| Alt Name: | Towards 2000 (1981–1984) Beyond 2000 (1985–1995, 1999) |
| Camera: | Single-camera (1981–1993) Multi-camera (1993–2006) |
| Runtime: | Approx 42 minutes |
| Creator: |
|
| Executive Producer: | Lloyd Capps – creator Towards 2000 (1981–84) Beyond 2000 Peter Abbott (1985–1993) John Hosking (1993–1996) David Alrich (2005–2006) |
| Starring: | Beyond 2000
Beyond Tomorrow |
| Composer: | Neil Sutherland |
| Country: | Australia |
| Language: | English |
| Network: | ABC (1981–1983) Seven Network (1984–1993) Network Ten (1993–1995, 1999) |
| Num Episodes: | Beyond 2000: 475 Beyond Tomorrow: 50 |
Beyond Tomorrow is an Australian television series produced by Beyond Television Productions. It began airing in 1981 as Towards 2000, then in 1985 was renamed Beyond 2000, a name the show kept until its cancellation in 1999. It then started airing again in 2005 with the name Beyond Tomorrow.[1]
Towards 2000 debuted on the ABC in 1981 as a half-hour show dedicated to showcasing developments and inventions in science and technology. Original presenters were Jeffrey Watson, Sonia Humphrey and David Flatman. There were four series of the program (1981, 82, 83 and 84) and it was a popular and high rating success on the national broadcaster. After production finished on the 4th series, the ABC decided not to continue with Towards 2000, and instead started up a new science program, named Quantum, under the newly appointed Dick Gilling from BBCTV.
The Towards 2000 reporters then spoke with Ted Thomas, General Manager of ATN 7, who agreed that his network could start a new hour long production and name it Beyond 2000, airing until 1993 when it was picked up by Network Ten, airing until 1999. Beyond 2000 was also broadcast internationally, airing on the Discovery Channel in the United States and Canada, on RTÉ in the Republic of Ireland, and on the satellite channel Sky News in Europe and on TV One in New Zealand. An American-produced version of the show also aired on the Discovery Channel in 1992, with an American presenter (Henry Tenenbaum, presently an anchor/reporter for television station KRON San Francisco) used for the studio segments. An American version entitled Beyond Tomorrow was hosted by newsman Dave Marash and aired in the early years of the Fox television network.
Fourteen series of Towards/Beyond 2000 were produced, with the last being made in 1999 as a one-off, after a production break of about four years. At this point, the rising cost of producing the series, coupled with increased competition from other science and technology shows forced the cancellation of the show.
A Beyond 2000 website was published by the same company between 1999 and 2003. This provided science and technology news, as well as video clips from the old TV shows. The website was eliminated in a round of company-wide budget cuts that reflected a general downturn in the Australian media industry at the time.
In 2005, Beyond 2000 returned to the Seven Network under the new name of Beyond Tomorrow, with the first episode airing on 1 June 2005. Picking up where its predecessor left off, Beyond Tomorrow delved even deeper into the world of technological innovations and scientific breakthroughs in all areas of life including the environment, medicine, sport, computers, space, agriculture, transport, architecture, leisure and adventure. Topics ranged from how probes planted in the brain could be used to battle Parkinson's disease and obsessive compulsive disorder, to how the grumpiness of North Sea oil workers had led to a cure being found for snoring.
Segments from MythBusters, another Beyond Television production, also aired as part of the program, which was criticised by Australian viewers because Beyond Productions had also sold Mythbusters to SBS. Both shows aired at almost at the same time, with the Beyond Tomorrow version redubbing the American narrator with an Australian narrator in Beyond 2000 by calling them "Beyond Tomorrow's Mythbusters", leaving some viewers feeling the company was insulting their intelligence by doing this double dip into the Australian market. The series had also been criticised by some fans of the earlier Beyond 2000 for featuring "futuristic" technologies that were obsolete or have been in common use for several years at the time. The theme music was also criticised for not being on par with Beyond 2000s, with some calling it lazy, generic and bland.
Beyond Tomorrow also aired in the US on The Science Channel and on Discovery Channel Canada. Production of the show ended in 2006 after 50 episodes, however reruns still continue to air on The Science Channel.