The Tripods
Based on the popular children’s novels by John Christopher, The Tripods followed the adventures of teenagers Will, Henry and Jean-Paul (nicknamed Beanpole) as they go on the run across Europe and eventually join the human resistance against the Tripods, gigantic machines which rule the human race through “capping”, a metal circuit fused to the skull on the cusp of adulthood. The cap makes the wearer an obedient drone. Ultimately the resistance discover that the Tripods are in fact vehicles for an amphibious alien race known only as the Masters.
The Tripods was transmitted on BBC1 early Saturday evenings between 1984 and 1985. There were two seasons, adapting the first two books of the trilogy The White Mountains and The City of Gold and Lead, making a total of 25 episodes, directed by Christopher Barry, Graham Theakston and Bob Blagden, and produced by Richard Bates.
Contributors for this show are Andrew Roe-Crines and Kevin Hiley. Andrew Roe-Crines is a writer and academic. Kevin Hiley is a video editor and graphic designer who has worked for numerous UK TV channels over the years. And together with Andrew and other friends we’ve made quite a few short films, both fictions and documentaries under the name Westlake Films.