Johnny and the Bomb
 1997 Paperback (Corgi) | |
| Author | Terry Pratchett |
|---|---|
| Original title | Johnny and the Bomb |
| Language | English |
| Series | Johnny Maxwell Trilogy |
| Genre | Children's Literature, Science Fiction |
| Publisher | Doubleday |
Publication date | 1996 |
| Publication place | UK |
| Media type | book |
| Pages | 272 |
| ISBN | 0385406703 |
| OCLC | 37732352 |
| Preceded by | Johnny and the Dead |
Johnny and the Bomb is a 1996 novel by Terry Pratchett. It is the third novel to feature Johnny Maxwell and his friends, and deals with the rules and consequences of time travel. The first two novels in the Johnny Maxwell Trilogy are Only You Can Save Mankind (1992) and Johnny and the Dead (1993).
The action of the novel revolves around an incident during World War II in which Johnny's inoffensive home town of Blackbury was hit by a bomb during an air raid intended for an industrial complex at another nearby town. It is this bomb, and not nuclear weapons, to which the title refers.
Plot summary
After Johnny Maxwell, a boy in his early teens, finds Mrs. Tachyon, an old bag lady, by a cinema he discovers that her trolley is in fact a time machine. He goes back to his town, Blackbury, during the time of The Blitz with his friends Walter aka Wobbler, Bigmac, Kirsty and Yo-less (possibly because Johnny has been obsessing about the destruction of Paradise Street in a German raid). Wobbler and Bigmac get left behind, and when they return for themm, Johnny tries to prevent the deaths caused in the raid.
Ideas and themes
Television series
In January 2006 the BBC aired a three-part television adaptation of Johnny And The Bomb, starring George MacKay as Johnny, Zoe Wanamaker as Mrs Tachyon, Frank Finlay as Johnny's grandad Tom, and Keith Barron as Sir Walter.
Changes from Book to TV Series
In the book, Johnny changes history so that no-one dies in the Paradise Street bombing. However, the TV series has this as the "original" history, which the gang inadvertently changes on their first visit to the past. In the history thus created, Johnny's grandmother was killed, meaning he no longer exists. A smaller change is that the adult Wobbler character was renamed Sir Walter.