The Stranger (film series)
A Doctor Who homage series starring Colin Baker.
The Stranger is a direct-to-video and audio CD science-fiction drama series from BBV, starring Colin Baker, and later released on DVD. It launched in 1991 with *Summoned by Shadows*, a project co-produced with the BBC Film Club. This first story was a deliberate homage to the long-running British sci-fi series *Doctor Who*, a show BBV founder Bill Baggs admired, and was also a practical move to attract that show’s existing fanbase. The plot involves strange events in an unspecified time period on Earth, featuring three actors known for their *Doctor Who* roles playing similar characters. The unnamed lead, credited as "The Stranger," is Colin Baker; his assistant, Miss Brown, is played by Nicola Bryant (who had portrayed the Doctor’s companion Peri Brown opposite Baker for two years); and the villain is Michael Wisher, the first actor to play Davros.
The second story, *More than a Messiah*, adapts a *Doctor Who* Audio Visuals tale of the same name, swapping the Doctor and companion Ria (a Peri-like character) for the Stranger and Miss Brown. It also co-stars Sophie Aldred (known as Ace from *Doctor Who*) and Peter Miles (who had appeared with Wisher in the serial *Genesis of the Daleks*), both in entirely different roles. The third film, *In Memory Alone*, strands the Stranger and Miss Brown without their unseen transport at a desolate train station, suffering amnesia. They battle a robot and a mysterious man played by Nicholas Briggs, who also wrote the film and others in the series. Most releases of this film, including VHS, include a behind-the-scenes featurette and a blooper reel.
While the first three stories could be—and often were—seen as *Doctor Who* under a different name, the departure of Miss Brown (notably, Nicola Bryant does not use Peri Brown’s American accent) and the Stranger being "returned to his proper time and place" at the end of that story allowed the series to clarify its status as a separate work and develop its own identity. In total, the Stranger’s adventures span six videos and four audio dramas (though the second audio drama is largely the same as the sixth video).
The series’ backstory involves a pan-dimensional region called the "Dimensional Web," home to two races: the dominant Protectorate and the defeated Preceptors. The Preceptors take corporeal forms in the material universe to commit random acts of violence, terrorism, a
- producer
- BBV
- star
- Colin Baker
- first_release
- Summoned by Shadows (1991)
- format
- Direct-to-video and audio CD
- number_of_videos
- 6
- number_of_audio_dramas
- 4
- known_for
- Doctor Who homage and spin-off
Quick Facts
- Director
- Bill Baggs
- Writer
- Christian Darkin (1) / Nigel Fairs (2) / Nicholas Briggs (3–6)
- Starring
- Colin Baker / Nicola Bryant / Louise Jameson / David Troughton / John Wadmore
- Music
- Duncan Chave (1) / Alistair Lock (2) / Harvey Summers (3) / Nicholas Briggs (4) / Stephen Root (6)
- Cinematography
- Dick Kursa / Andy Bell (6)
- Editing
- Michael Duxbury (4)
- Studio
- BBV / S & J Video (3)
- Runtime
- 34 minutes (1) / 43 minutes (2) / 40 minutes (3) / 50 minutes (4) / 47 minutes (5) / 85 minutes (6)
- Country
- United Kingdom
- Language
- English
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
The Stranger series began in 1991 with Summoned by Shadows, co-produced with the BBC Film Club. The unnamed protagonist, listed as 'The Stranger', is played by Colin Baker, his assistant Miss Brown by Nicola Bryant, and the villain by Michael Wisher. The second story, More than a Messiah, adapted a Doctor Who Audio Visuals story, co-starring Sophie Aldred and Peter Miles. In Memory Alone, the third film, found the Stranger and Miss Brown stranded with amnesia, battling a robot and a man played by Nicholas Briggs. The departure of Miss Brown and the Stranger being returned to his proper time allowed the series to develop its own identity.
Reader's Guide
The Stranger series is significant as a direct-to-video continuation of the Doctor Who style during the 1990s, when the television series was off-air. It allowed Colin Baker to reprise a Doctor-like role, and featured many actors from Doctor Who. The series ran to six videos and four audio dramas, with the second audio drama much the same as the sixth video. Reception was mixed: Your Sinclair magazine described the first three films as 'well worth investigating' and 'fun and quite stylish', while Starburst magazine called Summoned by Shadows 'almost wilfully baroque'. The series also established a separate mythology involving the Dimensional Web, the Protectorate, and the Preceptors, with the Stranger revealed to be a former Preceptor named Solomon who underwent the Estrangement Programme.
Did You Know?
- The Stranger series began in 1991 with Summoned by Shadows, co-produced with the BBC Film Club.
- The protagonist is listed in the credits as 'The Stranger' and is played by Colin Baker.
- The second story, More than a Messiah, adapted a Doctor Who Audio Visuals story.
- The audio drama Eye of the Storm is the basis for the video Eye of the Beholder, with a different ending.
More in British film series 1-24
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