The Stranger

I just binged this series which is only slightly younger than me. I really liked the premise, & the scenery. Chips Rafferty is the PM our country could use now. Thanks to the ABC for restoring this series & making it available to those of us too young to see it first time around.

I remember this series very fondly - I was about 11 or 12 in 1965 and the series came as a pleasant surprise to the whole family. The idea of a mysterious crash landing of a UFO in the Blue Mountains of NSW was as exciting as the US and Russian space projects of the day, along with constant UFO sightings here and around the world at this time. The basic plot was very sound and we were all fascinated by it. That the Australian Film Industry bothered at all with this series and followed it with 'Wandjina' a year or two later is a tribute to their imagination and foresight. The idea that we could entertain an alien race living here, at that time, was very mature.

The Australian Broadcasting Commiussion discoverd this gem in their archives

They have restored it and placed it on their streaming platform for new audiences to enjoy

Cheesy and dated, with old school acting which is most notable in the 'live' studio recordings, which was the norm with many of the programs of the period. Much more successful are the exterior production scenes. Very well filmed. The studio scenes are where it falls down. The occasional messed up line. Stiff acting. Schoolboys who look thirty. Very cringe worthy today.

However it's no worse than Dr. Who for it's time period, except that that show had a strong concept to carry it through. Even Dr. Who didn't take off until the Daleks appeared. No such ingenuity here.

No doubt a hit for those who remember it. For the rest, a plod I'm afraid. Well restored but for nostalgia fans only.

From February 2020 all 12 episodes are on ABC iview (Australia)