The Stranger

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.

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.

I remember these two serials as being particularly excellent. Ron Haddrick as the enigmatic Adam Suisse (his alien accent made people think he was Swiss - hence the last name) and the ever-friendly Varossa, played by a very young Reg Livermore. Everyone thought it highly innovative that the aliens on "Babylon 5" had foreign accents because English, despite what you see in the movies, is not the first language of people from another planet. Nope, "The Stranger" did it first!

I seem to recall one of the kids was English - presumably to sell the series to the UK. The suspense leading up to the revelation of the alien presence was very well maintained and the flying saucer shuttlecraft was a really cool design. So good I can still draw it 40 years later.

These serials should be released on DVD asap, especially the first one. To be strictly accurate I believe the first serial was the one called "The Stranger". The second was called "The Stranger Returns".

UPDATE: Watching the restored episodes on the ABC website now I realise that they were all one season and the BBC split them into "The Stranger" and "The Stranger Returns". Apologies for any confusion but great job on the restoration job, ABC!

Please can we have a DVD or Blu ray Boxset now, please?

Also I wonder what a colourised version would look like!

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

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.