ARTHUR C CLARKE'S WORLD OF STRANGE POWERS (1985)

Back in 1980 everybody's favourite "inventor of the communications satellite" Arthur C Clarke bought us his "Mysterious World" - a thirteen part series that investigated paranormal phenomena. The show was a hit, so in 1985 Yorkshire Television commissioned a follow up series - Arthur C Clarke's World Of Strange Powers.

Outwardly the format was pretty much more of the same - the familiar theme tune was there (albeit with a slightly updated title sequence, still featuring that iconic chrystal skull), Arthur was still ensconced in Sri Lanka and the voiceover (this time voiced by female newsreader Anna Ford) still told us about Arthur's communication satellite credentials (only this time he was credited as being the author of 2010, presumably this sequel to 2001 had recently been published around the time of transmission), and the show still deals with assorted Fortean phenomena. However the similarities end there.

Firstly there's Arthur C Clarke himself - he seems a lot more relaxed with the show this time round, he's less cynical and seems more engaged with the subject matter. Maybe the producers told him to dial it down a bit, maybe he realised that he's onto a lucrative little retirement gig by doing these shows (those Shi Lanken rent boys don't pay for themselves you know), or maybe it's because the topics chosen this time round are a lot more interesting, creepy and just plain out there...

That's really the main gain with this series - there's no filler. Mysterious World had episodes that repeated themselves, it felt like it wasn't covering the topics that where REALLY interesting (where the hell was the episode on ghosts for instance ?). World Of Strange Powers on the other hand feels a lot more complete (we get a ghost episode for starters) and as a result feels a lot more enthralling and relevant.

So, let's take a look at those episodes shall we ?...

EPISODE 1 - WARNINGS FROM THE FUTURE

Premonitions, visions of the future and people who have saved the lives of themselves (and others) by being able to foresee horrific disasters.

A strong opener with some genuinely compelling stories (the most tragic being a little girl who had a dream about the Aberfan school disaster and nobody listened to her, the poor girl was later killed in the very same disaster that she had dreamt about, when a slag heap of coal crashed down onto a village school and killed many children and teachers who where crushed to death under tons and tons of fossil fuel). A genuinely creepy start to the series.

EPISODE 2 - THINGS THAT GO BUMP IN THE NIGHT.

In a word... POLTERGEISTS. Yes, this is one of those "by popular demand" episodes that really should have ran in the original series but for some reason didn't.

Loads of interesting cases covered this time round and it contains a moment that has stuck with me ever since - namely some footage of a set of chandelier lights swinging about of thier own accord. This image gave me the shits as a kid, and judging by the way it was the topic of playground conversation the following day I clearly wasn't alone. Classic stuff.

EPISODE 3 - FROM MIND TO MIND

ESP (Extra Sensory Perception) was a big deal in the paranormal field in the 70's/80's. Any 'Unexplained' type book or TV show worth it's salt would always, without exception, have a chapter/episode on the topic of psychic powers and telepathy. Here is this show's obligatory offering. It's not a bad episode but far more interesting stuff is yet to come.

EPISODE 4 - STIGMATA - THE WOUNDS OF CHRIST

Stigmata has always been something that I find extremely creepy - it's not the fact that people randomly manifest the wounds of Christ seemingly out of nowhere that bothers me, it's more the fact that the very existence of this phenomenon means that it's entirely possible to come to the conclusion that what it says in the bible could (at a push) be true. The very concept of a God that judges EVERY SINGLE ACTION IN MY ENTIRE LIFE and then decides whether or not he's going to spend eternity torturing me based on those actions utterly terrifies me on an existential level. Plus Christian iconography is extremely unnerving full stop, so yeah, me and this episode are off on a bad footing from the start.

But, but, BUT this episode actually ends up being quite reassuring in its way, mainly because good old Arthur C Clarke himself has a theory about Stigmata that I've always thought has been a potential non religious explanation for the bleeding (it's also an explanation I've come up with myself when thinking about this topic - mainly to stop me having an extreme anxiety attack about some unsympathetic superior being wanting to boil my arse in Hell for not worshipping him).

Clarke's explanation is this - mind over matter. Human being's brains have untapped potential and mind over matter is definitely a thing. Arthur posits that a religious person's faith can be so strong that it can mentally cause these wounds to appear. So nothing scarily religious at all, just the untapped potential of the human mind. I find that a lot nicer to believe in. Thanks Arthur.

Oh, and to anyone who doesn't think Stigmata is as creepy as Jimmy Saville working as a lollipop man, I'll just leave this little picture here for you to take a look at...

You're welcome...try not to have any nightmares...

EPISODE 5 - GHOSTS, APPARITIONS AND HAUNTED HOUSES

This is it ! The motherload ! The number one "why wasn't this in the first season ?" episode - the ghost episode...and it doesn't disappoint.

All types of hauntings are covered - but best of all it's not your standard "historical figure haunting a historical castle or stately home" type of ghosts, instead we get (then) contemporary ghost stories - real life hauntings happening to everyday people.

We get a haunted council house, a haunted cemetery and (best of all) road ghosts/phantom hitchhikers. Arthur is wearing his skeptic hat this week but you'd expect him to really. This is a great episode.

EPISODE 6 - FAIRIES, PHANTOMS AND FANTASTIC PHOTOGRAPHS

This episode covers weird photography. For most of its runtime it covers the case of the Cottingley Fairies, when two little girls in the early 1900's managed to fool Sir Arthur Conan Doyle into thinking they'd photographed actual fairies. 

Even with the primitive photography techniques of the time it's blatantly obvious that these are just drawings held up by pins. Quite how a learned man like Doyle was fooled by this is anyone's guess - he must have felt a right twat.

Perhaps the highlight is a bloke who claims to be able to practice "Thoughtography" - a process whereby he can transfer images from his mind onto photographic paper. He apparently had a lot of success with this in the 60's and 70's but in later years his powers have apparently faded. To see a washed up looking psychic staring intently at a piece of Kodak paper, pulling a face that looks like he's straining to do the biggest shit in the history of mankind only for ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to happen is both hilarious and sad at the same time. Arthur certainly doesn't look impressed.

We also some get some typically eccentric Professor types debunking famous ghost photos - I don't care what they say, the "ghost sat in the back of a car" photo is still as creepy as hell...

EPISODE 7 - HAVE WE LIVED BEFORE ?

Stories of reincarnation and the techniques used to mentally revert people to their past lives under hypnosis.

We actually get to see one bloke being put under and regressing to the memories of his past self. Another interesting episode - I've always liked the idea of reincarnation because it would be a bit like being Doctor Who (I.e. - having different bodies and being different people but remaining essentially the same at your core being), unfortunately you wouldn't get a TARDIS to fly about in though, so that's a downer...

EPISODE 8 - AN ELEMENT OF THE DIVINE

This episode deals with the art of dowsing (I.e. - using sticks to detect underground water), apart from some comedy redneck Texans dowsing for oil, this episode is a bit of a disappointment. Thirty minutes of watching people walking around a field with bent coat hangers in thier hands is not my idea of entertainment. A bit of a misfire this one...

EPISODE 9 - WALKING ON FIRE

From the uninspiring to one of the more entertaining episodes.

This episode deals with fire walkers and attempts to discover just how a person can walk over flaming hot coals without burning the soles of their feet off.

The most amusing aspect of this episode is the group of 80's American yuppies who have formed a club to teach themselves mind over matter techniques to enable them to firewalk. This basically involves them chanting "cool, wet grass...cool, wet grass" repeatedly before legging it over the boiling hot coals. Was it wrong of me to be sat with bated breath hoping one these smug arseholes was going to come a cropper and end up scorching the soles of his feet off ? Probably, but who cares...

Arthur himself even has a go, and in a rare moment of humility admits that he's absolutely shitting himself. All goes well though, Arthur firewalks successfully and this serves to reinforce his "mind over matter" theory that he also used in the Stigmata chapter. An absolute banger of an episode.

EPISODE 10 - MESSAGE FROM THE DEAD ?

Another "ghostly" episode (they're certainly making up for the lack of spectres in the original show), this time dealing with mediums who claim to be able to channel the spirits of deceased artists and composers (Q - what do you call a dead composer? A - A de-composer... sorry...) to produce all new works of art from beyond the grave.

Another interesting episode which makes a strong case for this being (potentially) genuine.

EPISODE 11 - ROOTS OF EVIL

Curses, Hexes, Witch bottles and voodoo all rear thier ugly heads in this episode, which asks the question can somebody literally be cursed to death ?

Some suitably spine chilling cases in this episode. Yep - it's another winner.

EPISODE 12 - METAL BENDING, MAGIC AND MIND OVER MATTER.

Uri Geller - he was one of THE faces of the late 70's/early 80's when I was growing up - this weird psychic bloke who looked like a 70's menswear catalogue model used to frequently crop up on chat shows in the UK doing his signature act of bending spoons, keys and other assorted metal implements with the power of his mind.

Very soon, school kids the world over where nicking thier mum's best kitchen silverware and sitting there for hours on end rubbing the knives, forks and (usually) spoons between thier fingers whilst chanting "bend, bend, bend" just like their TV hero was doing (there where no mobile phones or games consoles back then, so kids had to make their own entertainment). Unsurprisingly this usually met with a  success rate of a big fat zero.

This episode mainly deals with Geller and his ilk. Once again it chimes in with Arthur C Clarke's mind over matter theory. He even regales us with the amusing anecdote about the time he let Uri Geller bend his front door key and then realised what he'd done and got really pissed off when he got home and realised he didn't have a spare key and was thus locked out of his house for the night. Which is a bit like letting Gary Glitter babysit for you and then wondering years later why your kids hate you.

Anyway, another decent episode and once again it's nice to see Arthur getting a bit more onboard with the subject matter rather than just sneering at it like he did in Mysterious World.

EPISODE 13 - STRANGE POWERS - THE VERDICT.

For the final episode we get a bit of a break from the usual format, which is quite refreshing, it's also one of the most entertaining installments (although not always in the way it was intended to be)

We get an increased presence from Arthur himself in this episode - it begins with him walking around various Sri Lankan street bazaars and interviewing several street performers about the tricks they employ to ply their trade...well, I say "interview" in the loosest possible interpretation of the phrase, because Arthur C Clarke's interview method basically involves him SPEAKING. TO. THE. JOHNNY. FOREIGNERS. VERY. SLOWLY. LOUDLY. AND. CLEARLY. IN. ENGLISH !!!

It's hilarious to watch even though he comes over as incredibly patronising towards the people he's talking to.

The point of all this "Englishman abroad" shenanigans is basically so that Arthur can illustrate to us that things aren't always necessarily what they first appear to be.

Arthur then goes on to basically review all the previous episodes and tell you whether he thinks they're discussing genuine supernatural phenomena or not. It's an interesting way to tie up the series, it gives the man himself a chance to shine and have his say and some of his choices and conclusions may surprise you.

With that the series came to an end. Out of the two 80's Arthur C Clarke mystery shows I think World of Strange Powers is by far the best. 

Whilst Mysterious World was solid enough, it did have the tendency to have episodes that felt like blatant filler, where this series is MUCH more satisfying (and interesting) on the whole. The only episode I didn't enjoy was the one about dowsing, and that's only due to my own personal preference and the fact I don't find that particular piece of subject matter that interesting - but to be fair even this episode covers the topic in a nice deal of depth and some people probably did enjoy it.

Clarke himself does have a few grumpy moments (not to mention a few "of thier time" unintentionally comedic moments) but he comes over as a lot more engaged and interested in this series, which is nice to see.

Couple that with some nicely creepy moments that featured some formative childhood memories of mine and World Of Strange Powers ramps up to be a very satisfying piece of Fortean telly.

There was a third (and final) series - Arthur C Clarke's Mysterious Universe - but that didn't shuffle along until the mid 90's. I'm currently watching that show, so when I've ploughed through that we'll probably meet up again to talk about Mr C Clarke and his assorted mysteries...

ART - 

Below are the covers to the tie-in hardback book and the DVD box set.