The Strange Calls

I read one of the previous reviews and could not disagree more! I loved the lead character, the down-on-his luck, Toby Banks. He is sent to Coolum by his dad, a high-up in the police dept. Toby is disappointed to realize that not only has he been sent to a small town in rural Australia, but no one bothered to pick him up at the bus station and he has been relegated to live in a caravan where a strange old man intrusively inserts himself into his life.

He starts getting strange calls during his night shifts and the old man, Gregor, insists that the strange occurrences need to be taken seriously and becomes his sidekick. They end up facing all sorts of strange and wacky and yet touching goings-on in Coolum. If you like Bryan Fuller comedies (Dead Like Me, Wonderfalls, Pushing Daisies) I think you'd like this show. I wish there was more than one season!

I just love this quirky series. Barry Crocker reminds me of my late neighbor and Toby reminds me of one of my old housemates from college. Just enjoy it.

I love this type of humor. Outside the USA like the U.K. ,Australia and NZ they seem to be able to catch this humor on screen very well. Once in a while Hollywood USA is able to capture a similar feel like in the tv show Battlecreek. But then they canceled the show.... I wish this was a tv series instead of a mini series so it went longer than 6 episodes. Oh well, I enjoyed it. I only gave it 8 stars because of the occasional vulgar language that's seems to be no big deal in other countries outside the USA, in a show that is otherwise family friendly. Well done.

Not sure where all the great reviews come from. While I'll give you the show is quirky and different that doesn't necessarily relate to good. For me the comedic timing for the most part was way off and the acting as well.

I'm guessing there was a reason why it didn't last more then the number of episodes that it did. I guess there will always be someone that likes this type of production but it sure wasn't our crowd.

I'm guessing that this was someone's first attempt at writing and or producing as it had the feel and look of an amateurish production throughout the series.

As well I am also not sure why IMDb requires so many lines of text for a review. Sometimes less is more in my opinion.

... Right out of their minds. Cuckoo. Looney bin. It begins with a (very) junior Police officer Banks demoted to a small resort town on the ocean. He forgets to bring his shoes. He longs for his old girl friend, but when he calls her, she has taken up with a loser who already has a girl friend.

Whilst manning the police trailer for the overnight watch, an old guy, Gregor, shows up & hits him with the water spray (this plot point is never explained). Gregory follows Banks everywhere. They meet a guy who has eaten so much fried chicken, that he is turning into one. All these people are wacko. Typical Aussie show. Delightful.