New edition of “Jaunt” features guide to “The Tomorrow People” comic

By John Freeman on July 14, 2022

Jaunt - The Tomorrow People Guide by Andy Davidson

It’s been almost 50 years since The Tomorrow People first jaunted onto our television screens. Initially conceived as a response to the BBC’s Doctor Who, what started as a low-budget children’s adventure has become a global phenomenon.

First released in 2013, a revised and greatly expanded edition of Jaunt, an unofficial book about the series by Andy Davidson, published by Ten Acre Films, takes an in-depth look at every incarnation of The Tomorrow People – on screen, in print and on audio. It features new interviews with the cast and crew, and a broader examination of the television landscape which informed each era of the show.

Of particular interest to comic fans, Jaunt includes an in-depth and complete guide to the long-running “The Tomorrow People” comic strip in Look-In, along with one or two carefully chosen illustrations.

It also features – for the first time in print – series creator Roger Price’s original pitch for the series and a selection of production documents thought lost since the 1970s, which give a fascinating insight into how the series was created.

Jaunt chronicles the adventures of the Tomorrow People from their origins in that golden era of children’s broadcasting, the 1970s, and follows series creator Roger Price to Canada and the United States to kickstart a revolution in broadcasting for young audiences that led to the return of the Tomorrow People in a lavish 1990s international co-production.

It then re-joins homo superior some twenty years later as the third generation of Tomorrow People fights for survival in a new CW series and a world far removed from the predicted utopia of the original series’ vision.

Andy Davidson is the author of Carry On Confidential, a comprehensive guide to the Carry On films and the stories behind the screen and former editor of the official Carry On website. He has co-authored the Doctor Who spoofs Auton: Shock & Awe, Wallowing in our own Weltschmerz: The stories behind the stories of the Seventh Doctor and Maximum Power!, a humorous guide to the BBC TV series Blake’s 7. He lives in a shed at the bottom of a garden in Surrey and bakes a mean pasty.

• Jaunt by Andy Davidson is available here from the Ten Acres BigCartel site

John Freeman

The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.

He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.