The Girl from Tomorrow was a twelve-part Australian science fiction series first broadcast in 1990. It told the story of a 14-year-old time traveller from the year 3000 called Alana, who’s kidnapped by a bandit named Silverthorn and finds herself trapped in the twentieth century.
Written by acclaimed children’s writers, Mark Shirrefs and John Thomson, it was produced by Film Australia and was broadcast around the world. Including on Channel Nine in 1990 and BBC One in 1991.
After a successful first series, the show returned for a second season, called Tomorrow’s End and both iconic series were novelised by the writers and published in the early 90s. These books have been out of print for decades.
35 years after its debut, The Girl from Tomorrow has achieved iconic status and is fondly remembered by its fans, who’ve since shown the series to their children (and in some cases grandchildren).
Idiot Box Books is proud to announce we’ve teamed up with Mark Shirrefs and John Thomson to launch The Tomorrow Trilogy on Kickstarter. A three book boxset featuring a reprint of The Girl from Tomorrow and Tomorrow’s End and, for the first time, a new sequel, set 35 years after the original story called A New Tomorrow.
The project is fully licensed by Screen Australia and will be available from winter / spring 2027.
The bookS wERE successfully funded on kickstarter and ARE now being written. Publication is expected winter/spring 2027. you can preorder your copIES (along with perks) on kickstarter.
The BOOKS
Book 1: The Girl from Tomorrow
In the year 3000, the world’s first time travel experiment goes spectacularly wrong, and a 14-year-old girl called Alana is kidnapped by Silverthorn, a charismatic and ruthless outlaw from the twenty-fifth century.
Abandoned in the year 1990, Alana finds refuge with rebellious teenager Jenny Kelly and her disbelieving family. Surviving in this primitive time is a rollercoaster ride for Alana as she attempts to master its ancient technology and quaint social customs, assisted by her Transducer – a device that gives her miraculous mental powers – and her intelligent wrist computer PJ.
When Silverthorn suddenly reappears, Alana discovers that he is using the Time Capsule to make himself rich. But Silverthorn is fatally ill and needs Alana and her Transducer to heal him. Alana agrees if Silverthorn promises to let her return home.
As Silverthorn’s strength returns and his power grows, Alana realises that he has no intention of letting her go. But Jenny and her brother Petey have not abandoned their friend. It’s a race against time to outwit Silverthorn and retrieve the Time Capsule before Alana is stranded in the past forever.
The Girl from Tomorrow is a sci-fi family adventure based on the award-winning Australian television series first broadcast on Channel Nine in 1990 and on the BBC in 1991.
Book 2: Tomorrow’s END
In the battle at the conclusion of The Girl from Tomorrow, Jenny was fatally injured, and Alana took her and Silverthorn to her home in the thirty-first century. Jenny is healed but then Alana discovers that her time travel adventures have changed history.
Alana returns her visitors to their own times, unaware that Silverthorn has stolen the plans for a Time Gate, a new technology that makes time travel as simple as stepping through a doorway. When Alana attempts to return home, she is confronted by a lifeless planet.
Devastated, Alana flees back to the twentieth century where she and Jenny find that Silverthorn is using the Time Gate to amass power and wealth in the twenty-fifth century, bringing about the Great Disaster which almost destroyed all life on Earth.
When Petey is sucked through the Time Gate, Jenny and Alana embark on a desperate chase through a world controlled by a giant corporation to rescue Petey and try to prevent armageddon.
Tomorrow’s End is the sequel to the iconic sci-fi family adventure, The Girl from Tomorrow based on the Australian television series first broadcast on Channel Nine in 1992 and on the BBC in 1993.
Book 3: a new tomorrow
In the year 3036, humankind has spread into space. The Earth is still recovering from the effects of the Great Disaster when an alien spacecraft is detected attacking the outer system colonies. Attached to the spacecraft is an old Earth space probe, launched in 2026 by a tech billionaire and cult leader attempting to contact friendly aliens. Unfortunately contact was made with an interstellar AI intent on destroying all organic life.
When the Earth seems unable to stop this existential threat, Alana steals the mothballed Time Capsule and travels back to 2026 to stop the billionaire’s space probe from being launched. She seeks out her old friend to help, but it has been over 30 years since Jenny last saw Alana. Jenny is a minor celebrity after a career as a rock drummer and is negotiating a tricky divorce while raising a teenage son called Shane. Embarking on a risky adventure with a guilt-ridden woman from the future she has not seen in decades is not part of her plans.
Despite a difficult start, Alana, Jenny and a reluctant Shane embark on a road trip to the launch site deep in the Australian outback. Alana and Jenny’s friendship is rekindled as they attempt to prevent vital information on the location of planet Earth, and the human genome, from ever falling into alien hands. And when Shane is seduced into the cult and Alana disappears, Jenny is forced to turn to her estranged brother for help.
Will Petey realise his childhood dream to fly a spaceship? Will Alana ever see her daughter Kel again? Will Jenny succumb to the charms of a policeman fanboy? And can two middle aged women save the world?
A New Tomorrow is the very long-awaited sequel to The Girl from Tomorrow novels. Written for adults, but with the same mix of sci-fi thrills, emotional drama and comedy as the originals.
for new readers
For anyone that’s not watched (or read) The Girl from Tomorrow and Tomorrow’s End, they’re sci-fi adventures aimed at children, young adults and families set in the early 1990s, the 2500s and the year 3000. The books explore themes like:
- Time travel
- Friendship
- Climate change
- Foster care
- Divorce
- Corporate greed
- Technology
- Adolescence
- Dystopia
- Armageddon
- Identity and cultural issues
- Nuclear weapons
The new book, A New Tomorrow is set in 2026 and 3036 and will be aimed at a slightly older audience (fans of the original series / books). It will also have a higher word count than the originals. But it’s still accessible to younger fans discovering the series afresh. The new book will explore:
- Space travel
- Alien AI
- Middle aged women rekindling a friendship from their youth while having teenagers of their own
- The dangers of Big Tech
- Dementia
- Guilt
- War
The Authors
Mark Shirrefs and John Thomson are legends of Australian children’s television. They created The Girl from Tomorrow (1990), Tomorrow’s End (1992), Spellbinder (1995) and Spellbinder: Land of the Dragon Lord (1997).
Between them, they’ve also written over 150 episodes of scripted television including shows like Neighbours, Mako Mermaids, Pig’s Breakfast, Don’t Blame the Koalas, The Sleepover Club and The Bureau of Magical Things. Mark and John also have a strong history of writing comedy, including the iconic series Let the Blood Run Free which John directed.
Their work for The Girl from Tomorrow was nominated for a New York Film & TV Festival award, the Golden Cairo Award for Best Film, the International Festival of Film for Children and Youth of Sousse (FIFEJ) and the Houston Film Festival.
For Spellbinder, they were nominated for the Australian Film Institute Awards, the Australian Writers’ Guild and The Logie Awards.
They live in Victoria, Australia and have already published six novels for children and young adults.
“We are delighted to be creating together again and excited to discover what will happen when Alana and Jenny meet again as middle-aged women with the future of the Earth once more facing an existential threat.”
Mark Shirrefs and John Thomson.
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