'The Blue and the Green' (5 Parts) by Roger Price

Stephen’s classmate, Robert, paints an accurate picture of Rexal 4, an alien world. Recognising it from his travels as a Tomorrow Person, Stephen tells John and Tim, and also mentions that he thinks his teacher, Elizabeth, is breaking-out. The following day, Elizabeth witnesses Stephen in the act of jaunting home; she hears him telepathically talking to John and Tim, but is convinced that it is a trick. The next day Robert's picture of Rexal 4 has changed from a bright, sunny landscape to a dark and stormy picture. Investigating back at the Lab, John and Tim find similar instances of pictures that change, causing serious disturbances amongst schoolchildren. Stephen witness his aggressive behaviour amongst his schoolmates. He takes John to meet Elizabeth, but she refuses to believe him and tries to leave, but as John jaunts in front of her to stop her, it triggers her breaking-out. Stephen and John manage to calm her down, and take her to the Lab. The next day sees Robert hand out blue and green badges; Elizabeth takes a blue one, while Stephen takes green. Chris arrives at the Lab after a fight with his brother Ginge; he tells John that the fight was due to Chris being is a ‘Green’ and Ginge a ‘Blue’. John removes Chris' badge, returning him to normal. Back at school a fight breaks out in the school classroom, with even Stephen and Elizabeth taking part. That night John and Stephen return to the classroom and set up a video camera to try to record the picture changing. Meanwhile, Elizabeth passes a junk shop and sees another of the strange pictures in the window; as the picture changes, she is threatened by a group of boys. Her telepathic cries are heard by John and Stephen, who jaunt to help, scaring the boys away. Stephen returns to the school and finds the video camera smashed, while John buys the painting from the junk shop, and discovers that Robert lives above the shop. Stephen is invited home by Robert, who shows him a cellar full of strange pictures, and boxes of blue and green badges; he tells Stephen that he did not know his parents, and that his grandfather is not really his grandfather. He also gives Stephen another picture. Meanwhile, John and Tim attempt a Neutron examination on their painting, but it destroys itself. Tim discovers that Robert does not appear in official records. Robert has been using the picture he gave to Stephen to spy on the Tomorrow People in the Lab, and when John returns to the shop, he is captured by Robert’s grandfather. Under Robert’s control, John telekinetically damages the Lab, then returns to the cellar, where his powers are negated. Stephen attempts to rescue John, but his stun gun has no effect on Robert, and he is forced to flee. Chris and two friends also mount an unsuccessful attempt; Chris later follows the mysterious boy, but is warned off by a policeman. However he manages to retrieve some books, including volume four of ‘The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire’, which Robert has dropped. Taking them to the Lab, Chris shows Tim, who realises that the Roman Empire also broke into two factions: blue and green. Robert instructs his grandfather to tell the police that he has gone missing, then leaves with John. Attempting to help Elizabeth at the school, Chris is instead caught by the police, who charge him with Robert's disappearance, and take him to the shop to look for the boy. But Chris escapes, locking the policemen and Robert's grandfather in the cellar. Robert reveals to John that he is an alien Denagelee, but was born on Earth from an egg. When hatching, his species require aggressive energy to complete the transformation; the destruction of the Roman Empire was caused when his mother hatched - this time there will be many thousand of his race hatching. John persuades Robert to release him, so that the Tomorrow People can try to find a safe way for the aliens to hatch. As the hatching begins, Stephen suggests that if they could use a giant stun gun in space to put everyone to sleep - their REM state could provide the energy needed by the Denagelee, without hurting anyone. John, Stephen and Elizabeth collect the parts needed for the gun, and take them to the Watchdog satellite to assemble. Once activated, the stun gun sends everyone to sleep, allowing them to dream the violence the Denagelee require. The aliens leave Earth, agreeing never to return. John, Stephen and Elizabeth return home, and Stephen erases the memories of the policemen, who set Chris free.



Nicholas Young (John), Elizabeth Adare (Liz), Peter Vaughan-Clarke (Stephen), Philip Gilbert (TIM), Christopher Chittell (Chris), Nigel Pegram (Grandfather), Jason Kemp (Robert), Simon Merrick (Police Inspector), Ray Burdis (Johnson)

Directed by Roger Price

TX:
'An Apple For The Teacher' - 4th February 1974
'The Changing Picture' - 11th February 1974
'The Trojan Horse' - 18th February 1974
'Cuckoo In The Nest' - 25th February 1974
'The Swarming Season' - 4th March 1974

Notes:
*Featuring John, Stephen and Tim, and introducing Elizabeth and Chris