Stephen (Tomorrow People)

Tomorrow People character
Title=Stephen


First=The Slaves of Jedikiah, Part 1
Last=Into the Unknown, Part 4: The Circle
Creator=Roger Price
Name=Stephen Jameson
Species=Telepath
Age=14
Alliance=Tomorrow People
Nationality=British
Actor=Peter Vaughan-Clarke

Stephen Jameson is a fictional character from the British television series "The Tomorrow People". Stephen's first appearance is in "The Slaves of Jedikiah", and last appeared in Into the Unknown, Part 4: The Circle. Stephen is portrayed by Peter Vaughan-Clarke.

Overview

Stephen is the first Tomorrow Person we see "breakout" on screen.cite episode|title=The Slaves of Jedikiah, Part 1|series=The Tomorrow People|serieslink=The Tomorrow People|airdate=1973-04-30|network=ITV|station=ITV1|season=1|number=1] At first he finds it hard to believe that he "is" a Tomorrow Person, but soon comes to accept this.

Character development

tephen's breakout and kidnap

The three original Tomorrow People, John, Carol and Kenny had been monitoring Stephen, as he had been unconsciously tuning into their thoughts, via his telepathy. As Stephen is in the process of breaking out he keeps hearing voices, the voices of the Tomorrow People calling him. While running, trying to escape the voices in his head, he collapses and is taken to hospital. While at hospital, he is visited by Carol, who explains about the voices Stephen has been hearing. Stephen finds her story hard to believe, but Carol asks if he trusts her, he says he does. Carol then guides him through his "breakout". She tells him that he is a Tomorrow Person, the next step in human evolution. After explaining more about the Tomorrow People, two men enter Stephen's hospital room and shoot both Carol and Stephen with stun guns. As Carol lies unconscious, the two men kidnap Stephen. They load him into the back of a van and drive off. He regains consciousness and contacts the other Tomorrow People, but before they can help him he is stunned again. Soon after the van pulls up outside a big house and the men unload Stephen and take him into the house.cite episode|title=The Slaves of Jedikiah, Part 2|series=The Tomorrow People|serieslink=The Tomorrow People|airdate=1973-05-07|network=ITV|station=ITV1|season=1|number=2] Stephen wakes up in the house and tries to contact Carol again, the man holding him prisoner, Jedikiah, tells him it is useless to try because the silencer band on his head prevents him from using telepathy. Jedikiah tries to get information from Stephen, when he refuses, Jedikiah put him in a machine. The machine reports to Jedikiah that Stephen is a Telepath, and also has latent telekinetic and teleportation abilities.

tephen's rescue and recapture

John, Carol and Kenny discover where Stephen is being held and jaunt there to help him. They rescue him from Jedikiah, and return back to The Lab. At The Lab Stephen is introduced to TIM, at first he is shocked that the computer can speak, but soon becomes relaxed with the artificial intelligence. When Carol, Kenny and John all leave to go home, Stephen is captured again, by Jedikiah using mind control. While Jedikiah holds Stephen captive in The Lab.cite episode|title=The Slaves of Jedikiah, Part 3|series=The Tomorrow People|serieslink=The Tomorrow People|airdate=1973-05-14|network=ITV|station=ITV1|season=1|number=3] Carol has a feeling something is wrong and jaunts to John. When they come to find Stephen they see something outside The Lab and jaunt, the device traps them in hyperspace, where they start to dissipate. Stephen tries to communicate telepathically with the other Tomorrow People but cannot due to the silencer band on his head. Later Kenny cannot contact the others and jaunts to The Lab. He frees Stephen and Stephen tells TIM to get John and Carol back. As they return to The Lab Jedikiah shoots them with his gun and kidnaps Kenny.

The Cyclops

Stephen, with the help of John and Carol, discovers that he was under the control of the Cyclops.cite episode|title=The Slaves of Jedikiah, Part 4|series=The Tomorrow People|serieslink=The Tomorrow People|airdate=1973-05-21|network=ITV|station=ITV1|season=1|number=4] The three Tomorrow People jaunt back to the house where Stephen was kept. They discover a bomb and jaunt out. Shortly after they are contacted by the Cyclops with co-ordinates to teleport to.cite episode|title=The Slaves of Jedikiah, Part 5|series=The Tomorrow People|serieslink=The Tomorrow People|airdate=1973-06-04|network=ITV|station=ITV1|season=1|number=5] John and Stephen leave Carol behind in The Lab, but when they arrive on the Cyclops' ship they are caught in a force field. TIM jaunts Carol to the ship, but to different co-ordinates. She shoots Jedikiah with her stun gun, and he damages part of the ship which controls the force field. Stephen and John now free, go to rescue Kenny. The Tomorrow People meet the Cyclops, who tells them he needs Telepaths to control his ship, as he is running out of the atmosphere he needs to survive. They save the Cyclops and jaunt back to Earth before the ship explodes with Jedikiah onboard.

Powers and abilities

Like other Tomorrow People Stephen possesses various psychic abilities. The primary powers of all Telepaths are "jaunting", the ability to instantaneously transport oneself from one place to another, telepathy, the ability to read the minds of other Tomorrow People and telekinesis, the ability to move objects with the power of the mind. Telepaths can also use their teleportation abilities to teleport other inanimate objects.cite episode|title=The Green and the Blue, Part 2: The Changing Picture|series=The Tomorrow People|serieslink=The Tomorrow People|airdate=1974-02-11|network=ITV|station=ITV1|season=2|number=4] A barrier which exists in the minds of all Telepaths, The Prime Barrier, prevents them from deliberately killing any living organism.cite episode|title=The Medusa Strain, Part 2|series=The Tomorrow People|serieslink=The Tomorrow People|airdate=1973-06-18|network=ITV|station=ITV1|season=1|number=7]

References