He was that strange silver haired boy that freaked out classrooms across the land. To some he gave nightmares, to others he gave strange noises to shout out in the playground! He was The Boy From Space!
Written by Richard Carpenter (Catweazel, Adventures of Robin Hood) and shown as part of BBC’s Look and Read Education series, The Boy From Space was originally shown in 1971 in black & white, then reshown in colour in 1980. It is the 1980 version than traumatised me as a child, especially the eerie electronic music provided by Paddy Kingsland of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop.
In the show we meet Peep-Peep, played by Colin Mayes (Scum, All Quiet on the Western Front) a mysterious alien child, who is helped by two children, Dan, played by Stephen Garlick (The Tomorrow People, Doctor Who, The Dark Crystal) and Helen, played by Sylvestra Le Touzel (Doctor Who, The Professionals, The Ray Bradbury Theatre, The Univited, Utopia) and a kindly local astrologer named Mister Bunting, played by Anthony Woodruff (The Tall Guy, Tales of the Unexpected, Mystery!: Malice Aforethought).
Peep-Peep is given his name by Dan and Helen due to the strange noises he makes. As they children get to know each other Dan and Helen discover Peep-Peep is being relentlessly stalked by an evil alien hunter known as The Thin Man played by John Woodnutt (Knightmare, Lifeforce). Peep-Peep is saved on a number of occasions by the children’s quick-witted reading abilities. Thus encouraging us viewers to get better at reading in order to help poor old Peep-Peep!
One of the problems the children faced was that Peep-Peep’s language was different to our own. It turned out, in a dramatic twist, the Peep-Peep was in fact speaking English, only written backwards. He had learned it from reading an inside out plastic bag, and took this to be the actual language of the planet.
Once this problem was ironed out, the power of reading saved everyone!
Based on Marilyn Sadler and Roger Bollen's book of the same name, Zenon: Girl of the 21st Century was directed by Kenneth Johnson and set in the year 2049. It Read more
Originally running between 1977-1979 for 108 episodes, Yatterman succeeded Time Bokan and followed what happened after fragments of a mysterious stone known as the Skull Stone are scattered across the Read more
It was 2007 when director Edgar Wright dropped Hot Fuzz on us. The film was written by Wright and Simon Pegg and featured long time collaborator Nick Frost. It is Read more
Back in 1989 two dudes known as Bill S. Preston Esq. (Alex Winter) and Ted "Theodore" Logan (Keanu Reeves) - together they were known as Wyld Stalyns - needed to Read more
Written and directed by Nacho Vigalondo, Timecrimes (aka Los Cronocrímenes) is a Spanish science-fiction thriller. In the documentary Future Shock! The Story of 2000 AD Nacho Vigalondo credits 2000 AD comic magazine Read more
No one likes an 'I told you so', so let's get the unpleasant bit out of the way. I told you so. Back in Feb 2018, whilst I was still Read more
Directed by William Cameron Menzies, The Maze was 3-D horror film that deals with teratology and prenatal phylogenetic evolution. It begins when Scotsman Gerald MacTeam (Richard Carlson) abruptly ends his Read more
Santa Claus: The Movie was supposed to be the holiday hit of 1985. Such was the confidence that farther and son producers Alexander and Ilya Salkind had managed to get Read more
Somewhere out in space live The Herculoids! Zok, the laser-ray dragon! Igoo, the giant rock ape! Tundro, the tremendous! Gloop and Gleep, the formless, fearless wonders! With Zandor, their leader, Read more
Directed by Coleman Francis, The Beast of Yucca Flats follows a Soviet scientist named Joseph Jaworsky (Tor Johnson), who defects and flees to a Nevada Test Site called Yucca Flats. Before Read more
Brett Summers
Founded Cult Faction in 2014. Some would describe him as a teacher, writer, dream weaver, and visionary... some would not...
2 thoughts on “The Boy From Space”