"The Estrangement programme... I was its first experimental subject. It
was a punishment designed to wipe out all memory of my past terrorist
crimes, but the past never stays dead for long. Now I had to decide,
Was I Soloman or.... The Stranger?"
-- from The Stranger - The Final Mission
When we first encounter The Stranger, we know virtually nothing about
him. The natives of the planet he is residing on merely call him 'The
Man who Appeared'. He is a traveller, with a young female companion,
who has decided to shun contact with other people.
As time passes, we learn a little more about him and his companion
until the terrible truth is finally revealed. The Stranger, whose real
name is Soloman was the leader of a terrorist cell in an on-going
interdimensional guerilla war between his race, the Preceptors, and the
guardians of the multiverse, the Protectorate. During one assassination
mission he was captured by the Protectorate and, in exchange for the
freedom of his associates Egan and Saul, he underwent a reprogramming,
removing all memory of who he was. The Protectorate's plan was that he
would reform himself.
He is not a true humanoid. The Preceptors are a race of beings that
exist in a non-corporeal form between dimensions, in what they call the
Web. Soloman takes on his humanoid form when he is in real space.
The Stranger is produced by BBV Productions, a small film production company originally set up under the aegis of the BBC Film Club. They have so far specialised in
Telefantasy drama based on or inspired by Doctor Who and has featured many members of the cast and crew from the
series. The productions are very high quality considering the
shoestring budget involved. These films include The Stranger series,
the P.R.O.B.E. series and The Auton Trilogy as well as one-off dramas.
Their personnel include BBV's founder Bill Baggs, Nick Briggs, Mark Gatiss and Paul Vanezis.
Bill Baggs was the driving force behind a series of semi-pro/semi-fan
Audio Doctor Who plays during the 1980's and early 1990's. He is now
Producer and, sometimes, Director on the various straight-to-video
dramas he has devised using his own production company, BBV
Productions.
Originally, the Stranger was a very Doctor-like being who was unaware of
his own past. More recently, the truth about the Stranger's past has been
revealed. Concurrently, the series has seen a shift away from being such
an out-and-out Doctor Who imitation and taken on a style of its own. A
plethora of Who celebrities have also appeared in the Stranger videos,
such as Nicola Bryant (Peri), Louise Jameson (Leela) and Sophie Aldred (Ace).
There have also been two Stranger audio tapes.
-- from The Alternative Who FAQ by D. Paul Griggs
Bill Baggs devised "The Stanger", a program that parallelled Doctor Who but, to keep the BBC and their copyright lawyers happy, was missing certain "obvious" Whovian devices. For example, Colin's colorful coat was gone. He wasn't "The Doctor" but "The Stranger" and "Soloman". Nicola Bryant wasn't "Peri" but was "Miss Brown" without the American accent. You get the idea. Otherwise, The Stranger was straight out gutsy sci-fi that made Doctor Who look like a kids program. "The Stranger" was adult tv at it's best with both violence and shocks along the way.
The story outlines for each video are below, followed by impartial reviews of each story by our good friends, Mr and Mrs. Popplewick.
Battered by his experiences travelling through space and time, the mysterious stranger has rejected his long time companion and is in self-imposed exile on a barren planet, where he determines to ignore pleas for help from the victims of a macabre and strangely familiar Conjurer, who seems to have limitless power...
REVIEW: Mr Popplewick
"Now I am alone. I had to send her away, this was no life for her. I have to endure me, she has a choice. You see, I'm not a hero. I make mistakes and people die. You don't want my help." -- The Stranger.
The first Stranger episode is ultra sci-fi with both Colin and Nicola Bryant playing the main (and un-named) characters. In fact, this is mostly Nicola's story (she even gets top billing) as we follow her after leaving her companion, who would rather be a hermit than interact with the outside world. The Stranger is wonderfully played by Colin, very sombre and subtle. Miss Brown is looking very much like Jodie Foster in this story and she has lost her annoying American accent - and has a deeper voice that the guys just *love*!
This first Stranger story sets the standard for the ones that follow - arty, adult, violent and horrific. They don't call this series "Who for the 90s" for nothing! The episodes are 40 minutes long and this does not leave much time for backstory or unimportant sub-plots. Most of this first episode is dealing with introducing the un-named characters of the Stranger and Miss Brown and the actual story-line, consisting of a being who has taken hold of the young minds of the planet to search for equipment to fix his broken transmat, is really secondary.
A great start to a series that gets better with each episode!
REVIEW: Mrs Popplewick
"I misunderstood the nature of the universe" -- The Stranger
I began watching The Stranger looking for its Dr. Who connections. But I found that it was something more than Who. It was more sombre and darker than Dr. Who ever was, even during the Sixth Doctor's reign.
In this first episode, the Stranger is a hazy character, and we get a feeling he is very much like the Doctor, but a disillusioned and morose one. In Colin Baker's first full story of Dr. Who, The Twin Dilemma, the Doctor mentions going to a desolate planet where he can become a hermit and contemplate life. This is what first came to mind whilst watching this episode of The Stranger -- The Doctor has finally given up, and cares not for human contact. He admits to making mistakes and getting people killed.
But as I said, the show is more than a Doctor Who spin-off or rip-off. It is well-done and intriguing. Although it would appear that it was done on a tight budget, the most is made of the resources available. The imagery is fantastic. Miss Brown's character is more developed than Peri's ever was during the whole of her time in Dr. Who, and the Stranger is underplayed for subtle effect, leaving us wondering, "Who is this man?"
Majus Seventeen - a paradise world for interplanetary tourists to relax and revel in the simple life. But all is not as it seems, as The Stranger and Miss Brown discover when decaying bodies rise from the ground, tourists are swallowed by the angry sea and they meet a mysterious girl (Sophie Aldred) whose infatuated obsession with The Stranger soon threatens the life of everyone on the planet.
REVIEW: Mr Popplewick
"I've got a friend out there, he might be able to help. -- Miss Brown. "Really? Is he a doctor?" -- Charlotte Darton.
This episode of The Stranger is the closest Colin and Nicola get to their "Doctor and Peri" personas, with the Stranger deciding to lounge on a beach while Miss Brown complains and finally wanders off on her own. This bloody, violent and harrowing environmental tale also sees Sophie Aldred play the girl from the planet.
It's great to see Sophie and Colin on screen together as, if not for BBC interference, Colin would have had the opportunity to play the Doctor with Sophie as his companion. But that was not the be. The two of them work wonderfully together and there is a real energy and excitment in the way their characters interact in this episode. (Look out for the scene where they are both naked!!!!!) Needless to say, Sophie keeps all the guys glued to the set...such a smile!!!!
Charlotte and Bernard Darton are also great in this story and British sci-fi trivia buffs should see the connection between WHO and Blakes 7 here! Bernard Darton, the great hunter/developer/war monger and absolute loony is the nasty piece of human filth on which the whole story centers. It's terrific to watch him go completely mad bit by bit. Although the monkeys leave a lot to be desired.
More than a Messiah has the right mix of humour and drama as the story builds to a terrific terrifying climax. Once again, pure sci-fi here with an environmental moral. Get it while you can as this is the last episode to be "truly" sci-fi as The Stranger will start to evolve from episode three into something completely different!
REVIEW: Mrs Popplewick
This is the closest to a Doctor Who-type adventure that The Stranger gets, yet once again it goes far beyond Doctor Who. As The Stranger snoozes, Miss Brown goes off and gets herself into trouble. Whilst Miss Brown and Nick the student are kept prisoner by the mad Darton and his hapless wife, The Stranger
is led away by a beautiful nymph to underground caverns, where she bathes him and falls for him and his strange and garbled mind.
With the help of the nymph, the Stranger's character is nutted out a bit more. She perceives that he has run away to avoid the consequences of his actions, and she offers him peace and silence. But he is not ready for peace. His rejection of her brings about the strangest, most urgent scenes of the story, a bizarre triangle between the nymph, the Stranger, and Miss Brown, with the nymph acting the part of a jealous child.
This is a strange tale, involving not only its obvious environmental themes, but those of emotion, which Doctor Who never approached. It is adult and moving, and extremely well-done. The Stranger's character becomes more and more interesting, and the story's climax is fast-paced and terrifying.
The deserted dilapidation of a railway station is violently disturbed by an unscheduled arrival. Something has travelled an unimaginable distance across space...
The station's reopening was not on the official timetable, but nevertheless the platform has been swept clean and things are back to...normal? A train is approaching, but its sole occupant knows only one thing for sure - he doesn't belong here.
Waiting at the station is a women...but what is she waiting for? Answers to questions she cannot even remember.
REVIEW: Mr Popplewick
"I have a distinct impression that I'm a rather clever fellow." -- The Stranger
This episode of The Stranger stands out for many reasons. Not only is it the last time we see Nicola Bryant's Miss Brown character, but it is also that most bizarre, intriguing, scary and Twilight Zone-ish episode of The Stranger so far made.
Not really true science-fiction, more a nightmare tale of a leisure simulation that has gone tragically wrong. The setting is Rothley train station and thrown in for good measure are floating electronic guards, amnesia-inducing mist, ghost trains and more. Miss Brown and The Stranger appear to have no memories of who they are, and they don't even recognise each other, but somehow know they need to be together.
Colin is great in a suit and bowler hat and the scene with him fiddling with the electronic box on the floor of the train is very Doctor-ish and a delight to watch. Minor, the only other "living" character is very unsettling and scary and is played well by Nicholas Briggs - who also wrote the script.
There's some nice twists and a few frights in this one and the near-suicidal actions of the Stranger to save himself and Miss Brown at the end make dramatic viewing. Just remember those two fateful words, "Zero Return"!
It's confusing, strange and down-right bizarre...but it's great viewing nonetheless!
** The video release also comes with "The Making of In Memory Alone", a ten minute documentary shot during the filming of this episode. It's a bit of fluff, really, but is priceless for the wonderful footage of Colin and Nicola relaxed and playing around on the set. Colin is a bundle of laughs and we just can't get enough of Nicola and her sexy deep voice! Why Peri wasn't like Miss Brown...I'll never know!
Also included are about a dozen bloopers and out-takes from the episode, very funny to watch, and we see many scenes from rehearsals too. Watch for the discussion over breakfast, it's great (What is Nicola sitting on???)! Also, the "secret of the tie" is revealed here for the first time. But really, the doco is ten minutes of excellent TV. Nicola is great when she says, that she and Colin are "...an absolutley lunatic team and we couldn't resist working together again." Watch out for her thoughts on Doctor Who too!
But the last word must be left to Colin, discussing this episode. "I'm in it, I know what happens and I can't wait to see it." Haha!
REVIEW: Mrs Popplewick
I think I have probably watched this episode about three times by now, and I am still not sure what it is about! But don't let that stop you from enjoying it - it didn't stop me - it is my favourite of the first three stories. Unlike the previous stories, this one is completely surrealistic. It is certainly nothing like Doctor Who.
It is not an adventure where they go off to solve the puzzle or right wrongs. Rather, the two characters find themselves thrown together, totally unaware of their own identities, let alone each other's identities. They have no pre-conceived ideas about their own relationship, or why they are on a lonely railway platform in the middle of the night. This also means that unlike Doctor Who, or even the previous Stranger stories, the relationship between the Stranger and Miss Brown is not pre-ordained. Ie: he is not the boss and she the dizzy companion. Miss Brown is on an equal footing in this story, and it is fun to watch her take charge. Nicola Bryant plays the strong role well, and it is a shame that her character in Doctor Who was not like this role.
The only other character is the odd Minor, in a bowler hat and round spectacles without glass, and his obsession for catching the train which is running late. You have to ask yourself if he is for real or just a game, and the answer is intriguing. He is played wonderfully by Nicholas Briggs, who wrote the story. The character is strange and spooky, as is the whole story. The camera work is great, and plays up the spookiness of the setting.
At the dramatic climax of "In Memory Alone", the Stranger made a desperate bid to escape from an alien environment. Unsure of his own identity, he submitted himself to a process which promised to put "everything in its proper place".
But where is the Stranger's "proper place"? Just who is the Stranger?
After materializing in an alley behind a seedy night-club, the Stranger begins piecing together his fragmented past. As the disturbing evidence gathers and the memories return, it occurs to him that the hidden terrors of his previous life may be best left forever concealed.
REVIEW: Mr Popplewick
"I know what I am. I just found out, thanks to you." -- The Stranger.
Okay, this episode is the key to the series and the one you must watch. This is where we find out the history of The Stranger and just what the hell is going on! This is also the story in which the Stranger's name is first mentioned. He is Soloman - and he is dangerous.
Returned to his own personal "zero return", the Stranger finds himself deposited at the back of a pub in London, without Miss Brown. Even though Nicola Bryant is not in this episode (or any that follow) her disappearance is made up for by the introduction of two new characters, Saul and Egan. John Wadmore plays Saul - a nasty evil type - very very well, and David Troughton (yes, that David Troughton) plays Egan to perfection! Saul and Egan work well together and are very slick and evil.
Louise Jameson (Leela from Doctor Who) plays Tamora, the pub owner, whose role goes from funny co-star at the beginning of the episode and evolves into a very very important person by the end! The plot revolves around an assassination, but to tell more is to give too much of the story away. Only after watching it a few times will you realise the connections between the previous episode and this one! Watch them together to learn more! There is more gritty realism in this episode and the sci-fi is more adult and technical - very riveting to watch.
Colin is excellent as usual - you never know how he's going to react in a scene. He works terrifically well with Louise and also David Troughton (a flat mate of his for ten years!). This is edge of your seat stuff and Colin's interrogation scene in the middle of the episode is as dramatic as you can get. Colin's portrayal of Soloman as evil, violent and also caring is exquisite characterisation and watch for the scene with him in a tux and with slicked-back hair! Top notch stuff! The best epsiode so far...but you need to watch the others first!
REVIEW: Mrs Popplewick
This is an exciting episode, not only in its own right, but because it is the key to understanding the whole series. It makes the previous episodes, and those that follow, hang together as a whole, rather than as a group of interesting but separate story-lines. The first time I saw The Stranger, I did not pick up on this, because it was a long time between watching the first three episodes and the later ones. That is why, for example, I said in my review of "In Memory Alone" that I had no idea what it was all about! Now that I have watched this episode again, I can understand what is happening. I won't spoil it for everyone by explaining what is discovered in this episode, except to say that the previous episodes are about "The Estrangement Project", and zero return: everything in its proper place. By this episode, he has returned to where he began.
Not only does the story develop, but we find out who the Stranger is, and what his name is. We learn about his history, about his people, what he has done and why. But also about what he has become. He has been through an unsettling experience, and must come to terms with himself.
This episode also introduces Saul and Egan, who will be in every episode after this one. Egan is played by David Troughton - yes, the Second Doctor's son. You can see the family resemblance, except that David is so much bigger than his father! He plays a purposeful - but not evil - villain, and plays it well. His cohort is Saul, a young, nasty, crass and rather disgusting villain, who enjoys himself just a bit too much for my
taste. They interact well together, in a good-cop/bad-cop way, and David in particular interacts well with Colin.
What is also fascinating to watch is Colin Baker's performance as The Stranger. When the scene opens, he has suddenly appeared from no-where, with no memory of who he is and why he is there, other than the vague feeling that he is supposed to be there. As he recovers his memory, we see the dark side to him, and can believe that he could just as easily turn bad as do good. If this is how Colin would have liked to develop the role of The Doctor, it is a shame we never got to see it.
They are terrorists from another dimension. They have completed their mission on Earth and now they want to leave. But they are trapped - and they are desperate.
In "The Terror Game" the Stranger discovered that he was Soloman, the leader of a Preceptor terrorist cell on an assassination run in this dimension. But he has decided to reject his violent past and has settled into a mundane, Earthly lifestyle. However, his fellow cell members, Egan and Saul, have assumed the identities of police officers to track Soloman down. In their ruthless determination to return to the war beyond our universe, they will let nothing stand in their way.
REVIEW: Mr Popplewick
"I have to deal with my own problems in my own way. They're no one else's responsibility. Being here gives me the breathing space, time to think, to make decisions. Peace and quiet." -- Soloman.
Three months have passed, Soloman (now calling himself Preston) has moved in with a friend, Rose, and is living a basic life which evolves around helping Rose publish a small town newspaper, The Local, and cooking dinner. Meanwhile, Saul and Egan are masquerading as policemen and are trying to track Soloman down. They can't find the port-hole, or breach, in the web to let them escape from this earth-bound existence..and they need Soloman to find it for them. They'll stop at nothing to find him. No matter what!
In the middle of all this is Police Chief Diana Sellers, played by Caroline John of "Liz Shaw" fame, trying to juggle the "internal investigation" that Saul and Egan are supposedly investigating (it's only a cover to help them use police resources to find Soloman), and also trying to figure out what happened to the pub owner, Tamora, and her assistant from the previous episode, In Memory Alone, as they seem to have disappeared all of a sudden.
This episode starts slowly, but then builds quickly as all the different sub-plots, Egan and Saul, Soloman and Rose, Sellers and her police force, begin to dovetail and spiral towards each other in a fast-paced ending. Troughton and Wadmore are terrific as usual as Egan and Saul, (can Saul get more violent and evil?), and Caroline John is strong and powerful as Sellers. There are some great scenes between Sellers and Saul and Egan as the pressure mounts and Saul and Egan's "cover story" begins to fold.
Colin is very domesticated in this episode and we don't see as much of him. It's more of a Saul and Egan episode. Still, every scene with Colin shines and he interacts well with Rose, his new partner. Poor Rose, abused, pushed around, attacked...she'll wish she never met The Stranger! Colin also has some delightful moments with Sellers, as she interrogates him. In fact, both of Colin's interrogation scenes (with Sellers and with Egan) are edge of your seat stuff!
The ending is terrific and leaves you wondering, can it get any better? The answer, of course, is yes!
REVIEW: Mrs Popplewick
If you were watching this without having seen the previous episodes, you would think that you were watching a police drama. Saul and Egan appear as hard-edged detectives trying to nut out an investigation on the local Chief. The Chief Detective Inspector, Diana Sellers, is also hard-edged, but not nasty, and would be considered good at her job were it not for the two detectives on her case. Saul and Egan, however, have merely adopted the cover of an internal investigation in order to locate Soloman, a.k.a. The Stranger, as he is their only way out of this dimension. Their disguise is well-done. Saul and Egan play very nasty cops, Saul in particular, who relishes the chance not only to bully everyone, but to use his position to attract the pretty female officers!
While Saul and Egan hunt for Soloman, the local police are investigating the goings-on at the pub which was the setting of the previous episode. It appears that the owner has gone missing, and that the pub was the setting of some neferious activities.
Meanwhile, The Stranger has adopted the name Preston and has moved in with the unglamourous, vulnerable, but smart and tough Rose. "Preston" does nothing much, except cook the fish fingers and help Rose with her small newspaper. He has not told her about his past, and is in fact rather touchy when she tries to probe him about it. He just wants to be left in peace to make his decisions.
The various subplots weave together beautifully, up to the dramatic conclusion. The Stranger wanted time to make his decisions, but is forced into one, for a bitter-sweet ending to the episode.
David Troughton is excellent again as the pragmatic terrorist. He is menacing without being slimy, whilst Wadmore's Saul is slimy and menacing. Caroline John's Sellers is wonderfully played, and watch for her assistant: it is Nicholas Briggs, in a moustache - he also wrote this episode. The choice of Rose is interesting. As mentioned before, she is not glamourous, but perhaps represents the "homeliness" The Stranger is seeking. Colin Baker doesn't have much to do in this episode. His quiet domesticity is quite a change from previous "action" roles. Watch for the interrogation and final scenes, though.
Soloman, Egan and Saul are Preceptors, creatures from the Dimensional Web who have taken physical form to carry out acts of indiscriminate terrorism in the universe. Soloman has seen the error of his ways. Egan, however, believes Soloman has reformed only as a result of indoctrination by their enemies, the Protectorate.
PART I
At the end of the previous Stranger story, Breach of the Peace, Egan and Saul forced Soloman to give up his peaceful life on Earth and re-enter the Dimensional Web. But no sooner have they left than they find themselves back on Earth. They have been wrenched out of the Web by an unknown force which has set in motion a catastrophic chain of events.
PART II
Soloman, Egan and Saul have stumbled upon the isolated, top secret research project "Metaphysic". However, it is already becoming clear that Hunter's experiments on Meta's mind are running out of control. For Egan, the experience is an emotional revelation - but at what cost?
REVIEW: Mr Popplewick
"There are no sides, just a lack of understanding." -- Soloman
No holes barred edge of your seat excitement. That statement sums up the last episode of The Stranger produced (so far!). This 1995 episode sees Saul, Egan and Soloman back on earth, having re-entered the web only to be deposited back on the planet from which they were trying to break free. Egan is separated from the other two and finds himself on a property where secret government experiments are taking place. Promply shot and drugged by Shiela (played by Alison Troughton - David's wife) Egan also manages to give up the "information stream" (the little computer that provides them with information on just what the hell is going on) and strands himself and Saul and Soloman in the midst of "Project Metaphysic."
This is a great episode and richly deserves it's "two part" status - bringing it more in line with a normal length Doctor Who episode. Everyone in this production is terrific. Colin shows the dark side of Soloman early on in some very intense and painful scenes (watch for that squirrel grip!!!) and proves that Soloman is not only powerful, but nasty too. Is he starting to break away from the estrangment program? Wadmore as Saul is altogether rude, crass and downright unlikeable, again. Alison Troughton plays a tough and bitchy Shiela, determined to keep the truths about the Project and both Hunter and Meta under raps.
But this is David Troughton's masterpiece. He is excellent in this story...stunning! Only in the final episode, when all the pieces fall together, do we see how well Troughton pulls off the role. Encore stuff! Also worth noting is the direction by Bill Baggs. This is an eery, dark and gloomy story and that is how it is shot. The mood of the characters is mirrored in the mood of the direction with lots of shadows and atmospherics thrown in. It's a deathly episode, in more ways than one.
The ending is a corker. The best you'll see anywhere. And leaves you screaming for more!
** Also included on both tapes is a small interview session with John Wadmore and David Troughton. They discuss their thoughts on Saul and Egan and let the viewers know how they prepared for the roles and where they think the characters should go from here. There's some hilarious stuff here and we learn that Wadmore really isn't that nasty in real life! (He's actually really nice!)
REVIEW: Mrs Popplewick
"Maybe you've learned something:...that there are moral dilemmas, not just certainties." -- Soloman to Egan
Despite the fact that Saul and Egan forced Soloman to take them through the breach into the dimensional web in order to escape Earth and its dimension, the trio find themselves mysteriously dropped back onto Earth. Saul and Soloman are unfortunate enough to find themselves together without Egan, and the friction between them makes for some wonderful scenes. Soloman shows his tough side, putting Saul in his place. Ouch, poor Saul! Soloman shows he is still in charge and will not put up with Saul's uppitiness. Egan finds himself alone, in a barn, soon to be found by Shiela, who promptly shoots him in the leg and takes his "information stream" computer. Shiela happens to be the "shield" and commander of a secret project, trying hard to protect the project and its guinea pig, the lovely and mysterious Meta. Egan spends most of the first episode in his undies, as Shiela and Meta tend his wound.
Eventually Saul and Soloman find their way to the farm-house where Egan is held and Project Metaphysic continues. All is not well, as strange lightning lights up the sky, representing energy leaks from the Web. Slowly the pieces come together, and we see that the Project has linked Egan and Meta in strange ways, and with disastrous results. The reasons for Egan's mission back to Earth are discovered, and this time it is his turn to be human, and Soloman's to be ruthless. Egan must face his moral dilemma.
Eye of the Beholder is very much Egan's story, and David Troughton as Egan shines through and delivers a strong and touching performance. Wadmore continues to play Saul as a slimy character. He is held at gunpoint at the end of episode one, and I for one say "Shoot him!" Although this is not really Soloman's story, this episode allowed for more scope to his character, and he appears as a more multi-faceted person than before. There are no black and white certainties. He knows what dilemmas he must face.
The story gathers great momentum and comes to an electrically charged ending. For those not able to keep up, watch out for Saul's explanation of the situation in episode two. What a story! All in all a terrific production, well-acted and well-directed.
