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.

'The Stranger' was not dissimilar to the BBC's 'Doctor Who' and was probably inspired by everyone's favourite Time Lord, hitting Sydney TV screens the following year. Both appeared on the ABC. Well known Australian actor Ron Haddrick was a great choice for The Stranger as he had an other-worldly presence, not unlike, for example, Boris Karloff. I vaguely recall him appearing out of the mist but it's just so long ago, that's the limit of my memory.

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

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

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!