The Girl from Tomorrow
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| The Girl from Tomorrow | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Genre | sci-fi/time travel |
| Creator(s) | Mark Shirrefs & John Thomson |
| Starring | Katharine Cullen Melissa Marshall John Howard Helen O'Connor Andrew Clarke James Findlay |
| Country of origin | Australia |
| No. of episodes | 12 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 24 minutes |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | Nine Network |
| Original run | January 5, 1992 – December 23, 1992 |
| Chronology | |
| Followed by | The Girl from Tomorrow Part II: Tomorrow's End |
| Links | |
| Official website | |
| IMDb profile | |
| TV.com summary | |
The Girl from Tomorrow is an Australian children's television series created by Film Australia. The series is based around Alana (Katharine Cullen), a girl from the year 3000. At the start of the series, she is kidnapped by Silverthorn, a criminal from the year 2500, and brought back in time to the year 1990.
While in the year 1990, she befriends Jenny, who helps Alana adapt to life in a time unfamiliar to her, and later helps her to return to her own time.
A sequel series, The Girl from Tomorrow Part II: Tomorrow's End aired in 1993.
Contents |
[edit] Premise
The people of the year 3000 wish to understand the causes of The Great Disaster, a catastrophic event that nearly destroyed the entire Earth. So they design and build a Time Capsule so they can go back in time to find out. Tulista has been chosen to go back and investigate. Alana, Tulista's student has reservations about this experiment and voices her concerns to Tulista, telling her she feels something bad will happen to her in the past. Tulista does her best to reassure her that all will be well. When the time comes, Tulista prepares to travel back in time. Alana finds out the true reason why Tulista is going back in time and rushes to the Science Dome to stop her. As Alana arrives she sees the Time Capsule in the process of travelling through time, she realises she is too late, and tells Bruno, the Head of the Time Travel Project that Tulista isn't coming back. Bruno calms her and they watch as the computer tracks the Capsule from the year 3000 to the year 2500, seconds later the Capsule return to the year 3000. When Tulista emerges from the Capsule, she is not alone. She is being held hostage by Silverthorn, a criminal from the year 2500. He is intent on conquering the future. He tries to use his laser pistol against the scientist present in the Science Dome, but it is no match for the superior technology of the Transducer. Alana rushes to help Tulista, but Silverthorn takes her hostage instead. He decides that if he can't conquer the future he'll try the past. He takes Alana with him, and Bruno watches as the computer tracks the Capsule to 1990. Arriving in 1990 Alana escapes from Silverthorn as he had been injured during the journey. Alana meets teenager, Jenny Kelly, and they become friends, and enlists her help to get back to the Capsule before it return to the future, leaving her stranded in the past. Jenny and Alana discover that the Capsule has been seized by Silverthorn, and he will not allow Alana to use it to return to her own time. Alana and Jenny must devise a plan to retrieve the Capsule, so that Alana can return home.
[edit] Character profiles
[edit] Alana
Alana is a fourteen year old girl from the year 3000. Alana's parents live on Titan, Saturn's moon. They sent her to Earth to be educated. On Earth she has guardians who teach her the techniques of how to use the Transducer. Alana has three distinctive dots on the side of her face in the temple area. These dots signify that she is mature enough to use a Transducer.
[edit] Silverthorn
Silverthorn is a villain from the year 2500. Silverthorn's most noticeable traits are his deviousness, and violent tendencies. Contrary to these though, he can be very charming, but this is all a front so he can double-cross people. He kidnaps Alana and flees to 1990, where he hopes he can rule the world.
[edit] Jenny Kelly
Jenny is from 1990. She is a typical teenager going through her rebellious phase. She has dyed her hair purple and plays the drums, she has aspirations of joining a band. When she's not at school she helps out in her mum's deli. Jenny hates living in Sydney, but when Alana arrives things started getting interesting.
[edit] Petey Kelly
Petey is like any other ten year old boy from 1990. He is the brother of Jenny. He enjoys dressing up in his home-made superhero outfit, and calls himself "Captain Zero". Petey also has a great love of Science Fiction, which comes in handy when things get tough.
[edit] Irene Kelly
Irene is Jenny and Petey's mother. She is the owner of the Kelly Deli. Like most mums, she is very protective of her children, so much so that she is more than willing to stand up to Silverthorn alone in order to protect them.
[edit] James Rooney
James is the science teacher at Jenny's high school. Irene fell for him when she met him after enrolling Alana in Jenny's school. James helped all the others in their efforts to retrieve the Capsule so Alana could return home.
[edit] Technology in the year 2500
In the year 2500, technology is more advanced than in 1990. The most used item of technology is the laser pistol described below.
[edit] Laser Pistols
The most often used weapon in use in the year 2500 is the laser pistol. When the pistol is used the trigger is held allowing energy to build up within the object and once the trigger is released the energy within the object causes it to explode.
[edit] Technology in the year 3000
In the year 3000, all scientific experiments and technological advancements are carried out within the Science Dome. One area within the Science Dome is the Time Laboratory. This is where all time travel experiments are performed. Technology used in the laboratory includes the Time Capsule, and the temporal flux generators, as well as other diagnostic tools. Below follows a short list of significant technology used in the future.
[edit] The Time Capsule
The Time Capsule is a time exploration vehicle. It was invented by a scientist named Bruno in the year 3000. The Capsule is exactly 1.7m (5½ft) in height and width. Its composition in the series is unknown, but as a real prop, it is basically a dark green steel frame model of a Rhombicuboctahedron plated with semidiagonal steel bars and plated with semitransparent plexiglas from the inside, except on the front side which is completely transparent. Inside is a command place for one passenger, although the vehicle can accept several people. It stands on a 20 cm tall black base. Its front sides are capable of opening like a two side door. The Capsule is equipped with the most advanced computer system available in the future. The history and knowledge from before The Great Disaster is held within its memory banks. The command panel is represented by a green prism in the center of the vehicle, which communicates with the upper control panel, situated below the topmost side. In the second season, a security device is added - a hexagonal plate palm scanner, right from the front side. The Capsule is equipped with survival mechanisms capable of synthesizing water and protein nutrients from the atmosphere.
Bruno invented the Time Capsule so that people in the year 3000 could investigate the causes of The Great Disaster, a terrible event that almost destroyed the entire Earth. The Capsule's computer also responds to verbal commands. When the Time Capsule is programmed with a set of temporal co-ordinates it draws energy from the temporal flux generators and begins to spin slowly at first and then gathering speed, which is followed by two sounds: a saw wave sound gradually increasing in frequency and a looping sequence (sound that exponentially grows in frequency and then falls low again) increasing in frequency, too. Soon when the part of the energy is transferred from the generators to the Capsule, a blue sparkled energy field then forms around the Capsule. Its sides begin to vibrate in light, followed by a slightly yellow glow in the center of the vehicle. When the energy is sufficient, the vehicle explodes out of its present time in a flash of light and rain of yellow sparks, and explodes into the time set by the co-ordinates, which is followed by the same sawtooth sound, only with decreasing frequency, hence giving the impression of a cooling process. Upon arrival, the Capsule is regularly covered with soot residue. The Time Capsule will only remain in the past for twenty-eight days unless specified differently.
[edit] Personal Computer Companion
In the year 3000 everybody owns a Computer Companion. It is a miniaturised computer that can be worn on the wrist. The computer is programmed with an artificial intelligence. These computers are capable of a variety of actions. Mostly they are used to tell the time, give advice to the wearer, and can also record and play holograms. The companions worn by children also teach manners to the wearer as they will not comply with commands if there is any insincerity in the voice, and only respond when asked politely. The advanced technology contained in the computer enables it to interface with other computers and any other electronic devices.
[edit] The Transducer
The Transducer is a tool that is used by everyone in the year 3000. Alana was only learning to use the Transducer when she was kidnapped by Silverthorn. The Transducer looks like a headband with a crystal in the centre of a black drop-like plate. The Transducer from the year 3000 has several colours of radiation. Blue is used when the carrier tries to levitate objects, pink for healing, purple for specific interactions with other force fields, and red radiation forms as a result of strong feelings (intentional of unintentional) which destroys matter. The first transducer uses white radiation. The Transducer was invented in the year 2500 by a woman named Maeve. She invented it to be tool of healing. After The Great Disaster occurred in the year 2500, the Transducer was mass produced and the people were taught how to use it. It was to be used as a tool to rebuild the planet. A replica of the original Transducer is held in the Science Dome in the year 3000. The Transducer functions by enhancing and magnifying the telepathic function of the pituitary gland, by doing this the user is able to levitate objects and heal wounds. If used in the wrong way the Transducer can be used as a weapon to destroy things, this is why the people of the year 3000 are taught from an early age to control their emotions.
[edit] Episode list
- 101 - Future Shock
- 102 - A Primitive And Dangerous Time
- 103 - Sanctuary
- 104 - Sweetness And Fright
- 105 - Don't Tell Mum
- 106 - Computer Games
- 107 - Stake-Out
- 108 - Newsprobe
- 109 - Truth And Lies
- 110 - Betrayed
- 111 - Captain Zero Strikes Again
- 112 - Last Stand At Kelly Deli
[edit] Trivia
- The car that Silverthorn drives in year 1990 has license plate number NEW 666, suggesting that Silverthorn is some new sort of evil.
[edit] DVD releases
Both The Girl from Tomorrow and The Girl from Tomorrow Part II: Tomorrow's End are available on DVD, albeit in an edited "Telemovie" version (the whole series trimmed to movie length, halving the running time at least) and not in their original, episodic format.
A 4-disc set containing all 12 episodes of The Girl from Tomorrow was released on 18 September 2006 (Region 0) around Australia into various retail outlets via Shock Exports. The entire series of The Girl from Tomorrow Part II: Tomorrow's End is not currently available, though it is scheduled for release in 2007.
All DVDs released so far have been in PAL format, and Region 0 encoded.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
The first two links you can contact to ask about DVD distribution to your area. (Just remember: Being polite will get better results than any rudeness.)
- The Australian Children's Television Foundation - Distribution contact details
- SHOCK Exports - Contact details
- Film Australia Search
- The Unofficial Katharine Cullen fanpage
- "Official" (Film Australia-sanctioned) Tomorrow's End fanpage
- Girl From Tomorrow fan page, lots of info and pics
- The Girl from Tomorrow (movie) at the Internet Movie Database
- The Girl From Tomorrow at ClassicKidsTV.co.uk
