''The Girl from Tomorrow'' is an Australian sci-fi

children's television series Children's television series (or children's television shows) are television show, television programs designed for children, normally scheduled for broadcast during the morning and afternoon when children are awake. They can sometimes run during ...

produced by

Film Australia Film Australia was a company established by the Government of Australia to produce films about Australia in 1973. Its predecessors were the Cinema and Photographic Branch (1913–38), the Australian National Film Board (1939–1955, under diff ...

. The series is based around Alana (

Katharine Cullen Katharine Cullen (born 9 June 1975) is an Australian actress, daughter of actors Max Cullen and Colleen Anne Fitzpatrick. Education *NIDA (National Institute of Dramatic Art). Bachelor of Dramatic Art. *The College of Fine Arts (COFA), Universi ...

), a girl from the year 3000. At the start of the series, she is kidnapped by

Silverthorn Silverthorn may refer to: * ''Silverthorn'' (album), an album by Kamelot * ''Silverthorn'' (novel), a novel by Raymond E. Feist *Silverthorn, Toronto, a neighbourhood in Toronto *Silverthorn Collegiate Institute *Silverthorn, a character on ''The ...

, a criminal from the year 2500, and brought back in time to the year 1990. While in the year 1990, she befriends

Jenny Jenny may refer to: * Jenny (given name), a popular feminine name and list of real and fictional people * Jenny (surname), a family name Animals * Jenny (donkey), a female donkey * Jenny (gorilla), the oldest gorilla in captivity at the time of ...

(Melissa Marshall), 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.

Premise

In the year 3000, the human race is in a state of

Utopia A utopia ( ) typically describes an imaginary community or society that possesses highly desirable or nearly perfect qualities for its members. It was coined by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book '' Utopia'', describing a fictional island societ ...

. The major challenge facing them is continuing rebuilding the Earth after "The Great Disaster", a catastrophic event that took place in 2500 and nearly destroyed the entire

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surfa ...

. In order to investigate its causes, a scientist named Tulista is sent to the past using the

Time Capsule A time capsule is a historic cache of goods or information, usually intended as a deliberate method of communication with future people, and to help future archaeologists, anthropologists, or historians. The preservation of holy relics dates ...

, a device created by a scientist named Bruno. Upon the capsule's return, Tulista is held hostage by Silverthorn, a criminal from the year 2500, who is intent on conquering the future. Realizing that even though the year 3000 does not have weapons ''per se'', his own weapons are no match to the superior technology of the

Transducer A transducer is a device that converts energy from one form to another. Usually a transducer converts a signal in one form of energy to a signal in another. Transducers are often employed at the boundaries of automation, measurement, and cont ...

, he manages to take Alana, Tulista's student, hostage, and escapes into the past, where he figures he will have a better chance. Arriving in 1990, Alana escapes, and later meets a teenager named Jenny Kelly, whose help she enlists in order to get back to the Capsule before it returns automatically to the future, leaving her stranded in the past. After thinking that the Capsule was destroyed, Jenny and Alana discover that it has been seized by Silverthorn, who is building his power and making vast amounts of money by using information from the Capsule's database, and will therefore not allow Alana to use it to return to her own time. Along with the help of Jenny's family and her teacher, Alana and Jenny must devise a plan to retrieve the Capsule while foiling Silverthorn's plans, so that Alana can return home to the year 3000.

Character profiles

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

to be educated. On Earth, she has guardians who teach her how to use the Transducer, so she can achieve her ambition of becoming a healer. Alana has three distinctive dots on the side of her face in the

temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...

area. These dots signify that she is mature enough to use a Transducer. Taken in by the Kellys on arriving in 1990, Alana is given the name 'Alana Turner' and passed off as Irene's niece to avoid suspicion.

Silverthorn

Silverthorn (

John Howard John Winston Howard (born 26 July 1939) is an Australian former politician who served as the 25th prime minister of Australia from 1996 to 2007, holding office as leader of the Liberal Party. His eleven-year tenure as prime minister is the ...

) is a villain from the year 2500. Silverthorn's most noticeable traits are his deviousness and violent tendencies. He can be very charming, but this is a front so he can double-cross people. He is also extremely brave, risking his life to save a drowning boy in order to gain Lorien's trust, and tests the Time Gate on himself when none of his cronies are willing. He kidnaps Alana and flees to 1990, where he hopes he can rule the world. While in 1990, Silverthorn makes himself a millionaire by accessing the Time Capsule's computer, finding out details of local horse races, then successfully betting on the winners - buying such luxuries as a large white stretch limousine (driven by Eddie) and a large house, as well as setting up a business called Futures Incorporated as a front for his devious plans. However, Silverthorn has an inoperable brain tumour as a result of being exposed to high levels of radiation in his own time period, occasionally suffering severe headaches that can cause him to collapse, and cannot obtain further supplies of the pills he brought with him from 2500 as they contain elements and minerals which have not yet been discovered. He has only one hope of survival - Alana and the Transducer...

Eddie

Eddie ( Miles Buchanan) is a young street tough who acts as Silverthorn's chauffeur and henchman. He is not very bright and occasionally even clumsy, as a result of which Silverthorn gets angry with him, but is tolerated by his employer just so long as he is useful. In ''The Girl from Tomorrow Part II: Tomorrow's End'', Eddie confesses that he doesn't have a driving licence.

Jenny Kelly

Jenny (Melissa Marshall) 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 start to get interesting.

Petey Kelly

Petey (James Findlay) is like any other nine-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

sci-fi Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel universe ...

, which comes in handy when things get tough.

Irene Kelly

Irene (Helen O'Connor) 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.

James Rooney

James ( Andrew Clarke) is the

science Science is a systematic endeavor that Scientific method, builds and organizes knowledge in the form of Testability, testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earli ...

teacher at the high school Jenny attends. Irene fell for him when she met him after enrolling Alana there. James helped all the others in their efforts to retrieve the Capsule so Alana could return home.

Technology in the year 2500

The most often used weapon in use in the year 2500 is the

laser pistol A raygun is a science-fiction directed-energy weapon that releases energy, usually with destructive effect.Jeff Prucher, '' Brave New Words: The Oxford Dictionary of Science Fiction,'' Oxford University Press, 2007, page 162 They have variou ...

. 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.

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.

The Time Capsule

The Time Capsule is a time exploration vehicle. It was invented by a

scientist A scientist is a person who conducts scientific research to advance knowledge in an area of the natural sciences. In classical antiquity, there was no real ancient analog of a modern scientist. Instead, philosophers engaged in the philosoph ...

named Bruno in the year 3000. The Capsule is exactly in height and width. Its composition in the series is unspecified, but as a real

prop A prop, formally known as (theatrical) property, is an object used on stage or screen by actors during a performance or screen production. In practical terms, a prop is considered to be anything movable or portable on a stage or a set, distinc ...

, it is a dark green steel frame model of a

Rhombicuboctahedron In geometry, the rhombicuboctahedron, or small rhombicuboctahedron, is a polyhedron with eight triangular, six square, and twelve rectangular faces. There are 24 identical vertices, with one triangle, one square, and two rectangles meeting at ea ...

plated with semidiagonal steel bars and plated with semitransparent

plexiglas Poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) belongs to a group of materials called engineering plastics. It is a transparent thermoplastic. PMMA is also known as acrylic, acrylic glass, as well as by the trade names and brands Crylux, Plexiglas, Acrylite ...

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-sided 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 centre 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 Frequency is the number of occurrences of a repeating event per unit of time. It is also occasionally referred to as ''temporal frequency'' for clarity, and is distinct from ''angular frequency''. Frequency is measured in hertz (Hz) which is eq ...

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 In physics, energy (from Ancient Greek: ἐνέργεια, ''enérgeia'', “activity”) is the quantitative property that is transferred to a body or to a physical system, recognizable in the performance of work and in the form of hea ...

field then forms around the Capsule. Its sides begin to vibrate in light, followed by a slightly yellow glow in the centre 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 Soot ( ) is a mass of impure carbon particles resulting from the incomplete combustion of hydrocarbons. It is more properly restricted to the product of the gas-phase combustion process but is commonly extended to include the residual pyrolysed ...

residue. The Time Capsule will only remain in the past for twenty-eight days unless specified differently.

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 Artificial intelligence (AI) is intelligence—perceiving, synthesizing, and inferring information—demonstrated by machines, as opposed to intelligence displayed by animals and humans. Example tasks in which this is done include speech r ...

. These computers are capable of a variety of actions. Mostly they are used to tell the time and give advice to the wearer, and they can also record and play

holograms Holography is a technique that enables a wavefront to be recorded and later re-constructed. Holography is best known as a method of generating real three-dimensional images, but it also has a wide range of other applications. In principle, it ...

. 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.

The Transducer

The

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 A crystal or crystalline solid is a solid material whose constituents (such as atoms, molecules, or ions) are arranged in a highly ordered microscopic structure, forming a crystal lattice that extends in all directions. In addition, macro ...

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 Levitation (from Latin ''levitas'' "lightness") is the process by which an object is held aloft in a stable position, without mechanical support via any physical contact. Levitation is accomplished by providing an upward force that counteracts ...

objects, pink for healing, purple for specific interactions with other force fields, and red radiation forms as a result of strong feelings (intentional or unintentional) which destroy 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 a 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 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 ...

function of the

pituitary gland In vertebrate anatomy, the pituitary gland, or hypophysis, is an endocrine gland, about the size of a chickpea and weighing, on average, in humans. It is a protrusion off the bottom of the hypothalamus at the base of the brain. The ...

, 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.

Episode list

Telecast and home media

The series aired in Ireland along with its sequel, '' The Girl from Tomorrow Part II: Tomorrow's End'', on

RTÉ Two (RTÉ) (; Irish for "Radio & Television of Ireland") is the national broadcaster of Ireland headquartered in Dublin. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on television, radio and online. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, while ...

from 26 February 1991 to 1995. Several years later, the series was brought to the U.S. by

Retro Television Network Retro TV (stylized as retrotv), formerly known as Retro Television Network, is an American broadcast television network owned by Get After It Media. The network mainly airs classic television sitcoms and drama series from the 1950s through t ...

A four-disc DVD 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'' was released on 4 May 2007. All DVDs released so far have been in

PAL Phase Alternating Line (PAL) is a colour encoding system for analogue television. It was one of three major analogue colour television standards, the others being NTSC and SECAM. In most countries it was broadcast at 625 lines, 50 fields (25 ...

format, and

Region 0 DVD region codes are a digital rights management technique introduced in 1997. It is designed to allow rights holders to control the international distribution of a DVD release, including its content, release date, and price, all according to ...

encoded. Both series are out of print. The series is available for streaming over iTunes. Currently, the series can be seen on Amazon Prime and

Google Play Google Play, also known as the Google Play Store and formerly the Android Market, is a digital distribution service operated and developed by Google. It serves as the official app store for certified devices running on the Android operating sy ...

, but only for the United Kingdom in addition to being available on YouTube. Most episodes have added for free on

Tubi Tubi is an American over-the-top content platform and ad-supported streaming service owned by Fox Corporation. The service was launched on April 1, 2014, and is based in Los Angeles, California. In January 2021, Tubi reached 33 million monthly ...

Awards

The series was a finalist in the Youth Series category in the 1990 New York Film & TV Festival. The movie version received the following awards: :* 1990 Cairo International Film Festival For Children: Golden Cairo Award for Best Film :* 1990 Festival International March de l’audiovisuel et programme jeunesse: Award for Best Drama :* 1991 Houston Film Festival: Bronze Award

References

External links

* * *
The Girl From Tomorrow
' a
ClassicKidsTV.co.uk
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Girl from Tomorrow 1, The Australian children's television series Australian time travel television series Television shows set in Sydney Nine Network original programming BBC children's television shows 1990 Australian television series debuts 1993 Australian television series endings Television series about teenagers