''Beyond Tomorrow'' is an Australian science and technology television series produced by

Beyond Television Productions Beyond International Limited is an international television and film production company with operations in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia and the United States. The company is involved in the creation and international distribution of t ...

. 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''.

''Towards 2000'' and ''Beyond 2000''

''Towards 2000'' debuted on the

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

in 1981 as a half-hour show dedicated to showcasing developments and inventions in science and technology. Original presenters were Jeffrey Watson,

Sonia Humphrey Sonia Denise Humphrey (10 November 1947 – 1 January 2011) was an Australian television presenter, newsreader and journalist. Humphrey was a talented ballerina as a child and studied television production before working as an archaeologist for ...

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 In physics, a quantum (: quanta) is the minimum amount of any physical entity (physical property) involved in an interaction. The fundamental notion that a property can be "quantized" is referred to as "the hypothesis of quantization". This me ...

, 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 Network 10 (commonly known as the 10 Network, Channel 10 or simply 10) is an Australian commercial television network. It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Paramount Global's Paramount Networks UK & Australia, UK & Australia division and is o ...

, airing until 1999. ''Beyond 2000'' was also broadcast internationally, airing on the

Discovery Channel Discovery Channel, known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery, is an American cable channel that is best known for its ongoing reality television shows and promotion of pseudoscience. It init ...

in the United States and Canada, on

RTÉ (; ; RTÉThe É in RTÉ is pronounced as an English E () and not an Irish É ()) is an Irish public service broadcaster. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on television, radio and online. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, ...

in the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...

, and on the satellite channel

Sky News Sky News is a British free-to-air television news channel, live stream news network and news organisation. Sky News is distributed via an English-language radio news service, and through online channels. It is owned by Sky Group, a division of ...

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

and on

TVNZ Television New Zealand (, "Te Reo Tātaki" meaning "The Leading Voice"), more commonly referred to as TVNZ, is a New Zealand state-owned media company and Crown entity. The company operates a television network, streaming service, and news se ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. 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 KRON-TV (channel 4) is a television station licensed to San Francisco, California, United States, serving as the San Francisco Bay Area's outlet for The CW. Owned and operated by The CW's majority owner, Nexstar Media Group, KRON-TV has studios ...

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

) used for the studio segments. An American version entitled ''Beyond Tomorrow'' was hosted by newsman

Dave Marash Dave Marash (born c. 1942) is an American television journalist known for his work at ABC News and Al Jazeera English. Life and career Marash was born to a Jewish family, his father having been a director of a Jewish Community Center in Richmond, ...

and aired in the early years of the

Fox Foxes are small-to-medium-sized omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull; upright, triangular ears; a pointed, slightly upturned snout; and a long, bushy tail ("brush"). Twelve species ...

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.

Presenters

* Iain Finlay * Jeff Watson * David Flatman * Carmel Travers * Chris Ardill-Guinness * Simon Reeve *

Amanda Keller Amanda Rose Keller (born 25 February 1962) is an Australian television and radio presenter, comedian, writer, actress, journalist and media personality, best known as the hostess of the popular Australian lifestyle program ''The Living Room''. ...

* Andrew Carroll * Maxine Gray * Anthony Griffis * Dr Caroline West * Dr John D'Arcy * Simon Nasht * Sharon Nash * Bryan Smith *

Tracey Curro Tracey Ilana Curro (born 27 November 1963) is an Australian journalist. Curro has previously been a news presenter on GMV-6, QTQ-9 and ATV-10 and a reporter on the Seven Network's ''Beyond 2000'', a science-technology show, and correspondent o ...

* Andrew Waterworth * American versions were presented by Henry Tenenbaum,

and Susan Hunt.

''Beyond Tomorrow''

In 2005, ''Beyond 2000'' returned to the

Seven Network Seven Network (stylised 7Network, and commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is an Australian commercial free-to-air Television broadcasting in Australia, television network. It is owned by Seven West Media, Seven West Media Limited, ...

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 Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a neurodegenerative disease primarily of the central nervous system, affecting both motor system, motor and non-motor systems. Symptoms typically develop gradually and non-motor issues become ...

and

obsessive compulsive disorder Obsession may refer to: Psychology * Celebrity worship syndrome, obsessive addictive disorder to a celebrity's personal and professional life * Obsession (psychology), a persistent attachment to an object or idea * Fixation (psychology), persi ...

, to how the grumpiness of

North Sea oil North Sea oil is a mixture of hydrocarbons, comprising liquid petroleum and natural gas, produced from petroleum reservoirs beneath the North Sea. In the petroleum industry, the term "North Sea" often includes areas such as the Norwegian ...

workers had led to a cure being found for

snoring Snoring is an abnormal breath sound caused by partially obstructed, turbulent airflow and vibration of tissues in the upper respiratory tract (e.g., uvula, soft palate, base of tongue) which occurs during sleep. It usually happens during in ...

. Segments from ''

MythBusters ''MythBusters'' is a science entertainment television series created by Peter Rees (producer), Peter Rees and produced by Beyond International in Australia. The series premiered on the Discovery Channel on January 23, 2003. It was broadcast in ...

'', 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 host Matt Shirvington 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 Science Channel (often simply branded as Science; abbreviated to SCI) is an American pay television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The channel features programming focusing on science related to wilderness survival, engineering, manuf ...

and on

Discovery Channel Canada Discovery Channel is a Canadian exempt discretionary service owned by Rogers Sports & Media. Based of the U.S. cable network of the same name, the channel focuses primarily on programming related to nature, science, and technology. History D ...

. Production of the show ended in 2006 after 50 episodes, however reruns still continue to air on

Presenters

Matt Shirvington Matt Shirvington (born 25 October 1978) is an Australian former athlete and television presenter who held the Australian 100m national sprint title from 1998 to 2002. Shirvington is the third fastest Australian sprinter of all time. He qualifi ...

* Graham Phillips * Hayden Turner *

Anna Choy Anna Choy (born 11 October 1978 in Hong Kong)"Anna Choy"
''IMDB.COM'', Retrieved 6 August 2009 is an Austr ...

* Dr Caroline West *

Sara Groen Sara Groen (born 6 March 1981) is an Australian actress and television presenter. Career Whilst studying at Bond University in Queensland, she appeared in an episode of '' The Lost World'' in 2001, followed by an episode in ''Farscape'' a year ...

Grant Denyer Grant Craig Denyer (born 12 September 1977) is an Australian television and radio presenter and motor racing driver, who has worked for several television networks, including Seven Network and Network 10, mostly serving as a presenter. He previ ...

* Kim Watkins (February 2006 – July 2006)

International

* In the United States, episodes of the series aired on the

network, under the ''Beyond Tomorrow'' name, from 1988 until 1990. The show was produced by Beyond International Group. From 1992 until its cancellation, the

aired ''Beyond 2000'' with all of the episodes and segment introductions (along with new material) hosted by

KRON-TV KRON-TV (channel 4) is a television station licensed to San Francisco, California, United States, serving as the San Francisco Bay Area's outlet for The CW. Owned and operated by The CW's majority owner, Nexstar Media Group, KRON-TV has studios ...

news anchor Henry Tenenbaum. * In Sweden, a version called ''Bortom 2000'' was hosted by nature photographer Bo Landin on TV4 in the early 1990s. (The series was short lived, however.) * In Finland, a version called ''2000 Nyt!'' was presented in 1994 on the

MTV3 MTV3 (, ) is a Finnish commercial television channel owned and operated by the media company MTV Oy, originally launched on 13 August 1957 as a programming block, becoming its own channel on 1 January 1993. It had the biggest audience share ...

channel.Paukku, Timo: Sujuva uusi tiedeohjelma esittelee suomalaista osaamista sopivan verkkaiseen tahtiin. Helsingin Sanomat 9.1.1994 (in Finnish)
(a paid article) * In Italy, ''Beyond 2000'' aired from 1988 to the early '90s on syndication network

Odeon TV Odeon 24 was an Italian channel owned by Gold TV, a television network A television broadcaster or television network is a telecommunications network for the distribution of television show, television content, where a central operation prov ...

. * In Malaysia, ''Beyond 2000'' previously aired in the late 1980s through the early 1990s on RTM 1 (Later RTM TV1). ''Beyond Tomorrow'' would not be aired on the channel, but was eventually aired on the

Discovery Channel (Southeast Asia) Discovery Channel Southeast Asia (known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, often referred to as simply Discovery) is the Southeast Asian version of Discovery Channel operated by Warner Bros. Discovery Asia-Pacific, a division of Warner ...

in the mid-2000s. * In Indonesia, ''Beyond 2000'' was aired on

RCTI RCTI (abbreviated from ''Rajawali Citra Televisi Indonesia'') is an Indonesian free-to-air television broadcaster. It is best known for its soap operas, celebrity bulletins, news, and sports programmes. It was first launched in 1989, origi ...

every Saturday morning in the early 1990s. * In South Africa, ''Beyond 2000'' was screened on

SABC The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) is the public broadcaster in South Africa, and provides 19 radio stations (Amplitude modulation, AM/Frequency modulation, FM) as well as 6 television broadcasts and 3 OTT Services to the general ...

M-Net M-Net (an abbreviation of Electronic Media Network) is a South African pay television channel established by Naspers in 1986. The channel broadcasts both local and international programming, including general entertainment, children's series, ...

and Bop TV. * In Ireland, ''Beyond 2000'' aired on

being shown on both networks

One 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

and

Two 2 (two) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 1 and preceding 3. It is the smallest and the only even prime number. Because it forms the basis of a duality, it has religious and spiritual significance in many ...

. * In Saudi Arabia, ''Beyond 2000'' was shown on the English speaking television network Saudi 2. * In New Zealand, ''Beyond 2000'' was aired on

. * In Jordan, ''Beyond 2000'' was broadcast on the English, Arabic and French language television channel Channel 2 in English. * In Kuwait, ''Beyond 2000'' has been shown on

KTV2 Kuwait television channel 2 (KTV2) is Kuwait's governmental television channel dedicated for the English-speaking public. The channel broadcasts English-speaking shows, local programmes, news, English-subtitled local serials, English-speaking ...

, the country's governmental television channel dedicated for the English-speaking public. * In Namibia, ''Beyond 2000'' began airing on SWABC (when the country was originally known as South West Africa at the time) in 1989 and then on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

in March 1990 (several days after the country had changed its name to Namibia). * In Thailand, ''Beyond 2000'' was aired on Channel 7 in 1990. * In Poland, a several episodes Beyond 2000 were aired in the late 1980's. It was a part of collaboration between team of Beyond 2000 and creators of popular Polish science and technology TV series SONDA which started back in 1987. It was a first time when Australian show made this type of cooperation with TV show from the Eastern Block country.

External links

Beyond Tomorrow
at Science Channel * *
Beyond 2000 – Towards 2000 at the National Film and Sound Archive

References

{{Reflist Australian non-fiction television series Australian Broadcasting Corporation original programming Documentary television series about technology Seven Network original programming Network 10 original programming Science Channel original programming Science education television series 1981 Australian television series debuts 1995 Australian television series endings 2005 Australian television series debuts 2006 Australian television series endings Television series by Beyond Television Productions MythBusters