Chocky was the Thames TV adaptation of the 1968 novel by John Wyndham of the same name. It ran from 9th January 1984 to 13th February 1984 and was a six part miniseries. The question is though: where the f**k do I start with this?
Firstly John Wyndham is one of the top 3 sci-fi writers of all time. Also ‘Chrysalids’ is probably the best film never made. Let’s get back to Chocky; this series was innovative to say the least. I’m told it was on at 5.10pm, like Byker Grove or Grange Hill. Well, let me tell you, this is very, very different. Right from the title music through to the performances and score, this series was anything but a children’s programme.
It’s a really good premise for a series, especially down to the little details of what Chocky asks our boy hero. The writing really is ahead of its time like all of John Wyndham’s books. I was told adamantly by the Cult Faction guv’nor Brett Summers that this is a must watch and once again he was absolutely right. I watched the first season in one go purely as it was so fascinating. I was told to watch it as part of the Cult Faction review but literally after the first 5 minutes I was hooked.
Chocky concerns a twelve year old boy named Matthew Gore (Andrew Ellams) who becomes host to an extra-terrestrial entity named Chocky. While the 1968 novel was set in an unspecified ‘near future’, the TV adaptation was set contemporaneously in the mid-1980s. The Gore family acquires a second generation Citroen CX car which was marketed as being technologically advanced at the time. Chocky though remains an inquisitive entity which asks all sorts of questions about life on earth.
Matthew tries to keep Chocky a secret from the people around him, but this is hard since he can’t help talking to Chocky out loud. It turns out that Chocky is an advance scout from another solar system who was sent to Earth to find a possible location for a colony for her people. She decides that Earth is not a suitable location but stays anyway because she feels it is her duty to help humans discover a new source of energy. Chocky helps Matthew in certain things like looking at the world in a way he’s never looked at it before, from the eyes of a stranger, and by saving him when he and his sister almost drown, but Chocky also endangers Matthew by being there. When a certain group of people find out about Chocky’s existence, they kidnap Matthew and perform tests on him. This event leads Chocky to believe Matthew’s life is in danger and she must leave him.
Chocky was well received by children and adults alike and was quickly followed by two 6 episode sequels called Chocky’s Children (Broadcast: 7th January 1985 – 11th February 1985) and Chocky’s Challenge (Broadcast: 29th September 1986 – 16th October 1986). These shows established the existence of other “befriended” children around the world and then they joined together with the purpose of finding a solution to the world’s energy problems.
Throughout the first season you get glimpses all through it to what Chocky is and where he (or she)might come from. The questions it asks from everything to human relationships, the detail of how cars, boats and other vehicles wprk are truly how a young ‘child’ alien would react. The relationship with the boy protagonist and his alien friend becomes very touching. Even when he gets angry as chocky cannot understand him and vice versa has a beautiful innocence about it For that reason this series, even though very much sci fi fiction is quite realistic, although it obviously isn’t. I absolutely loved it and Chocky is certainly ahead of its time in many ways. I urge you to give it a try.
Ogun Bat is a Japanese superhero created by Takeo Nagamatsu in 1931 and is considered to be the first Japanese superhero. The anime ran 52 episodes between April 1st 1967 and March 23rd Read more
Zyuden Sentai Kyoryuger was Toei Company's 37th entry in its long-running Super Sentai Series. It aired from February 17th 2013 to February 9th 2014 for 49 episodes. Long ago in the Read more
Zorro's Fighting Legion is a 1939 Republic Pictures film serial consisting of twelve chapters. It features Reed Hadley as Zorro. The plot revolves around his alter-ego Don Diego's fight against Read more
Released in December 1980, Zork: The Great Underground Empire - Part I aka Zork I was an interactive fiction video game written by Marc Blank, Dave Lebling, Bruce Daniels and Tim Read more
Zoolander is back but a lot has happened since 2001! Rest assured the Ben Stiller comedy features familiar faces and a few new ones with plenty to get you excited. Read more
At a dinner party with their wives, NASA scientist Dr. Keith Ritchie (Tony Huston) reveals to his colleague Dr. Curt Taylor (John Agar) that he has secretly been in communication Read more
In Italy during World War II, an American military patrol discovers a spaceship that has crash-landed in the woods, along with its alien crew. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hm9fnNfLg8M A nearby Nazi unit also Read more
Zone Fighter was a tokusatsu science fiction/superhero television series produced by Toho Company Ltd. It aired from April 2nd 1973 to September 24th 1973, with a total of 26 episodes. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UdhcjsVLDQY The series follows Read more
When the government's latest crime deterrent, obmoz, goes completely off the rails and starts to destroy everything from the underfunded super team Planetronix to the president himself, who ya gonna Read more
Tony Todd is back in an all new zombie movie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IBlWz-n-nec When the world is in shambles, plagued by a zombie outbreak, only the strong will survive, but just how Read more
Directed by Chris Watson and distributed by Troma Entertainment, Zombiegeddon begins as Satan creates a human-like race called zombies. When the zombies begin taking over the world, dirty cops Jeff Read more
Zombie Hotel ran for twenty-six episodes in 2006 and focuses on Fungus and Maggot - two child zombies who pretend to be human to get into their local school. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzXhCDspKxU Read more
After surviving the 'Multipocalypse', Ben tries to live a normal life, hiding the fact that he is infected with a zombie plague. His new friends have just found out ... Read more
A dutiful Samurai, a madcap Ninja and a bizarro Zen Monk team up to battle the undead in Feudal Japan. Can these unlikely allies stay friends long enough to stop Read more
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
Arriving in 2010, Zebraman 2: Attack on Zebra City was the sequel for 2004's Zebraman, and starred Show Aikawa once again as Shinichi Ichikawa/Zebraman. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqnYJugzaiU As the film opens it Read more
Directed by Takashi Miike, Zebraman follows Shinichi Ichikawa (Shô Aikawa), a man whose life is unravelling before his eyes. At work he is a failing school teacher and at home he Read more
Ryan Reynolds announced via Twitter that Zazie Beets (Atlanta) will play Domino in the upcoming Deadpool sequel: https://twitter.com/VancityReynolds/status/839947701487796224 Deadpool 2 will be directed by David Leitch (John Wick), with original Deadpool scripters Rhett Reese Read more
Zardoz, often referred to as "the one where James Bond is in his pants," is set in a future post-apocalypse Earth in the year 2293. By this point in history Read more
More Stories
The Immortal
Salvage 1
A for Andromeda (1961)