The Changes - A Review

In this episode of Look...Look and Look Again !!! We go back to the 1970's for a true classic of childrens kidult t.v.
What would happen if mankind rebelled against technology ? How would we cope against a force so powerful it threatens our very existence ?
A childrens series tackled this issue as well as ecological awareness, racism and misogyny and such was it's controversial content it caused complaints from the viewers not too mention give children many sleepless nights.
Find yourself a cosy armchair and join me as we look at a nostalgic nugget from t.v's gilt edged decade as we confront The Changes !!
In this documentary series we take a look and another look and even a third glance (hypothetically speaking) of T.V programmes and Films with a 'cult' edge.
If they aren't cult currently then they should be !!
Each programme looks at the genesis of the programme or movie and a review - some are spoiler free - some are not. Even if you know the plot though it is welcoming to look at the series or movie again.
So what is it I hope for in my series ? Well it is my intention to share with you dear viewer my knowledge of things which I enjoy very much and I hope what is reviewed will inspire you to go and have a look for the programme or movie. Some you may have seen before - others may be truly novel.
That is it pure and simple - I don't want any financial rewards as I will be using snippets already copyrighted and this is damned cheeky - the knowing of sharing my knowledge with you is reward enough.
Don't forget to support the originators of copyright - so wonderful retro T.V and movies get to see the light of day.
I hope this acts as an inspiration for you to look...look and look again with me.
Every epsiode is a labour of love and it's only me and a very *basic home editing software combi which I cobbled together that produces the work.
(Update * Not so basic as using Filmora - they are wonderful)
I hope you can also see the transformation as the series goes along.
Any constructive comments, criticisms and memories you have would be most welcome and if you love what I do hit like and subscribe.
Thank you to all the regular people that bite off this nugget of nostalgia and follow my little show.
Maybe you could suggest things for me to look please share them.
No infringement is intended - I am a novice to this and sometimes oblivious to the complex world of copyright but all clips and music are used in the faith of enhancing this review. On occasion one picture can be worth a 1000 words and can give you a feel of the show or movie reviewed.
Enjoy - Crab xx

[@AllanGildea]

So few of my peers remember this show. It literally gave me nightmares. Superbly written, acted and directed. The disparity with some of today’s children’s tv is staggering.

[@LOOKLOOKLOOKAGAIN]

Totally agree. Except things that would be for children are now broadcast for adults therefore not to offend anyone. Pretty dire all round really. 😔 🦀

[@tomfenn7149]

"Superbly written, acted and directed"... I wouldn't go that far, but the series certainly gave me nightmares and really odd dreams that I still have on occasion today. I think what is really groundbreaking about The Changes is how much it predicted the situation we have today, fear of impending doom through climate change & collapse. Maybe it's what we're really ever good at doing, overworrying about the future rather than celebrating just how far we have come in 150 years or so?

[@PaulWilliams66]

Promising start but the plot got lost at the end. Great atmosphere.

[@MrRReeve]

Thanks for making this video. I hadn't heard The Changes referred to since I watched it as a child. But I still find that pylons give me the creeps!

[@LOOKLOOKLOOKAGAIN]

Me too 😁😄 - I am so glad you enjoyed this programme and it brought back good recollections. Best 🦀

[@peterharrington8709]

As a fairly bright but timid seven year old the positive messages in this went well over my head and the more terrifying aspects of the show.... terrified me! Schedule would be like... Playschool, Jackanory, Newsround..... and then 'The Changes'!!!??? Like being drawn in to see some puppies, then being attacked by a hammer wielding madman!! Then, if you survived that you'd have your grown ups local and national news programs... probably dealing with the effects of the strikes (black outs and food shortages), or government advice on what to do in the event of nuclear war, or if you were lucky footage from the latest IRA bombing. Still, you could always look forward to the weekend, hoping against hope the Jimmy Saville was gonna fix something for you! Yeah, it was good to be a kid in the seventies.

[@LOOKLOOKLOOKAGAIN]

Wonderfully nostalgic. We were made of much stronger mettle back then for sure. Have you checked out my Mad Death review which will take you back to 1983. Think you will like that. Thanks for sharing - it made me chuckle for a Monday morning. Best 🦀

[@peterharrington8709]

@@LOOKLOOKLOOKAGAIN LOL... will do!😀

[@princesshassim6009]

PS - Spot-on for your comments about the Siekhs and ethnicity. Well Done. X

[@LOOKLOOKLOOKAGAIN]

You're welcome it's ironic that a childrens show accomplished this well where most 'adult' shows of the period were very backward with displaying a cosmopolitan attitude and just used ethnicity as an opportunity to ridicule but we have to take into account the ignorance as countries were more secular back then and this was a way of highlighting middle Englands fear of things 'foreign'. 🦀😃

[@jamesreid8840]

Well done AGAIN what a classic and underrated show ❤️ The late 60s and 70s just had a knack for folk horror and sci fi shows good actors and very good scripts that was the knack 😉 Keep it up 👍

[@benclasper4465]

Or sort of a mixed story with definite folk horror elements in it making valid points throughout maybe the first or later part of the series too And I do like how the series is compiled of the three novels by Peter Dickinson the devil’s children, heartsease and the weathermonger and the I,preside job I think or how they adapted them all together in the ten episode series. And what I find really interesting also is the Latin message that Nicky and Johnathon find and Nicky reads out from mr furbelow’s diary left behind in the caravan towards the conclusion of episode nine. And I did also feel very sorry for the old Man played by Bartlett Mullins seeing the series because of the way nicky has to go on when she’s uncertain still it seems to me and how she’s unsure still too by herself before she meets the Sikhs And I think she was sad too when she had to leave and how she seems unhappy sort of at the beginning too which hi feel sympathy for her too but how also the kind way in which nicky and the old man have the conversation together and that he tries to support her too for her to know what to to do and encourages her I think to go on too.

[@imanihekima1659]

A superb review, completely in tune with the tone of the series. The Changes is one of those series that just becomes a part of your life at an archetypal level. It's like a mythology. The only part of the series which I found hard to watch was Jonathan's overly rational manner when clearly something was taking place that defied logical explanation. But, a minor quibble. Thanks again.

[@LOOKLOOKLOOKAGAIN]

You're very welcome and am so happy you enjoyed the review. I am happy that people are looking at older reviews too. There's plenty of other reviews on here for you to enjoy. Take care. 🦀

[@princesshassim6009]

I HAVE just recieved my copy of The Changes and looking forward very much. It's all down to you hon. TY. XX

[@LOOKLOOKLOOKAGAIN]

Enjoy Princess. Its a corker. I hope you enjoy every minute as I did, am sure you will. Goodnight from me here in the U.K. 🦀 xx

[@princesshassim6009]

Unusual and truly unique. Think i might buy it.

[@LOOKLOOKLOOKAGAIN]

Treat yourself Princess - I don't think you'd be too disappointed however don't expect an 'epic' ending. x 🦀😃

[@nickbarber2080]

Things the 9-year-old me learnt: A respect for Sikh culture To be wary of pylons.

[@LOOKLOOKLOOKAGAIN]

Perfect lessons. I walk under a pylon with the dog and always think of 'the noise'.🦀

[@jivand2424]

Wonderful narration I remember watching this series and now 48 years later watching this so good to see it again Thanks for posting

[@LOOKLOOKLOOKAGAIN]

Thank you so much . They take me bloody ages !!!!! So much appreciated. Enjoy - there's tons of stuff on here !!! Best 🦀

[@goodlife6145]

I really enjoyed this. It's great to see these more obscure shows given the kind of retrospective they deserve. The Changes is a series I have a hazy memory of, certainly the theme tune rings a bell. Deep narratives were the norm in children's television back then, in a way that not even programmes for today's adults can match. I've just seen the first episode on Daily Motion, and it's an amazing view. Cheers again.

[@LOOKLOOKLOOKAGAIN]

You're most welcome - the first episode is suitably creepy and as you say the TV back then is far more cerebral - because programmes are made as entertainment for a modern audience doesn't mean that they need to be dumb or patronising. I hope you enjoy the other programmes on this channel and will be looking forward to hearing from you throughout 2021. Take care, Crab 🦀

[@SunburntHands]

This is an excellent video- really well researched and presented, thoughtful criticism and it's clear how much work went into it. Great stuff- hope you get the views you deserve.

[@LOOKLOOKLOOKAGAIN]

Glad you enjoyed it!😃😃

[@TheNewOriginals450]

Excellent review! A lot of the anti tech, modern day Luddite behaviour is about to rear it's head again over the next 5 - 15 years or so as millions of jobs will be threatened by A.I. and many will become mistrustful of home appliances causing paranoia.

[@LOOKLOOKLOOKAGAIN]

A lot of these retro shows have foresight - Doomwatch was bang on. AI is a cause for concern especially in wrong hands, it is an equal curse and bless. It can calculate, for example, a combo of drugs to work against a virus that takes scientists, say 5 years and AI may be resolved in 5 days which is wonderful, but then it can imitate people to a point where some believe it's truth - that is an issue. Fortunately we aren't quite there yet as AI still produces 6 fingered humans and where things are fused, when they shouldn't be - look closely at what you're being fed - however this won't be for long as it improves- and then i'm afraid we will be up the creek, but sometimes it takes something like that for humanity to look at itself and where it's going. We will see a lot of that in the next few years. If we live that long.

[@benclasper4465]

I do like the care and support about Nicky which is given by the people around Nicky in the series and that most people around her try their best to find a solution with her and how she does preserve and she doesn’t give in or give up and that she always keeps a string faithful message with herself to carry on even when things may became tough and trying she is still carried on and found a solutions to the problems and Johnathon believes her and stays with her to continue the adventure towards the end And I know What you mean when you said about zuleika Robson’s character of Margaret is misunderstood aver often and underrated because she does help Nicky out very much which isn’t very open minded in my opinion and she is an understated actress in my opinion with the things her appearances was included in her earlier television and some films career of hers too And merelina Kendall also appeared in Agatha Christie’s miss marple episode a pocketful of rye from 1985 And you may noticed when the flashback film footage is played towards the end of the final episode you can see the editing almost with the film which I find interesting as the screen picture of Nicky just before she receives the events and the thermal filming sort of you could call it. And Oscar quitak appeared as a villain in the 1978 famous five episode five go to kirrin island. And merelina Kendall she was born in 1938 which was the same year that my grandmother Jean Clasper was born in.

[@fairyfairy6090]

fantastic I really enjoyed this xxxx

[@AnnLiOz]

Whenever I see a pylon, I remember this series...They still scare me a bit...(I read the book as well.)

[@LOOKLOOKLOOKAGAIN]

Pylons still scare me now 😳. Thanks for your comment. 🦀

[@benclasper4465]

And sort of reassured her too you could say.

[@EcclesiastesLiker-py5ts]

What a strange premise. We are heading at rapid speed toward environmental destruction, and suddenly given a supernatural option to fix that... and that's presented as a bad thing.

[@brhodes0]

I’ve got the soundtrack on vinyl, the music writing and whole production was brilliant

[@LOOKLOOKLOOKAGAIN]

Paddy Kingslands score added layers and depth to the programme. Love it. Best 🦀

[@benclasper4465]

And this series is a folk horror in the category I’d put it in too.

[@lockandloadlikehell]

Wow, excellent job, Crab Crab is not one to be crabbit

[@LOOKLOOKLOOKAGAIN]

🤣 Thank you. 🦀

[@benclasper4465]

And you do have a very wise message about how we are all guests of nature and the world and no matter how hard we try to change anything major we can’t do it for everything.

[@LOOKLOOKLOOKAGAIN]

That's the difference between artificial and organic. Alas we have opted for the neon gods rather than those of natural myth and legend and currently reaping what we sew. The worl is undergoing a period of instability - a kind of world wide socio-economic PTSD post covid. 🦀

[@benclasper4465]

@@LOOKLOOKLOOKAGAIN you’re exactly correct.

[@kimhawkins1431]

This is a fantastic video, thank you so much for the wonderful nostalgia trip back in time and a great appraisal of The Changes - a series that had a profound effect on me and others of my generation. Will you get around to doing a review of the Harlech produced creey kids' series 'King Of The Castle', I wonder? Also, what is your intro music? Sounds like Jethro Tull but I have a vague memory of it being a TV theme tune of some kind...please put me out of my misery!

[@LOOKLOOKLOOKAGAIN]

Thank you so much for your kind words-much appreciated. The music used is by Tany Turensand The New Regency Players called The High Life - I heard it on a compilation and thought it suited my programmes/channel. Glad you like it . It was used also for a schools and colleges programme on ITV . Best 🦀

[@kimhawkins1431]

@@LOOKLOOKLOOKAGAIN Ah, that explains it! I was always glued to Schools & Colleges when off sick from school! Thanks 🙂

[@LOOKLOOKLOOKAGAIN]

@@kimhawkins1431 Me too - and crown court. Halcyon days. 🦀

[@benclasper4465]

And in my opinion I call the series as a folk horror series And it reminds me of films such as the blood on satan’s claw from 1971 and witchfinder general form 1968 You can let me know if you’ve seen them also or if you like folk horror things or if you’re interested in that too. And I do like exploring places where there are old hidden corners and far away maybe undiscovered places and lofts and attics and also like to explore quarries too and underground areas and caves and coastal places And a quarry I’ve discovered so far which could be similar to the one in the changes is trimdon quarry near blackhall in wingate

[@LOOKLOOKLOOKAGAIN]

There are most definitely folk horror elements for sure like plenty of output from the 1970's. I have uploaded a children of the stones documentary which may also be of interest as well as The Owl Service and Robin Redbreast - enjoy . 🦀 p.s I adore witchfinder general and blood on Satan's claw. 🙂

[@benclasper4465]

And for folk horror too I can recommend you mark gatiss’ a history of horror which does talk about folk horror in one section of the documentary which is on KZbin too which was originally transmitted on bbc four too if you might have seen it before.

[@LOOKLOOKLOOKAGAIN]

Thank you for the heads up. I really watching this when BBC 4 was interesting. It may be worth a revisit. Thank you 🦀

[@benclasper2883]

Crab apple, could you tell me do you know where the location of Michael and Mary’s cottage was in the series in that private area they live in Or whether it is somewhere near clearwell caves or the Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire I assumed But I’m not sure?

[@LOOKLOOKLOOKAGAIN]

Am not 100% sure. Crab 🦀 🦀 🦀 🦀 🦀

[@benclasper2883]

Or do you know the name of the cottage ? Though I don’t know if it had a proper address or cottage name I don’t know anything about postcode either?

[@LOOKLOOKLOOKAGAIN]

I really don't have a clue. IMDB may help as they have filming locations ?? It's worth a look. 🦀

[@benclasper2883]

I’ve looked but there’s nothing on the cottage specifically.

[@benclasper4465]

And could I ask what year you were born in and if you grew up yourself watching the series when it was originally transmitted and shown maybe Poe if you were maybe interested in it at all when it originally aired. And any programmes of shows you find interesting from around the 1970’s period at all?

[@LOOKLOOKLOOKAGAIN]

I wasn't but caught these programmes on UK Gold on satellite t.v in the early 1990's. I have always loved retro t.v. Born in the wrong era. I heartily recommend Doomwatch, Sapphire and Steel, Blakes 7, Hammer House of Horror Anthologies - these should get you started. There are so many but these are a good start and with what is happening in our environment Doomwatch is terribly important. The foresight of how mankind will be with the environment is jaw droppingly prescient. 🦀

[@benclasper4465]

@@LOOKLOOKLOOKAGAIN I’ve seen a hammer house of horror for a long time while now but not he others. Thank you crab apple.

[@LOOKLOOKLOOKAGAIN]

You're welcome Mr C. 🦀

[@benclasper4465]

@@LOOKLOOKLOOKAGAIN I like your crab. Mr A.

[@LOOKLOOKLOOKAGAIN]

@@benclasper4465 Most kind 🦀

[@pigknickers2975]

Nicki was my first crush though I didn't know that at the time. I was seven years old. I just remember the end - something to do with a big standing stone? Ah, have just got to that bit. Think there's so much strangeness in this. She's like Greta Thunberg, the stone is like 2001AD, the people are rioting, the weather is strange. All very odd. I've always liked Sikhs, very sensible people.This programme also gave me a lifelong fear of pylons, definitely this caused it.

[@LOOKLOOKLOOKAGAIN]

Thank you for sharing memories with me concerning this. Its great to embark on a nostalgia trip. Where I walk my doglet there are pylons and I always think about this show when I walk that way. It was a classic kidult show and hope my channel never let's people forget it. Best always 🦀

[@pigknickers2975]

@@LOOKLOOKLOOKAGAIN Well thank you for making the video - really good job, I know the time it can take. This brought the whole thing back without having to watch it all. Subscribed.

[@LOOKLOOKLOOKAGAIN]

@pigknickers Many, many thanks. There are loads of uploads from me - enjoy and welcome to look...look and look again 😀. Best 🦀

[@pigknickers2975]

@@LOOKLOOKLOOKAGAIN You've done Quiet as a Nun, without any doubt the most terrifying thing I ever saw in my young life! Can't wait to watch it. You have very interesting taste - have you ever got into Shadows (three series I think on ITV). Extremely good productions some of them but hard to find.

[@jacksingh5367]

Happy memories, luckily we've been saved from this by COVID and Global warming

[@LOOKLOOKLOOKAGAIN]

Until the next thing that comes along. 🦀

[@geraintwilliams531]

i saw this when i was 9 and it sacred the c**p put of me when i first saw it. however the message from it is perhaps more relevant today?

[@LOOKLOOKLOOKAGAIN]

Most definitely as is Survivors, Doomwatch and Timeslip. Basically we have known about where we are today since the 1960's - except some scientists believed pollution would result in the planet cooling down the science was crude then. A lot of sci-fi was based in hypothetical fact and adapted from The New Scientist of the time. It was a 'bible' for kit pedler and gerry davis. However humanity was to busy making profit to take any notice or do a contingency (e.g the Russian situation). Its all very well putting things off until tomorrow but what the hell do we do when tomorrow finally gets here ? It won't change. Crab 🦀

[@benjaminclasper3066]

I wonder what Victoria Williams is doing now or where she is Does anyone know if they can possibly contact her or form an interview of her on KZbin about her career and life And apparently from Wikipedia information, she was born in Africa there abouts.

[@LOOKLOOKLOOKAGAIN]

Don't know if anyone can help here. ? Would imagine BFI achieved something similar for their DVD release but not lucky and that was recent too. 😕 🦀

[@benclasper4465]

Do you know if on the dvd release of the series does have some special features at all where perhaps there were interviews written or if there was any footage on the dvd where someone may be interviewing of the cast or crew members about their experience or anything working on the changes or their career etc?

[@benclasper4465]

It’s a shame if they couldn’t achieve it though or form any interviews like you said.