Will Hadcroft on Chocky

I vividly remember seeing the trailer on Children’s ITV back in January of 1984. I was 13 and ¾ and had just started the second half of my third year (or Year 9 as it’s known nowadays) at secondary school—I recall the shot of Matthew Gore at his school desk working on something and a vague turquoise-green wispy energy force landing on him and Matthew sitting up with a start, responding to a voice only he can hear. The idea of an ordinary schoolboy with average academic skills being visited by an alien force had me hooked there and then.

Based on the novel by John Wyndham and adapted by Anthony Read, Chocky tells the story of how a teenage boy is selected by an unseen alien presence in the hope of learning about humanity and the desire to impart understanding of highly advanced equations relating to the tapping of limitless energy.

Initially we experience Chocky as modest visual effects, indecipherable whispering and uncanny music cues—the suggestion of something extra-terrestrial, a presence that only Matthew can hear.

The first hint for his adopted parents that something unusual is happening is the sudden barrage of questions, from, “Why do we have seven days in a week when eight would be more efficient?” to “Why do cows never learn how to open the farm gate and escape the pen when they’ve watched the farmer do it many times?” At first, they assume he has a pretend friend like his younger sister Polly; but his artistic and sporting achievements dumbfound them, and his worrying behaviour peaks when he is on the verge of nervous exhaustion, tormented by the unrelenting questions.

Matthew’s mother worries that it may be mental illness inherited from one of his birth parents, while his dad invites his former university friend and professional psychiatrist Roy Landis to talk with him. David Gore fully expects to be told Matthew has a condition and that it can be treated—however he and his wife Mary despair at Landis’ conclusion—that Matthew is possessed by an alien intelligence.

In his bedroom, Matthew asks if there is some way he might see the voice he’s been talking to. Chocky agrees to show him her energy field which manifests as a swirling ball of turquoise light. Complete with throbbing sound effect, this is the first time we as viewers see Chocky for ourselves. We share Matthew’s wonder and delight.

To give Matthew some respite, the Gores join with another family and holiday at a cottage in the countryside. When a boat breaks away from its mooring and knocks Matthew and Polly into the lake, Matthew appears to take control and save Polly from drowning. This baffles his parents since Matthew is unable to swim. Later, when presented with an award for his bravery, Matthew is angered because he didn’t save Polly—Chocky did.

Fascinated by what Matthew has told him and what the prospect of limitless power implies, Landis naively discusses the matter with his colleague Sir William Thorpe. He coordinates an organisation of unscrupulous scientists and has Matthew kidnapped in the hope of making contact with Chocky and forcing her to divulge her secrets.

When Matthew is returned to the family, Chocky makes one final appearance. Speaking through Matthew and presenting her energy field as a visual reference point for David, she explains her purpose and how Thorpe in his greed had sought to capitalise on it. The human race is not mature enough to be granted the knowledge she was going to impart. It is mutually agreed that Chocky will leave Matthew alone to develop at a normal rate, though some latent skills and intuition might remain.

In the epilogue, Matthew is fully restored and David presents him an amended award for bravery. It is awarded to Chocky.

I found the book some years later in my local WH Smith in Bolton. Desperate to experience the story again, as video releases didn’t emerge for a good while after the series finished, I bought John Wyndham’s book. I was struck by the first-person narrative and that it was written, not from Matthew’s perspective, but from that of his father David’s. For me, this explained why the television series seemed exceptionally cerebral for a children’s programme—the book was written from an adult perspective. The reader doesn’t know for sure that Chocky is real until the last chapter when the alien contacts him via Matthew.

The television adaptation dealt with some thought-provoking questions. It was refreshingly intelligent and acknowledged our immaturity as a species, but also our great potential. I loved the series so much on first broadcast I would spend all Monday at school looking forward to getting home and watching the next episode. The title sequence with the spinning prism and a clay sculpture of Matthew’s head was beguiling, and I tape recorded, off-air, John Hyde’s mesmeric theme music. I recall being frustrated about the composer not being credited. John Hyde was only credited for Sound in that adaptation. It wasn’t until the VHS came out years later that I realised the script supervisor Richard Bates was the same Richard Bates who produced The Tripods adaptation for BBC One, and scriptwriter Anthony Read was the same person who script edited the Key to Time season of Doctor Who in 1978, another big childhood favourite.

(From Paul Harvey on YouTube: “The track by John Hyde aka Astral Sounds was originally called 'Coral' and is taken from the 1982 library music album called 'Red Kite' on the UK Rouge label. The artiste name was 'Astral Sounds' which a number of library musicians recorded under and over a dozen albums were released under this artist title. The entire Red Kite album has an underwater/oceanic theme and is well worth a listen.” Search “Chocky Theme in Stereo” on YouTube.)

I feel Chocky is definitely a hero. His-her-its road is paved with good intentions. I found it refreshing to experience a story about a powerful alien intelligence that isn’t trying to abduct us, destroy us, or take the planet from us. Chocky is wholly benevolent.

As a teen, I was especially struck by Andrew Ellams’ mature performance as Matthew. He clearly understood the concepts and questions being posed by the series and the complex way Matthew would be affected by what was happening to him. From the joy of the new family car to the near nervous breakdown Matthew experiences when Chocky mocks it for its simplicity. The little girl, his sister Polly, was believable. Zoe Hart gave a solid performance for child actor so young. The dad played by James Hazeldine came across as calm and level headed, whereas Mary played by Carol Drinkwater struck me as rather hysterical at times. However, revisiting the series as an adult, I now have more time for Mary’s confusion and worry. I was surprised to learn recently that Matthew’s friend Colin was played by Devin Stanfield, who was the boy Kay in The Box of Delights. A standout performance for me, then and now, is that of Jeremy Bulloch, who was Dr Landis. He came across as utterly believable, convinced that Matthew’s account of things is real.

Back in the day, I thought the pacing was just right. Today, I think, by comparison with modern drama, it is perhaps a little slow at times. The first episode especially suffered from what I call “set-up syndrome”, introducing all the main characters and Matthew’s backstory. That said, when the VHS came out, I loaned it to my brother Jonathan who doesn’t have as much love for cult TV as I do, and he reported that he watched the first three episodes back-to-back in a single sitting. He was engrossed.

Fear factor? For a children’s show it was as much intriguing as fear inspiring. Chocky herself in the initial episodes was unsettling rather than frightening. The real fear came in the last two parts when Thorpe’s people abducted Matthew and did their tests on him.

The series, on the whole, is utterly engrossing.