Though the stays at her parents’ home for over a week after they disappear, Nicky is ultimately left with no choice but to follow the advice of a forlorn old man: leave to find her parents, or die alone in the city. She meets a close-knit community of Sikhs who are on the move themselves, largely because they have found no friendly welcome in this changing world, and they agree to let her travel with them. She befriends two of the younger Sikhs, Gopal and Ajeet. Her pragmatism, however, troubles her new friends – raiding the pantries of abandoned homes does not sit well with their beliefs. And Nicky discovers one other fascinating thing: the madness that has consumed the minds of everyone she has met, the madness that causes them to rage against any and all machines, has not touched the minds of her new friends.
written by Anna Home
based on the novels by Peter Dickinson
directed by John Prowse
music by Paddy Kingsland
Cast: Vicky Williams (Nicky), Bartlett Mullins (Old Man), Marc Zuber (Kewal), Rafiq Anwar (Chacha), Sahab Qizilbash (Grandmother), Rugby Brar (Gopal), Rebecca Mascarenhas (Ajeet), Gopal Bhanot (Sikh Interpreter)
Notes: Rafiq Anwar is the grandfather of Burn Notice star Gabrielle Anwar; he died in 1977, just two years after The Changes was broadcast in England. Many of the scenes in this episode were filmed in an unfinished (and therefore conveniently empty) roadway in Bristol.
LogBook entry by Earl Green
