Strange (TV series)

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Strange
Strange title card
Genre	Horror Thriller
Created by	Andrew Marshall
Starring	Richard Coyle Samantha Janus Ian Richardson William Tomlin Andrew-Lee Potts Timmy Lang
Country of origin	United Kingdom
No. of episodes	7
Production
Executive producer(s)	Andrew Marshall
Running time	60 mins
Broadcast
Original channel	BBC One
Original run	9 March 2002 (pilot) 31 May 2003 – 5 July 2003
External links
Official website
IMDb profile
TV.com summary

Strange is a British television drama series, produced by the independent production company Big Bear Productions for the BBC, which aired on BBC One. It consists of a single one-hour pilot episode screened in March 2002, followed by a series of six one-hour episodes broadcast in the summer of 2003. The paranormal storyline involved a priest's mission to destroy demons.

Contents 1 Plot 2 Production 3 Broadcast and reception 4 References 5 See also 6 External links

[edit] Plot

The series follows former priest John Strange (Richard Coyle), dismissed from the clergy under mysterious circumstances. He was implicated in a number of gruesome murders, murders that he says were done by demons. Now he seeks those responsible and to clear his name. To help him in his hunt for demons, John has Toby (Andrew-Lee Potts), a technological expert who is in charge of the equipment John uses to sense the presence of demons, and Kevin (Timmy Lang). Kevin, who has Down's syndrome, which appears to enable him to sense the presence of demons and is often an early warning that something supernatural is about to happen in the area. Jude (Samantha Janus), a former scientist who works as a nurse, is interested because she found out that her partner Rich was a demon. With Rich dead her main concern is that the son they had together, Joey (William Tomlin), could also be a demon. With her own agenda for uncovering the truth, Jude joins forces with John Strange. John's mission also involves Canon Black (Ian Richardson), who seems intent on denying any acknowledgement of dark forces in his diocese.

[edit] Production

All seven episodes of the series were written by Andrew Marshall, a scriptwriter primarily known for his comedy work. It was directed by Joe Ahearne, who had previously been responsible for both writing and directing the World Productions vampire serial Ultraviolet for Channel 4.

The six episodes were shot on location and at Ealing Studios, and filming concluded on 23 December 2002. Filming was split into two blocks; the first (made up of episodes 1, 2 and 5) was directed by Aherne and the second by Simon Massey, who had previously worked on Ballykissangel. Marshall wrote the first regular episode as an introduction to the characters and the scenario, despite having already done so for the pilot. He attributed this to the BBC's policy of not repeating pilots; he had to introduce new viewers who may not have seen the pilot.^[1]

[edit] Broadcast and reception

Broadcast on Saturday nights, the series was hampered by frequent timeslot changes, the long gap between the pilot and the series and the BBC's decision not to repeat the pilot before the series aired. The viewing figures were low, and a second series was not commissioned. However, to mark five years since the original broadcast, creator Andrew Marshall wrote an additional short story entitled 'Ramset.'

In the United States, Strange has been broadcast by the cable television network Showtime, on one of its specialist subsidiary channels. The UK Sci-Fi Channel screened all seven episodes of Strange in both 2006 and 2007.

[edit] References

[edit] See also

• The X-Files
• afterlife

[edit] External links

• Strange at bbc.co.uk
• Strange (2002 pilot) at the Internet Movie Database.
• Strange (2003 series) at the Internet Movie Database.