dependence on industry and technology at the expense of a comparative "golden age" of existence.

With a limited budget, the series certainly succeeded in capturing the attention and sustaining interest, and broached some difficult subject matter in an attractive fashion. Certainly, the opening episode served to inject the "fear-factor" into audiences as a terrible glimpse of a possible future was afforded, but for the most part the series found it difficult to maintain its footing, only coming together towards its climax.

The series is largely regarded in such high esteem by rumour and hearsay more than by virtue of the viewing of its actual content, as the programme could very easily have been reduced in length to six episodes (rather than ten), and with stronger editing may have proven a more palpable success. Such as it is, the first episode remains the most memorable outing for the majority of viewers, with something akin to padding sustaining the entirety of the programme and a largely unsatisfying (and somewhat difficult to consume, given the links to Arthurian legends) conclusion.

Its somewhat ponderous pace counts against it in many important respects, however the content itself was approached in a novel fashion (albeit somewhat preaching to the converted in stages, as with a fare majority of BBC Television of the period) and commanded notable supporting performances from the likes of Bernard Horsfall, Marc Zuber, Edward Brayshaw and Tom Chadbon.

Directed by John Prowse, the series was globally exported, but its commercial realisation was limited to the novels upon which the programme was based. The series has never been released on either VHS or DVD and there are currently no plans to do so.

Repeated on terrestrial television in 1976, and gracing the UK Gold schedules in the mid-1990s, the series is long sought-after by archive television enthusiasts.

Text © Matthew Lee, 2004.

Characters	Portrayed By
Nicky	Vicky Williams
Mr Gore	Bernard Horsfall
Mrs Gore	Sonia Graham
Old Man	Bartlett Mullins
Chancha	Rafiq Anwar
Grandmother	Sahab Qizilbash
Kewal	Marc Zuber
Gopal	Rugby Brar
Aieet	Rebecca Mascarenhas
Mr Tom	Arthur Hewlett
Maxie	James Ottoway
Mr Barnard	David King
Mrs Sallow	Nancy Gabrielle
Chief Robber	Edward Brayshaw
Second Robber	Derek Ware
Carter	Roy Evans
Jonathan	Keith Ashton
Margaret	Zuleika Robson
Anne	Stella Tanner
Peter	Jack Watson
Mr Gordon	David Garfield
Jack	Tony Hughes
Innkeeper	Kenneth Gilbert
Villager	Daphne Neville
Publican	Godfrey Jackson
Michael	Tom Chadbon
Mary	Merelina Kendall
Mr Furbelow	Oscar Quitak
Preacher	Clyde Pollitt
Newsreader	Jeremy Carrad

The series was written by Anna Home, adapted from the trilogy of novels by Peter Dickinson entitled The Devil's Children, Heartsease and The Weathermonger. The series was produced by Anna Home and directed by John Prowse. The theme music and incidental music was written by Paddy Kingsland of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop.