''Powers'' is a British television series first broadcast in 2004 on

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, p ...

. The series was created by

Jim Eldridge Jim Eldridge (born November 1944) is an English radio, film and television screenwriter with hundreds of radio and TV scripts broadcast in the United Kingdom and across the world in a career spanning over 30 years. Eldridge is the creator and ...

. It was promoted as a children's version of ''

The X-Files ''The X-Files'' is an American science fiction on television, science fiction drama (film and television), drama television series created by Chris Carter (screenwriter), Chris Carter. The series revolves around Federal Bureau of Investigation ...

'',Action TV Online - Powers episode guide
/ref> although many regarded it as a successor to ''

The Tomorrow People ''The Tomorrow People'' is a British children's science fiction television series created by Roger Price. Produced by Thames Television for the ITV Network, the series first ran from 30 April 1973 to 19 February 1979. The theme music was c ...

''.The UK Sci-Fi Book Guide - Time Riders
''Powers'' ran for one 13-episode season, and was also broadcast in Australia. It has never been commercially released.

Overview

The series follows the adventures of The Powers Project, a group of researchers led by Professor Henry Powers (portrayed by

Rupert Holliday-Evans Rupert Holliday Evans (also Rupert Holliday–Evans) is an English actor. He is well known for his roles in programmes such as the ITV police drama ''The Bill'' and CBBC children's programmes ''The Giblet Boys'' and '' Powers''. In episodes of com ...

), who investigate mysteries concerned with the paranormal. The other members of the project are Mark Roberts (

Adam Jessop Adam; el, Ἀδάμ, Adám; la, Adam is the name given in Book of Genesis, Genesis 1-5 to the first human. Beyond its use as the name of the first man, ''adam'' is also used in the Bible as a pronoun, individually as "a human" and in a coll ...

) and Song-Li Harris (

Amy Yamazaki Amy is a female given name, sometimes short for Amanda, Amelia, Amélie, or Amita. In French, the name is spelled ''" Aimée"''. People A–E * Amy Acker (born 1976), American actress * Amy Vera Ackman, also known as Mother Giovanni (1886 ...

) (who joins the project at the end of episode 1), two teenagers with psychic abilities, and Dr Mary Holland (

Mandana Jones Mandana Jones is an Anglo-Iranian actress best known for her role as prisoner Nikki Wade on the British television series, '' Bad Girls''. Biography Mandana Jones was born on 26 February 1967 to a Welsh father and an Iranian mother. She is th ...

), who used to have special powers but no longer does. Mark and Song-Li's powers are different: Mark is

telepathic Telepathy () is the purported vicarious transmission of information from one person's mind to another's without using any known human sensory channels or physical interaction. The term was first coined in 1882 by the classical scholar Frederic ...

and can move objects with his mind; Song-Li can sense emotions and memories in objects.

Production and broadcast

''Powers'' spent six years in development. During this time it was reported that

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

were interested in a possible co-production deal, but the show was instead produced only by the BBC. The series was produced by Chris Le Grys, and episodes were directed by Emma Bodger and Brian Farnham; the three had previously worked on the

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

series Night and Day. Special effects and

computer-generated imagery Computer-generated imagery (CGI) is the use of computer graphics to create or contribute to images in art, printed media, video games, simulators, and visual effects in films, television programs, shorts, commercials, and videos. The images may ...

were created by Darkside Animation using

LightWave 3D LightWave 3D is a 3D computer graphics 3D computer graphics, or “3D graphics,” sometimes called CGI, 3D-CGI or three-dimensional computer graphics are graphics that use a three-dimensional representation of geometric data (often Car ...

software.NewTek Europe - Community: Lightwave 3D - Simon Percy Interview
This consisted of 170 shots which were filmed between June and November 2003. Notable amongst these were the title sequence and end credits, and a

UFO An unidentified flying object (UFO), more recently renamed by US officials as a UAP (unidentified aerial phenomenon), is any perceived aerial phenomenon that cannot be immediately identified or explained. On investigation, most UFOs are id ...

in episode 4, "We Are Not Alone". The series was originally due to be broadcast by the BBC in autumn 2004, but was moved forward to begin on 7 January 2004. It was also shown on

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

in Australia.Powers - ABC Kids TV guide
/ref>

Episodes

Critical response and legacy

''Powers'' did receive some positive responses from viewers, although there was considerable variation between episodes. According to Simon Percy, the co-founder of Darkside Animation, the show's ratings were described as "excellent" by the BBC. For unknown reasons a second series was not produced, nor has the series been commercially released. The series was repeated a number of times on the digital

CBBC Channel CBBC (initialised as Children's BBC and also known as the CBBC Channel) is a British free-to-air public broadcast children's television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is also the brand used for all BBC content for children aged 7– ...

, but these repeats have now stopped.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Powers (Tv Series) BBC children's television shows British science fiction television shows 2000s British children's television series 2004 British television series debuts 2004 British television series endings 2000s British science fiction television series