The Changes

"They're awful, they frighten me, they're evil and wicked and dangerous ..."
The Changes (BBC, 1975)

Just been watching "The Changes" on UK Gold. This was broadcast in early 1975

The children's TV series depicted the breakdown of society after people are compelled to reject and destroy technology such as cars, bicycles and alarm clocks. This violent reaction and people's subsequent desertion of the country is triggered by a sound seemingly emitted by electricity pylons. Schoolgirl Nicky Gore played by Victoria Williams is caught amidst the chaos and gets separated from her parents who are heading to France in the hope of finding safety. Throughout the course of the 10-part series we follow Nicky's journey to be reunited with her parents and seek an answer to the cause of The Changes.

The series was an adaptation of The Devil's Children - the first of three novels in The Changes trilogy by author Peter Dickinson which also included Heartsease and The Weathermonger. The character of Nicky remained constant throughout the series, and the plotlines of Heartsease and The Weathermonger were adapted to make the series her own personal odyssey, rather than two separate stories set against the background of the same events. The ending was reworked from that in the Weathermonger to one more suitable to the medium of television.

The series was shot in the West Country, namely Bristol, the Forest of Dean and Sharpness during the Summer of 1975. The camera work is fluid, and the locations give the series a realistic feel that was unusual in series of that time.

One of the reviews of the series notes the way in which by turning its back on technology, it highlighted the noise, the pollution, the radiation emissions of today:

http://www.bilderberg.org/changes.htm

After The Changes even the words for all these creations of the modern age; 'car', 'tractor', 'electricity', 'toaster', 'pylon', etc. have become taboo. Just to mention them brings on the noise and the uncontrollable anger against machines again. These items of modern technology are described by people, including the central character Nicky, as cursed.

The series was intriguingly prophetic given the 1990's phenomenon of civil disobedience against road-making machinery, power pylons and similar forms of environmental direct action. And it drew an distinction between sustainable and non-sustainable practices before the word was invented.

At one point the main character in the series, Nicky Gore, is asked whether it will induce the noise to start a blacksmith's forge. After thinking about it for a second or two she asks, "where will you get the iron from?" On hearing there is plenty of scrap lying around the farm (obviously a sensible bit of recycling) she announces that the forge will probably not invoke the noise. So the forge goes ahead.

It concludes by noting:

This series marked another high-point of the 'golden age of television'. A highly intelligent, exciting programme with a dedicated writing and production team questioning so many of the values we take for granted today. It is a more engaging series than many adult dramas today, giving a valuable insight into the Sikh world for youngsters into the bargain.

In fact, the Changes and the respectful and sympathetic portrayal of Sikh culture and beliefs was very much in contrast to the time in which it was made, a time which saw Enoch Powell's "Rivers of Blood" speech, and patronising attempts at multiculturalism such as the comedy "Love Thy Neighbour". It left me personally with a lifelong respect for the Sikhs which I have to this day.

It also teaches us the lesson that we cannot easily go back, without a great upheaval to the world, however much we might hanker after a golden age of simplicity. As Nicky Gore says to the sentient lodestone that is the cause of the Changes:

"Whoever, whatever you are, listen. Please listen and understand. A man disturbed you by mistake, at a time which was wrong. One man touched and woke you. He was not a wicked man, but he felt your power and tried to use it. You fought against him, and your power shook our world. But you're destroying it. We're going back to a time we no longer belong in. Our world was not a perfect place, but what's happening now is worse. People have gone mad, and are dying for no reason. Time cannot go backwards. Only you can stop it. Please. Please."


Links:

http://www.elidor.freeserve.co.uk/changes.htm
http://www.bilderberg.org/changes.htm

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http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/mysciencefictionlife/A17755572

The Changes synopsis from the BBC

A rabid hatred of technology brings about a new dark age in England.

The Changes was a children's series, loosely adapted by Anna Home from The Devil's Children by Peter Dickinson, one of his Changes trilogy. The series opens with scenes of mad destruction - the people of England, driven into a frenzy by "the noise" emitted by electricity pylons, are smashing every bit of technology they can lay their hands on.

This orgy of destruction heralded the coming of "the changes" - the breakdown of society and its return to a simpler, pre-Industrial way of living. The very words used to describe technology become taboo.

The main character is Nicky, a young girl separated from her parents. Over 10 episodes, her search for them is helped or hindered by friendly Sikhs, child-abducting robbers and a suspicious witch-finder. Eventually she and a companion discovered the cause of "the noise" in an underground cavern. The series ends with "The Changes" undone, and technology reappearing across the land once more.

Boasting extensive location footage from around Bristol and the Forest of Dean, The Changes has rarely been seen since its first airing. The power of the chaotic opening scenes means The Changes remains a strong memory for those who saw it in 1975, despite the slower pace of later episodes.

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She was so stiff when she edged the window open that she had to clamber through like an old woman. Half way up the garden Gopal floated beside her from behind the runner beans; he touched her cheek with his hand in gentle welcome then led the way back across the school playground to where the faint whiteness of their rag in the hedge marked the cut wires.

They took the journey home as carefully as they'd come, but nothing stopped or even scared them until their own sentry hissed at them out of his hiding and made their tired hearts bounce. Though it was well past midnight, every adult Sikh was awake and waiting in the dark farmyard. Nicky told her story in English, breaking it into short lengths so that Uncle Jagindar could turn it into Punjabi for the old lady. The pauses while he spoke enabled her to think so that she left nothing out. When she had finished, five of the men crept out to relieve the sentries; for them she told the whole story all over again. Now every Sikh knew and Nicky could sleep.

Extract from "The Devil's Children"