The New Tomorrow
Encyclopedia
The New Tomorrow is a New Zealand
-based television series
produced by Cloud 9 and is a sequel to the cult television
series The Tribe. The show was created by Raymond Thompson
and premiered on 17 September 2005 on the Seven Network
in Australia
.
The events of The New Tomorrow follow the final episode of series five of The Tribe but specific details of this link are yet to be revealed. It is unclear how much time has passed since The Tribe ended or what connections exist between the two shows.
, the entire adult population has been wiped out leaving their children to survive alone. Most of the children have formed tribes, each with their own distinct makeup and clothes. Each of these tribes follow different philosophies
which invariably lead to conflict.
While The Tribe focused mainly on the children surviving in the city
, The New Tomorrow focuses on those in the countryside
and the forest
, and in particular on three tribes, The Ants, The Barbs and The Privileged.
Despite Cloud 9's reputation for casting the same actors in all of their shows, no actors from The Tribe were cast. Some did worked behind the scenes on the series, namely Caleb Ross (The Tribe' s Lex) working on the sound foley and Vanessa Stacey (The Tribe' s Alice) who was the vocal coach to the young actors of The New Tomorrow. The only characters not to appear in the season finale were Jag (of the Barbs) and Shadow, had the series continued, it is thought they would have returned.
The target audience for The New Tomorrow is 8 to 12 year old whereas The Tribe was aimed at a slightly older teenage audience. However, the majority of the fan base are people who grew up watching The Tribe.
The series was mainly brought to producers Harry Duffin and Raymond Thomson's minds because the main sponsor of the original The Tribe series, Channel 5, had dropped out. The hope had been that The New Tomorrow may cause Channel 5 to reconsider.
An outsider named Sky finds his way into the Barb tribe; he doesn't know where he came from, and his memory is messed up. He quickly makes friends there. An Ant whose name is Dan meets the Barb tribe, and decides he wants to be Barb, and not an Ant. Later, the Privs attack the Barb tribe, but Flame is defeated by Sky, and runs away.
During this time, Flame has also let one of the Discarded (the Privileged's slaves) become a Priv. Her name is Gwyn.
Following the attack, the Barbs and the Ants decide they must work together; they join forces, and decide, to avoid argument, that Sky must lead the tribes that are now working together. They make their base in the Ant tribe, and despite a few arguments, are willing to try to get along.
Flame sends Gwyn out as a spy to the tribes. She pretends to be an escaped Discard; she meets Dan, who is actually her brother. Despite her brother being there, she stays loyal to Flame and gives him crucial information. When she is going back to Privs (the Ants and Barbs don't know she's a spy yet) she asks Dan to come with her. He says no, and she goes back on a her own.
With the new information, Flame kidnaps Faygar and Sky when they are out on a patrol. The Ants and Barbs are devastated about this, and Zora takes lead of the tribes.
Shadow and Harmony both are starting to get sick of Flame's selfishness, and they begin to scheme against him. Eventually, Flame and the Ant/Barbs decide a way to settle their differences: a game of passball (which is similar to the game Rugby
). The Privs narrowly lose, and Harmony overthrows Flame, and Flame is taken by the Ant/Barbs and is kept prisoner. Although Harmony promised they would work together, she betrays Shadow and Discards him.
Faygar and Sky escape from the Discards: so does Shadow, and we don't see him again for the rest of the series (fans think he met with the 'Bird' tribe, see below). The tribes are overjoyed with the return of Faygar and Sky. Faygar and Zora have a few arguments, but then decide to share leadership of the tribe. Flame is set free, although he must work like the rest of the Ants and Barbs. Sky and Dan, out on a patrol, find a strange young boy, but it seems he can't speak. They take him back to the tribe and let him do what he wants.
Harmony needs a personal assistant. She chooses Gwyn. Although it seems like Gwyn is Harmony's slave at first, they soon become good friends. Very close, in fact. A mysterious Bird tribe comes and meets the Privs. It seems they want to trade. Harmony tells them they will meet with Zora and Faygar to discuss trading.
Eventually, they do meet at a meeting. Harmony realises the tribes have more in common than they thought, and it's as if they suddenly become friends. Except for the rude Bird tribe, who soon leave. Harmony also realises that friends are more important than power, and hands the throne back to Flame, who has also changed, and decides to free the Discards. The Privs say they hope they get to have more nights like this. Gwyn thinks about staying with her brother, but decides to stay with Privs, knowing that they'll get to see each other again soon.
After the meeting, the Birds come back to the Ant camp. It turns out the stranger who came to their tribe was their leader's brother. The Bird tribe came to take the boy back. Sky asks why he doesn't talk, and the leader says, "He only talks about things he likes." (The boy only had two lines in the show "Only the Prototype" and "BROTHER!". This means he likes his brother, and the machines). The 4 tribes now seem unified. The Birds leave, and the cast members of the Ant and Barb tribes stand around in a circle and Faygar says, "I'm sure we'll have many more adventures to come." They put their hands together and say "Yay!" and the credits end.
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
-based television series
Television program
A television program , also called television show, is a segment of content which is intended to be broadcast on television. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series...
produced by Cloud 9 and is a sequel to the cult television
Cult following
A cult following is a group of fans who are highly dedicated to a specific area of pop culture. A film, book, band, or video game, among other things, will be said to have a cult following when it has a small but very passionate fan base...
series The Tribe. The show was created by Raymond Thompson
Raymond Thompson
Raymond Thompson is a screenwriter, composer and producer.Thompson was born in Redditch, Worcestershire and grew up in Ontario, after his parents emigrated to Canada. He studied Drama at York University and embarked upon a successful career in the music industry as both a songwriter and musician...
and premiered on 17 September 2005 on the Seven Network
Seven Network
The Seven Network is an Australian television network owned by Seven West Media Limited. It dates back to 4 November 1956, when the first stations on the VHF7 frequency were established in Melbourne and Sydney.It is currently the second largest network in the country in terms of population reach...
in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
.
The events of The New Tomorrow follow the final episode of series five of The Tribe but specific details of this link are yet to be revealed. It is unclear how much time has passed since The Tribe ended or what connections exist between the two shows.
Plot summary
Following the outbreak of a virusVirus
A virus is a small infectious agent that can replicate only inside the living cells of organisms. Viruses infect all types of organisms, from animals and plants to bacteria and archaea...
, the entire adult population has been wiped out leaving their children to survive alone. Most of the children have formed tribes, each with their own distinct makeup and clothes. Each of these tribes follow different philosophies
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
which invariably lead to conflict.
While The Tribe focused mainly on the children surviving in the city
City
A city is a relatively large and permanent settlement. Although there is no agreement on how a city is distinguished from a town within general English language meanings, many cities have a particular administrative, legal, or historical status based on local law.For example, in the U.S...
, The New Tomorrow focuses on those in the countryside
Rural
Rural areas or the country or countryside are areas that are not urbanized, though when large areas are described, country towns and smaller cities will be included. They have a low population density, and typically much of the land is devoted to agriculture...
and the forest
Forest
A forest, also referred to as a wood or the woods, is an area with a high density of trees. As with cities, depending where you are in the world, what is considered a forest may vary significantly in size and have various classification according to how and what of the forest is composed...
, and in particular on three tribes, The Ants, The Barbs and The Privileged.
The tribes
There are three main tribes in The New Tomorrow. These are The Privileged, The Ants, and The Barbs.The Privileged
The Privileged feel they are superior to other tribes and aim for perfection in both their looks and their actions. They live in the tunnels and rooms underneath an old water dam and are led by Flame. The Privileged have a group of soldiers, called The Warps, who are a strong and courageous people and a group of slaves referred to as The Discards who work in the mines and plantations run by The Privileged, or if they are unlucky they work as The Privilegeds personal servants. Movement between these groups is supposed to be determined by all The Privileged, however Flame takes it upon himself to choose many of those who are forced to change groups, even going so far as to 'discard' fellow members of The Privileged at the drop of a hat. The Privs do not have a distinct marking of sorts, rather their clothes are a lot grander than those of The Ants and the Barbs. The Discards are marked by a honeycomb pattern across the centre of their forehead and black clothing.The Ants
The Ants are a tribe of farmers which appears to consist of the more timid survivors who were in need of someone to lead them and give them a purpose. This role has been left to High Priestess Faygar, who leads the group and has given them a belief system worshipping their ancestors. They pray to Bray (who represents good) and ask for his guidance, while Bray's brother Zoot has become the 'evil' in their mythology and the bringer of all their problems. The Ants look to the day when 'The Ancestor' will return. The Ants are easily distinguished by their markings, which consist of a black mark underneath their eyes and a line with three smaller lines in the centre of their forehead.The Barbs
The Barbs are a primitive tribe who live in the forest and are protective of their lands and take only what they need to survive in order to conserve the environment. The warrior Zora leads them in their worshipping of the Sun, Moon and rain. They are good trackers and can move about the forest unseen by others. In the centre of the forest is their primitive settlement of wooden huts and camp fires. The group are easily identifiable by the markings on their heads, which consist of a five-pointed fan in the centre of their forehead and a coloured mask of sorts around their eyes. (Leanne is the only one seen without this coloured mask)The Birds
The Birds first appeared in episode 24 of The New Tomorrow. They are led by Lord Attil. A messenger of Lord Attil's, Sunni, arrives at The Privileged camp in the same episode. We later find out that Sunni is Lord Attil's brother. Sunni tells Harmony that his tribe has many enemies, because if a tribe refuses to trade with them, they simply take what they want.Characters
| Character | Actor | Tribe | Seasons |
| Cass | Paige Shand-Haami Paige Shand-Haami Paige Shand-Haami is a film and television actress.-Career:She appeared as Cass in the television series The New Tomorrow , a sequel to The Tribe television series. She has also appeared in two films.-External links:... |
The Ants | 1 |
| Dan | Rafe Custance Rafe Custance Rafe Custance is a New Zealand actor. He is famous for starring in the New Zealand children's drama The New Tomorrow, alongside his sister Lara Custance. His character, Dan, was a bit of a rebel and wanted to leave The Ants and join The Barbs. Rafe Has also starred in The Killian Curse where he... |
The Ants | 1 |
| Erin | Arthur Caughley | The Barbs | 1 |
| Faygar | Zoe Robins | The Ants | 1 |
| Flame | Cameron Wakefield Cameron Wakefield Cameron Wakefield is a child actor born on 7 June 1993 in Wellington, New Zealand. He is best known for his roles as Scott Hoager in the 2007 movie, Bridge to Terabithia, and Flame in The Tribe 'sister' series The New Tomorrow . He also featured as Jack in The Killian Curse. Cameron Wakefield is... |
The Privileged | 1 |
| Gwyn | Henrietta Steventon | The Discards and The Privileged |
1 |
| Harmony | Lara Custance Lara Custance Lara Custance is a New Zealand actress currently acting as Abi in the TV series Paradice Cafe, She is best known for her role as Harmony in The Tribe 'sister' series The New Tomorrow in which she acted alongside her brother Rafe Custance... |
The Privileged | 1 |
| Jag | Joshua Rippon | The Barbs | 1 |
| Kwarli | Thomas Steventon | The Barbs | 1 |
| Leanne | Katie Alexander | The Barbs | 1 |
| Omar | Norman Brown The Third Son of Norman Brown the Second | The Ants | 1 |
| Sal | Abbey-May Wakefield | The Ants | 1 |
| Shadow | James Shaw | The Warps | 1 |
| Sky | Nick Fenton | None | 1 |
| Zora | Felicity Milovanovich | The Barbs | 1 |
Despite Cloud 9's reputation for casting the same actors in all of their shows, no actors from The Tribe were cast. Some did worked behind the scenes on the series, namely Caleb Ross (The Tribe
Broadcasters
- AustraliaAustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
- Seven NetworkSeven NetworkThe Seven Network is an Australian television network owned by Seven West Media Limited. It dates back to 4 November 1956, when the first stations on the VHF7 frequency were established in Melbourne and Sydney.It is currently the second largest network in the country in terms of population reach...
, premiered 17 September 2005 - United KingdomUnited KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
- Five, premiered 2 October 2005
The target audience for The New Tomorrow is 8 to 12 year old whereas The Tribe was aimed at a slightly older teenage audience. However, the majority of the fan base are people who grew up watching The Tribe.
The series was mainly brought to producers Harry Duffin and Raymond Thomson's minds because the main sponsor of the original The Tribe series, Channel 5, had dropped out. The hope had been that The New Tomorrow may cause Channel 5 to reconsider.
Links to The Tribe
It is still unclear as to how this show relates to The Tribe however there are several links which have been clearly established:- The Ants worship Bray as the Ancestor who will return and save them all.
- The Ants believe that Zoot is an evil force who will come to tempt them.
- None of the characters in The New Tomorrow are over the age of 13 which has led to the suggestion that they may have been within the vicinity of the virus released by Ram's AI however this remains only speculation, with no supporting evidence provided in the series.
- The Ants have photographs of the Mall from The Tribe which they believe to be a spiritual place. Sky, it would appear, knows of the Mall.
- There has been much speculation that Sky and maybe some of the other characters in The New Tomorrow may in fact be the children of Characters from The Tribe.
- Characters Flame, Shadow, Harmony and Omar were written into the first two scripts of The Tribe series 6. These were featured as Bonus Items on the The Tribe: Series 5 DVD.
- When Sky discovers the cave; he mentions that he sees "a boat drawing away and then a door" This could reflect The Tribe series 5 ending, where the Mall Rats escape from the city by boat.
- In the cave there is a picture of two babies. These are Bray (Amber and Bray's baby) and Brady (Trudy and Zoot's baby)
Plot synopsis
The first few episodes deal with establishing the characters and setting. The two rivaling tribes of the forest; the warrior Barbs, led by the headstrong Zora, and the farmer Ants, led by the religious and peaceful Faygar, both live in fear of two things: the machines, and the Privileged, a power-hungry tribe led by the equally power-hungry Flame, who is assisted by his advisor Harmony, and warrior leader Shadow.An outsider named Sky finds his way into the Barb tribe; he doesn't know where he came from, and his memory is messed up. He quickly makes friends there. An Ant whose name is Dan meets the Barb tribe, and decides he wants to be Barb, and not an Ant. Later, the Privs attack the Barb tribe, but Flame is defeated by Sky, and runs away.
During this time, Flame has also let one of the Discarded (the Privileged's slaves) become a Priv. Her name is Gwyn.
Following the attack, the Barbs and the Ants decide they must work together; they join forces, and decide, to avoid argument, that Sky must lead the tribes that are now working together. They make their base in the Ant tribe, and despite a few arguments, are willing to try to get along.
Flame sends Gwyn out as a spy to the tribes. She pretends to be an escaped Discard; she meets Dan, who is actually her brother. Despite her brother being there, she stays loyal to Flame and gives him crucial information. When she is going back to Privs (the Ants and Barbs don't know she's a spy yet) she asks Dan to come with her. He says no, and she goes back on a her own.
With the new information, Flame kidnaps Faygar and Sky when they are out on a patrol. The Ants and Barbs are devastated about this, and Zora takes lead of the tribes.
Shadow and Harmony both are starting to get sick of Flame's selfishness, and they begin to scheme against him. Eventually, Flame and the Ant/Barbs decide a way to settle their differences: a game of passball (which is similar to the game Rugby
Rugby football
Rugby football is a style of football named after Rugby School in the United Kingdom. It is seen most prominently in two current sports, rugby league and rugby union.-History:...
). The Privs narrowly lose, and Harmony overthrows Flame, and Flame is taken by the Ant/Barbs and is kept prisoner. Although Harmony promised they would work together, she betrays Shadow and Discards him.
Faygar and Sky escape from the Discards: so does Shadow, and we don't see him again for the rest of the series (fans think he met with the 'Bird' tribe, see below). The tribes are overjoyed with the return of Faygar and Sky. Faygar and Zora have a few arguments, but then decide to share leadership of the tribe. Flame is set free, although he must work like the rest of the Ants and Barbs. Sky and Dan, out on a patrol, find a strange young boy, but it seems he can't speak. They take him back to the tribe and let him do what he wants.
Harmony needs a personal assistant. She chooses Gwyn. Although it seems like Gwyn is Harmony's slave at first, they soon become good friends. Very close, in fact. A mysterious Bird tribe comes and meets the Privs. It seems they want to trade. Harmony tells them they will meet with Zora and Faygar to discuss trading.
Eventually, they do meet at a meeting. Harmony realises the tribes have more in common than they thought, and it's as if they suddenly become friends. Except for the rude Bird tribe, who soon leave. Harmony also realises that friends are more important than power, and hands the throne back to Flame, who has also changed, and decides to free the Discards. The Privs say they hope they get to have more nights like this. Gwyn thinks about staying with her brother, but decides to stay with Privs, knowing that they'll get to see each other again soon.
After the meeting, the Birds come back to the Ant camp. It turns out the stranger who came to their tribe was their leader's brother. The Bird tribe came to take the boy back. Sky asks why he doesn't talk, and the leader says, "He only talks about things he likes." (The boy only had two lines in the show "Only the Prototype" and "BROTHER!". This means he likes his brother, and the machines). The 4 tribes now seem unified. The Birds leave, and the cast members of the Ant and Barb tribes stand around in a circle and Faygar says, "I'm sure we'll have many more adventures to come." They put their hands together and say "Yay!" and the credits end.