I loved this show as a kid. It was fun - it promised some cool effects (and sometimes even delivered), it had a really cute guy at the center of the story with adorable friends around him all romping around trying to get away from the tripods; and the evil was real evil. No serious female role unfortunately to add the missing sexual tension. Those were the days when Russia was the USSR and Tripods were running amok frightening Western Europeans who in the year 2089 maintained a lifestyle of the Middle Ages. It was a true classic in its undeniable 80-ish style of the Capped people, especially those no-sleeve shirts that these kids roamed around in the English and French countryside, as if winter was just concept and not a reality. The tripods were an odd mixture between the three-legged "War of the Worlds" Martian's fighting machines and what the tripods would look in the book "The Day of the Tripods", only the latter were more vegetation than metallic creatures. In the second season out of the three that were shot the plot started to dwindle and the cuteness didn't go as far as showing real suspense. And yes, the fact that they never did end up shooting the last season was a major letdown. Still kids-of-that-era today would recognize the tune - it was a show we all loved to wait a week for its next episode. John Shackley - nothing came out of him, oddly enough. He got this starring role of 3 seasons and just vanished. According to IMDB he ended up doing second assistant director role in The Steal. I really wonder if that is really him. I'd be happy to learn how a major kid show star was bumped out of the loop so decisively.
Review of The Tripods
