''The Intruder'' is a British drama series made by

Granada Television ITV Granada, formerly known as Granada Television, is the ITV franchisee for the North West of England and Isle of Man. From 1956 to 1968 it broadcast to both the north west and Yorkshire but only on weekdays as ABC Weekend Television was it ...

for the

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

network and was broadcast on Sundays from 2 January to 20 February 1972. There were eight episodes made, all of them running 25 minutes. The series was based on the children's book of this same name by

John Rowe Townsend John Rowe Townsend (19 May 1922 – 24 March 2014) was a British children's writer and children's literature scholar. His best-known children's novel is ''The Intruder'', which won a 1971 Edgar Award. His best-known academic work is a reference se ...

, published in 1970. The novel was well received, and won numerous awards, it was adapted for television in 1971, before being shown on television the following year. The series was shot on location, predominantly in the Cumbrian village of Ravenglass with some scenes filmed in Manchester and Anglesey.

Plot

The life of Arnold Haithwaite ( James Bate) a sixteen-year-old English boy begins to change when an overbearing and sinister one-eyed stranger called Sonny (

Milton Johns John Robert Milton (born 13 March 1938), known professionally as Milton Johns, is an English character actor who has worked almost continuously throughout his career. A versatile talent, he specialises in sinister or obsequious roles and has f ...

) arrives in the small seaside village of Skirlston, claiming to be the real Arnold Haithwaite.

Episodes

This episode guide features information which appears on the ITN Source website (http://www.itnsource.com/) Episode One: The Stranger (broadcast: 2 Jan 1972) Synopsis: Young Arnold Haithwaite's happy and uneventful life is turned around by a stranger called Sonny, claiming that he is the real Arnold Haithwaite. Arnold also meets two newcomers to his sleepy village, a 17-year-old girl and her younger brother Peter. Episode Two: Jane (broadcast: 9 Jan 1972) Episode Three: Norma (broadcast: 16 Jan 1972) Episode Four: Miss Binns (broadcast: 23 Jan 1972) Episode Five: Peter (broadcast: 30 Jan 1972) Note: The character of Peter was played by musician, songwriter, composer, producer and actor

Simon Fisher Turner Simon Fisher Turner (born 21 November 1954) is an English musician, songwriter, composer, producer and actor. After portraying Ned East in the 1971 BBC TV adaptation of ''Tom Brown's Schooldays'' and roles in films such as ''The Big Sleep'' (1 ...

. Episode Six: Jane Again (broadcast: 6 Feb 1972) Episode Seven: Mavis (broadcast: 13 Feb 1972) Synopsis: Arnold discovers the secret of his identity, whilst the villainous Sonny finds the opposition getting tougher. Note: This episode features an early television appearance from

Lynne Perrie Lynne Perrie (born Jean Dudley; 7 April 1931 – 24 March 2006) was an English actress, singer and television personality, best known as Mrs Casper in Ken Loach's 1969 film '' Kes'', Mrs Petty in the television series '' Queenie's Castle'', and ...

, who plays Mavis. Episode Eight: Me (broadcast: 20 Feb 1972)

Acclaim

When first broadcast, The Intruder won the top award as Britain's best TV show for children, and was repeated on

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

television in 1980. In 1973, Peter Plummer, who worked as a writer on the show won a BAFTA TV award for his contribution to the series. Speaking about the first episode in 2011 which had been released on DVD, Les Anderson wrote online: "Shot entirely on location on film this is not only atmospheric but also really creepy and unsettling. I look forward to seeing more."

Commercial release

In 2010 Network included the first episode ''The Stranger'' as part of their

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

compilation ''Look-Back on 70s Telly - Issue 3''. They then released the complete series on Blu-ray in October 2022.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Intruder (TV series), The 1972 British television series debuts