The Books

The original source is a trilogy of books by John Christopher:

• The White Mountains (1967), ISBN 0140316841
• The City of Gold and Lead (1967), ISBN 014031685X
• The Pool of Fire (1968), ISBN 0140316848

All are in print, published in the UK by Puffin Books as a consolidated single volume (ISBN 0140317228). A further short book, "When The Tripods Came" (1989), ISBN 0140326022, is set a century before The White Mountains.

There have been a very large number of different editions of the books, and as a result many different artists have been commissioned to paint scenes from the trilogy, a typical example of which is below. Note that Christopher took advantage of the 1980s revival to make a number of minor alterations to the text, mostly in descriptive passages, and especially in The Pool of Fire. These alterations are made in the UK editions, but his American publishers have declined to re-set the trilogy, so that the earlier version is the one on sale in America today. "All one can say is that the Penguin UK version is the authorised one" (Christopher).

Laser Disc, Videos and DVD

To recap, there are 25 episodes of 25 minutes: Series One contains episodes 1.1 to 1.13, Series Two consists of 2.1 to 2.12.

In around 1990 a laser disc (ID7183SO) of Series One was released in the U.S. by Image Entertainment. It must be doubtful whether it's still available, but there was also a U.S. VHS video release (above left). The running time was about 150 minutes, cut down from 322. (Everything which expanded on the book of The White Mountains is gone: Captain Curtis is omitted, Paris and the Chateau Ricordeau scenes are abbreviated and everything between the start of 1.9 and the middle of 1.12 are cut altogether, notably the Vichot vineyard, the forest and the Alpine festival.)

Four cassettes giving Series One (in PAL format) were released by BBC Video in the U.K. in 1994, with serial numbers as follows:

• BBCV 5243 "The Tripods 1": episodes 1.1, 1.2, 1.3;
• BBCV 5244 "The Tripods 2": episodes 1.4, 1.5, 1.6;
• BBCV 5293 "The Tripods 3": episodes 1.7, 1.8, 1.9;
• BBCV 5294 "The Tripods 4": episodes 1.10, 1.11, 1.12, 1.13.

The opening shot of each episode has a brief, superimposed banner giving the episode number, but otherwise the footage is complete and as broadcast. These have long sold out, but:

A two-disc Region 0 (playable worldwide) DVD re-release of the complete series 1 (in PAL format) was made by Second Sight Films Ltd. in the U.K. in March 2001, with serial numbers 2NDVD3015; along with a matching double video cassette re-release. Region 0 means that the discs are playable on any DVD player across the world, but the result will be a PAL signal, not for instance the American NTSC television standard. Outside Europe, then, you may need good quality equipment which can adapt standards to watch the discs. On the other hand, they will certainly be playable on any computer's DVD player.

Series 2 has never been released in any country and it now seems unlikely that it ever will be. Sales of the series 1 DVDs were good, and Second Sight were keen to carry on. The project was so advanced by autumn 2001 that cover art reached online retailers. Production notes from this website were adapted as DVD extras, along with some behind the scenes photos. Unfortunately an extension to the movie rights was just then being renegotiated in Hollywood, and for opaque reasons connected with this, the BBC stalled and finally withdrew Second Sight's permission to release series 2. If there is a genuine rights conflict, the release is likely to be forbidden indefinitely.

Both series were broadcast on the British archival cable channel UK Gold and on various American and other cable channels in the mid-1990s. Editing in of advertisement breaks has sometimes been clumsy (as BBC programmes, the original episodes do not contain such breaks), and the very short "recap of series 1" trailer at the start of series 2 is often omitted when both series are run back to back. Otherwise, broadcasts are normally in full.

I am very often asked by email if I can make and send out copies of the episodes, especially of the second season. I'm afraid that I really must turn these requests down -- quite apart from copyright and the equipment needed, it would become a full-time job.

Three compact discs

Ken Freeman's music from the series is available on compact disc by mail order from the composer's own web site:

http://web.ukonline.co.uk/ken.freeman.

(These admirable releases were originally made by Gerry Forrester's GERCD label.)

The original soundtrack album

• Ken Freeman - The Tripods, GERCD 1 (1995).

This thoroughly recommendable disc runs for 75 minutes, presenting music from both series and following the narrative. A great deal of effort went into remastering it, in 1994, and the music is rearranged and compiled into an almost continuous suite. It's far from being simply transcribed from the audio tracks of the original series -- no actors' voices are heard, and nor is the very occasional acoustic music (such as the mournful jazz at one of the Ricordeau banquets): though there are Tripod howls from time to time. The track listing is:

The fold-out booklet carries publicity stills, mainly from the second series.

The REMIX single

• Ken Freeman - The Tripods remix, GERCD 1.1 (1997).

This single runs for a good twenty minutes, as follows...

These are dramatic remixes -- on the soundtrack album, for instance, "Ozymandias" runs for only 54 seconds -- and the arrangements and instrument sounds are entirely changed, with a mixture of new melodic themes and re-introduced variations. (You can just make out the Vineyard music as an upbeat variation in the "Resolution" remix, for instance.)

The REMIX: Limited Edition single

• Ken Freeman - The Tripods remix limited edition, GERCD 1.2 (1997).

Yet further rearranged, especially the extraordinary version of "Eloise", which comes out as a kind of synthesised big-band slow dance number. Comes as a metallic-silver picture disc, using schematic drawings of the BBC Tripods as a base, and with an exquisitely printed silver-grey sleeve, making it much the most handsome of the three discs.

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