The Girl from Tomorrow (1991–1992) User Reviews

Downright excellent Australian TV show

[alainenglish · 8/10 · 20 April 2008]

Along with soap operas like "Neighbours" and "Home Away", Australia has exported a number of television show to the UK. Among them was this science fiction TV show about a girl from the far-flung future lost in the present, the present being 1990, when the show was made. For a kids TV show, it's downright sophisticated and superbly structured with engaging central characters.

Alana (Katherine Cullen) is a young girl living in a peaceful Australia in the year 3000. Her guardian, Tulista (Helen Jones) takes part in an experiment to return to the year 2500, to discover the causes of the Great Disaster, a worldwide apocalypse that nearly wiped out mankind. Tulista succeeds in travelling back in time, yet returns in hostage to Silverthorn (John Howard), an unscrupulous criminal who kidnaps Alana in the time capsule which lands in the year 1990. Alana escapes from the capsule and is taken in by a kindly shopkeeper Irene (Helen O'Connor) and her two children; rebellious Jenny (Melissa Marshal) and precocious kid genius Petey (James Marshall Findlay). With the aid of a friendly schoolteacher Mr Rooney (Andrew Clarke), the gang try to find a way to reclaim the time capsule from Silverthorn and return to the future...

The series benefits from superb writing which sketches the characters neatly and structures each episode well, ending each time on a terrific cliffhanger that leaves you begging for more. Although the series has the usual plot holes and paradoxes that one encounters in time travel stories, none of this hurts the show at all. There is the occasional ropey performance or unconvincing fight scene, but the show can easily be enjoyed by adults and kids alike. As a twenty-six year old now, I had as much fun watching it now as I did as a young boy.

Asides from the writing, there are some good performances from Katherine Cullen as Alana, who engages audience sympathy with the character without ever being overly mawkish. She works best in tandem with Melissa Marshal's more streetwise Jenny, and the two seem to balance each other out whenever they're on screen. John Howard, no relation to the Australian Prime Minister of the same name, makes a great villain being both nasty and charismatic.

Although the show is Region 0 and not available on DVD in the UK, it can be viewed online on Youtube, along with it's sequel show "Tomorrow's End".

Sequel series to "The Girl From Tomorrow"

[alainenglish · 8/10 · 26 April 2008]

"Tomorrow's End" follows on almost directly from "The Girl From Tomorrow", which dealt with Alana (Katherine Cullen) an Australian teenager from the year 3000 stranded in 1990. This sequel continues the story, with Alana successfully returned to the future with Jenny Kelly (Melissa Marshall), a girl from the present who was injured trying to help her along with Silverthorn (John Howard), the villain from the year 2500 who tried to manipulate time travel for his own selfish ends.

Returning Silverthorn and Jenny to their own times, Alana discovers to her horror that the Great Disaster that nearly wiped out the Earth was precipitated by her own time travelling. When Silverthorn returns to his old tricks, teaming with the tyrannical Draco (Marshall Napier), it's up to Alana to stop him and save the future...

The plot is far more complicated this time and deals with themes of ecology vs. technology, psychology and the cause and effect of time travel briefly mentioned in the first series. With all this plus new characters to introduce, the pace in the early episodes is a little bit slack. Once the story gets going, with characters constantly jumping time periods, it gets really enjoyable and you're rooting for Alana and her friends all over again.

Sure it's a bit predictable, and at times the set-ups and dialogue are a little bit too infantile but it remains good fun throughout.

Katherine Cullen is back as a much tougher but still compassionate Alana, bonding brilliantly with Melissa Marshall's Jenny. John Howard as Silverthorn is still a consistently charismatic bad guy, and he gets fine support from Marshall Napier as the deeply unpleasant Draco. All other performances work very well, with not a single weak link among them.

The concluding image, with Jenny and Alana saying a final good-bye, moved me to tears and made me glad I'd rediscovered this series.

"Tomorrow's End" is available to watch online at www.youtube.com.

A great series

[Donnacha · 10/10 · 6 February 2001]

I grew up watching this series, and to tell the truth it's a very well thought out and highly imaginative take on the whole time travel genre. Instead of action heroes or vicious psychos using time travel to destroy each other, the young Alan is an accidental traveler who has to come to terms living a thousand years in the past. good stuff, see it.

Outstanding and memorable kids drama

[groo-740-943894 · 10/10 · 16 July 2013]

My sister and I were hooked on The Girl From Tomorrow back when it was aired in the UK. We remember it to be extremely engaging and enjoyable. Watching it now in 2013, it has aged fairly well and is still very watchable. The graphics were clearly limited by the technology and budget of the time, but that's the only aspect that hasn't stood the test of time. The performances are genuinely solid and actors play their parts well - Irene is a harassed single mum, Jenny a rebellious teenager, Petey an annoying but resourceful nine-year-old, and Alana a confused and terrified time traveller from the future trying to make sense of Sydney in the '90s. Alana stole the hearts of thousands of 12 year old boys. Good to see Katharine Cullen went on to a solid, respectable acting career.

The series benefits from good casting, screen writing and drama. The cliffhanger endings are well crafted and you're always hoping for more. Silverthorn is a great charming villain, and the Great Disaster plot gives tremendous scope.

It was never a high-budget all-star production, but if you have fond childhood memories of this show, don't be afraid to re-watch it as an adult. It lives up to your memory.

Good but not great.

[koeago · 24 August 2003]

While nowhere near as good as The Girl From Tomorrow, Tomorrow's End plays more for action and explosions, unlike it's character-driven predecessor. It does, however, contain many interesting theories on the cause and effect of time-travel and holds more than enough to keep the viewer interested.

cannot believe I never knew about this!

[cellio9 · 10/10 · 10 May 2020]

I've just discovered this show on Amazon Prime in the UK, and it is making me ridiculously happy! Pure 90's retro scifi joy with great performances and great characters.

Best time traveling show ever best Sci fi series of all time. Loved it and watched it having fun all time from the start till end

[pranavsaintly · 10/10 · 3 March 2023]

Best time traveling show ever. I got hooked up on the show from first episode and kept watching until I realised I completed the series in a day. It has a best story and the characters are also very interesting. It never feels boring. I loved watching it. Best experience I ever had I can say modern shows can't even close to this gem. Best acting awesome cast best scenes. I always think about time traveling and how the year 3000 is gonna be like and this show doesn't disappoint I wonder our future is gonna be same as portrayed here or nonetheless this show is really awesome had a great day watching it I want to see more shows like this. Man 90s era was a gem i love 90s shows so much best era in human history so much nostalgic in the end pls watch this show u wont regret it.

good sci-fi premise

[SnoopyStyle · 6/10 · 26 April 2017]

Alana (Katherine Cullen) lives in an utopian community in year 3000 Australia. Her guardian Tulista travels back in time to investigate a disaster in 2500 which destroyed much of the world. She is taken prisoner by criminal Silverthorn (John Howard) returning back to 3000. In a struggle, Silverthorn takes Alana and the time capsule back to 1990. Alana with her transducer headband and computer wristband PJ is taken in by Jenny Kelly (Melissa Marshal) and her bratty little brother Petey (James Marshall Findlay). Jenny's mother, divorced shopkeeper Irene (Helen O'Connor), enrolls Alana as her niece Alana Turner. Mr Rooney (Andrew Clarke) is a teacher. Silverthorn suffers from a brain tumor and has stolen the time capsule with his minion Eddie. The capsule is on a timer to return to 3000 and Alana is desperate to find it.

I kinda remember this show back in the day although I doubt that I actually saw it. I just remember the girl with the headband. There are two series of 12 half-hour episodes. The first series starts with a solid sci-fi premise. The girl is awkwardly naive although she is a 14 year old from the year 3000. Sometimes, the writing gets a little clunky like going to the media. I don't understand why Silverthorn would return the time capsule if the group goes public. A social worker turning a girl over to her father willy-nilly is also problematic. She could be a victim of abuse. The least she could do is call in the cops. It should be a simple kidnapping out of the facility instead. Nevertheless, the writing is good enough especially for a children's program. The second series titled "Tomorrow's End" has Alana going back to 3000 and 2500. She gets separated from Jenny and the plot gets a bit muddled.

The production is low budget Australian TV. It has its charms in the first series. The girls are good and John Howard is a scary villain. The second series struggles. Most of the 2500 setting looks cheap. A dystopian world needs dollars to look good. The second series also splits up the cast which diffuses the tension. It should have kept Alana and Jenny together. Their reunion is forced and the time traveling logic is bent out of shape. The adults not believing in Silverthorn also gets tiresome after having already saved the world from his villainy.