''Strangers'' is a British television

crime drama Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combin ...

series, principally written and created by Murray Smith, and first broadcast on ITV on 5 June 1978. The series, featuring the characters of Detective Sergeant George Bulman (

Don Henderson Donald Francis Henderson (10 November 1931 – 22 June 1997)Ancestry/Find My Past (his birth was registered in the December 1931 quarter) was an English actor. He was known for playing both "tough guy" roles and authority figures, and is remem ...

) and his assistant Detective Constable Derek Willis (Dennis Blanch), was a spin-off from the 1976 TV series ''

The XYY Man ''The XYY Man'' began as a series of novels by Kenneth Royce, featuring the character of William (or Willie) 'Spider' Scott, a one-time cat-burglar who leaves prison aiming to go straight but finds his talents still to be very much in demand ...

'', adapted from the novels of Kenneth Royce. The series was first suggested by Granada Television executives, who in 1977, outlined their plan to devise a new series to feature the regular characters of Bulman and Willis.

"... I was sent here to be a stranger in town, a face they didn't recognise ..." - George Bulman

The series began life as a fairly standard police drama, with Bulman positioned as its eccentric lead. The series' premise centred around a group of police officers, including Bulman and Willis, known as 'Unit 23', who are brought together from different parts of the country to

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

to infiltrate areas and investigate crimes that familiar local detectives could not. Five series were broadcast, with the final episode airing on 20 October 1982. All five series of ''Strangers'' were released on DVD via the Network imprint as a complete box-set on 19 October 2009. Following the series, a further spin-off, simply entitled '' Bulman'', ran for two series on ITV. It follows Bulman, again played by Don Henderson, as he retires from the police and becomes a private detective.

Characters

Initially Unit 23 consisted of Bulman, Willis and WDC Linda Doran (

Frances Tomelty Frances Tomelty (born 6 October 1948) is a Northern Irish actress whose numerous television credits include ''Strangers'' (1978–1979), '' Testament of Youth'' (1979), ''Inspector Morse'' (1988), ''Cracker'' (1993), '' The Amazing Mrs Pritchard ...

). Local liaison was provided by Detective Sergeant David Singer (

John Ronane John Ronane (11 December 1933 – 15 May 2019) was a British actor. He appeared onstage in the West End, in movies in Hollywood and Europe, on television and radio. As a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, he appeared in the original produ ...

), while their superior officer was Detective Chief Inspector Rainbow ( David Hargreaves). In the early years few episodes featured all five of these characters, most using just two or three of the regulars. The second series, shown in early 1979, introduced WDC Vanessa Bennett, played by

Fiona Mollison Fiona Mollison (born 9 January 1954) is a British television and theatre actress. Her father managed a rubber company in British Malaya, and sent Fiona to England to a boarding school. She attended Bush Davies School of Theatre Arts to learn ...

, who replaced Frances Tomelty. David Hargreaves also departed the show following this series. For the third series Bulman, Willis, Bennett and the newly promoted Detective Inspector Singer became members of the Inter City Squad under the command of Detective Chief Superintendent Jack Lambie (

Mark McManus Mark McManus (21 February 1935 – 6 June 1994) was a Scottish actor. He has played roles in British television series '' Sam,'' '' Bulman, The Brothers, Strangers,'' and ''Dramarama'' and starred in the feature film '' 2000 Weeks''. He was ...

). The basic premise was similar, but rather than covering just the Northwest of England the squad's remit extended to the whole country. By the fourth series Bulman had also gained promotion to Detective Chief Inspector. This series also reintroduced the semi-regular character William Dugdale (

Thorley Walters Thorley Swinstead Walters (12 May 1913 – 6 July 1991) was an English character actor. He is probably best remembered for his comedy film roles such as in '' Two-Way Stretch'' and '' Carlton-Browne of the FO''. Early life Walters was born in T ...

), a member of the British Foreign Office and the Secret Intelligence Service, who became involved when there was a political or intelligence aspect to an investigation.

Production

The first series was shot primarily on videotape, with only location footage being shot on film. The second series featured more use on film: the opening episode, "The Wheeler Dealers", was shot entirely on film and the final episode, "Marriages, Deaths and Births", was shot entirely on film except for the title sequence and a small number of scenes at the police station. From the third series onwards the entire production moved to 16mm film. The first series was scripted by a number of writers, and only

Leslie Duxbury Leslie Montgomery Duxbury (13 June 1926 – 17 October 2005) was a British newspaper sports writer and columnist born in Great Harwood, Lancashire. He turned his attention to television and became a writer for the ITV1 ITV1 (formerly known as ...

wrote more than one episode. He contributed one further script, for the second series. During series two the series creator, Murray Smith, became the principal writer, and he wrote all but six of the remaining twenty-five episodes.

Cast

as DS/DCI George Bulman * Dennis Blanch as DC/DS Derek Willis *

as WDC Linda Doran (Series 1—2) *

as DS/DI David Singer (Series 1—4) * David Hargreaves as DCI Rainbow (Series 1—2) *

as WDC Vanessa Bennett (Series 2—5) *

as DCS Jack Lambie (Series 3—5) * Bruce Bould as DI Tom Casey (Series 3) *

as William Dugdale (Series 3—5)

Episodes

Series 1 (1978)

Series 2 (1979)

Series 3 (1980)

Series 4 (1981)

Series 5 (1982)

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, id=0077086, title=Strangers ITV television dramas British thriller television series Television shows based on British novels British television spin-offs 1978 British television series debuts 1982 British television series endings 1970s British drama television series 1980s British drama television series British detective television series Television series by ITV Studios English-language television shows Television shows produced by Granada Television