The Tripods

It's been a long time since I saw the first of the two installments of this "video series." At the moment, I'm re-reading the books for the third time - this time with my 9-year old daughter, who is riveted to the story.

Whether you track down these films or not, do yourself a favor and read the trilogy by John Christopher. Simply some of the finest sci-fi work ever written, IMHO.

I have nothing but praise for this excellent series. It may be a little long and slow going in parts but this only serves to build the tension and the excellent "they're watching you" atmosphere.

WARNING! PLOT DETAILS! # #

It starts off in an English village where the annual capping ceremony is about to begin. The world has been invaded by Tripods, giant three legged craft which dominate the countryside. According to Tripod law, all humans must be capped at age 16. It is time for young Will's capping, and all the villagers are getting excited, but Will has other ideas...

The effects are well done and the tripods themselves frightenlingly well conceived. There is good attention to period detail and the European location filming is marvellous.

Unfortunately this was never finished and the final part of the serial never came to be. I'm not sure if they have released the second part yet but if you come across the first buy it (I think it is about 12 episodes long 4 tapes)

***** stars (highly recommended)

The Tripods was a science fiction adventure based on John Christopher's award-winning Tripods Trilogy. This futuristic story is set in a world where mankind is enslaved by alien rulers - the Tripods. The Tripods keep humanity under their control with the aid of "Caps". The Cap is a mind-control device which makes people obedient to the Tripods. Capping is a mandatory ceremony which everyone must undergo when they reach the age of 16.

Will Parker and his cousin Henry are due to be Capped themselves. They run away from home to make a dangerous journey to the distant White Mountains, where a group of un-Capped rebels plot the overthrow of the Tripods.

This story is about a fight for freedom. The people who aren't Capped are up against overwhelming odds - the might and power of alien oppressors, and the mindless obedience of their Capped slaves. But as long as people remain free hope stays alive.

Sadly, this programme was axed before the final volume of the trilogy was dramatized, due to low ratings and the high cost of production. This was a disappointment because a good show was left with an "up in the air" kind of ending where nothing was resolved. If you wanted to know how it really ended you would have to read the book.

I saw this series when it first came out, and I was hooked! I arranged my schedule each week, to make sure I wouldn't miss an episode. It was riveting and menacing and sinister. My only complaint was that the series seemed to peter out at the end. Perhaps PBS in the USA simply stopped running the series. I really wanted some closure, some final battle in which the evil tripods were defeated, once and for all! It's really well done and very well written... worth watching, if you can ever find it (in the US, anyway).

This TV series was based on a set of books for older children. Although the books were written for children, the series was scripted at a more adult level: still suitable for children but the characters' motivations were handled more subtly. In the story, society has returned to a neo-Medieval stage after a war that destroyed civilization. The world is now run by aliens who control all adults by brain implants called caps. They move around in large 3-legged machines. Three youths, about to be be capped, set off to find a fabled colony of uncapped adults in the French alps in order to retain their freedom. The story is about their quest. The script, direction and acting were all marvelous. The third and final season was cancelled by the BBC. This could have been one of the truly great classics in adventure film had it been completed; its cancellation was a literary tragedy.