The Stranger (video series)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Stranger was a series of direct-to-video science fiction dramas made by BBV and starring Colin Baker.
The series began in 1991 with Summoned by Shadows, co-produced with the BBC Film Club. Partly as a homage to the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who, of which BBV founder Bill Baggs was a fan, and partly in a pragmatic attempt to take advantage of a pre-existing audience, Summoned by Shadows was a Who-style tale of strange doings on a distant planet featuring three actors known for their roles in Doctor Who.
The nameless protagonist (listed in the credits as "The Stranger") was played by Colin Baker, his assistant Miss Brown by Nicola Bryant (who had played the Doctor's assistant Peri Brown opposite Colin Baker for two years), and the villain of the piece by Michael Wisher (who had been the first actor to play Davros).
The second story, More Than A Messiah, adapted the Doctor Who Audio Visuals story of the same name (with the Stranger and Miss Brown substituted for the Doctor and Peri) and co-starred Sophie Aldred (better known as Ace from Doctor Who) in a completely different role.
In Memory Alone, the third film found the Stranger and Miss Brown stranded in a desolate train station with amnesia and battling a mysterious man played by Nicholas Briggs (who also wrote the film along with others in the Stranger series). Most releases of this film (including VHS) include a behind-the-scenes featurette and a blooper reel.
The adventures of the Stranger ran to six videos (and four audio dramas, although the second audio drama was much the same as the sixth video), in the course of which the series established its own style and backstory, by the end abandoning any pretence of being merely Doctor Who by another name. The Stranger was eventually given a name: Solomon, and Miss Brown left the series after In Memory Alone.
The series was re-released on DVD beginning in 2003.
The videos in the series are:
- Summoned by Shadows by Christian Darkin
- More Than A Messiah by Nigel Fairs
- In Memory Alone by Nicholas Briggs
- The Terror Game by Nicholas Briggs
- Breach of the Peace by Nicholas Briggs
- Eye of the Beholder by Nicholas Briggs
The four audio dramas are:
- The Last Mission by Nicholas Briggs
- Eye of the Storm by "Arthur Wallis" (Nicholas Briggs) - remade as Eye of the Beholder
- The Coming of Shadows by Stuart Robinson and James Potter (a bonus audio drama on the DVD release of Summoned by Shadows)
- Force of Nature by Stuart Robinson and James Potter (a bonus audio drama on the DVD release of More Than a Messiah)
Another BBV production, The Airzone Solution, is sometimes erroneously listed as part of the Stranger series. In fact, it is a standalone "ecological thriller" which other than its cast, has no connection to either The Stranger or Doctor Who.
