''Strange Report'' is a British television crime drama series starring

Anthony Quayle Sir John Anthony Quayle (7 September 1913 – 20 October 1989) was a British actor and theatre director. He was nominated for an Oscar and a Golden Globe for his supporting role as Thomas Wolsey in the film '' Anne of the Thousand Days'' (1969 ...

as Adam Strange. It was produced by

ITC Entertainment The Incorporated Television Company (ITC), or ITC Entertainment as it was referred to in the United States, was a British company involved in production and distribution of television programmes. History Incorporated Television Programme Compan ...

and first broadcast in 1969 on ITV In the United States, NBC broadcast ''Strange Report'' between 8 January and 10 September 1971. It aired on Fridays from 10:00 to 11:00 p.m.

Eastern Time The Eastern Time Zone (ET) is a time zone encompassing part or all of 23 states in the eastern part of the United States, parts of eastern Canada, the state of Quintana Roo in Mexico, Panama, Colombia, mainland Ecuador, Peru, and a small ...

throughout its American run.

Plot

Adam Strange, a retired Home Office criminologist, solves bizarre cases with the help of Hamlyn Gynt ( Kaz Garas), Evelyn McClean (

Anneke Wills Anneke Wills (; born Anna Katarina Willys, 20 October 1941) is an English actress, best known for her role as the Doctor Who companion Polly in the long-running BBC science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. Biography Wills's father, ...

) and sometimes Professor Marks ( Charles Lloyd-Pack). He employs the latest techniques in

forensic investigation Forensic science, also known as criminalistics, is the application of science to criminal and civil laws, mainly—on the criminal side—during criminal investigation, as governed by the legal standards of admissible evidence and criminal p ...

, which he undertakes in his own laboratory in his flat in

Warwick Crescent Warwick Crescent is a street in Little Venice, London. It connects Harrow Road with Westbourne Terrace Road, running along the southern edge of the Grand Union Canal. The street began to be built up around 1852 when William Buddle purchased 12 ...

in the

Maida Vale Maida Vale ( ) is an affluent residential district consisting of the northern part of Paddington in West London, west of St John's Wood and south of Kilburn. It is also the name of its main road, on the continuous Edgware Road. Maida Vale ...

Little Venice Little Venice is a district in West London, England, around the junction of the Paddington Arm of the Grand Union Canal, the Regent's Canal, and the entrance to Paddington Basin. The junction forms a triangular shape basin. Many of the build ...

area of London.

Cast

as Adam Strange * Kaz Garas as Hamlyn Gynt *

as Evelyn McClean

Production

Development

Unlike other ITC productions, which were created in order to be sold to the U.S. market, ''Strange Report'' was created in collaboration with

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

's films unit Arena in the United States (the show's executive producer was

Norman Felton Norman Francis Felton (April 29, 1913 – June 25, 2012) was a British-born American television producer, known for his involvement in shows such as ''The Man from U.N.C.L.E.'' and ''Dr. Kildare''. Background Felton was born in London, the son ...

, better known for his involvement in '' The Man from U.N.C.L.E.''); the suggestion was that the first half of the series would take place in the United Kingdom, and the second half would see Strange visiting the United States. This idea could not be agreed upon, which explains why such a short season of episodes was created. Quayle and Wills decided not to continue with the series, owing to personal concerns.

Music

The series's opening theme, composed by Roger Webb, was also available as sheet music.

Filming

It was filmed between July 1968 and March 1969, on location and at

Pinewood Studios Pinewood Studios is a British film and television studio located in the village of Iver Heath, England. It is approximately west of central London. The studio has been the base for many productions over the years from large-scale films to t ...

, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire.

Episodes

AirdateDates from ITC Episode guide issued with the Network DVD is for ATV Midlands. ITV regions varied date and order.

Broadcast

The series was repeated on UK satellite channel Bravo in 1996/1997, and on UK digital terrestrial channel

ITV4 ITV4 is a British free-to-air television channel which was launched on 1 November 2005. It is owned by ITV Digital Channels, a division of ITV plc, and is part of the ITV network. The channel has a line-up that consists of sports, cult clas ...

, from digitally restored prints, in 2005/2006. (The episode 'Heart' was not screened by ITV4.) Satellite channel

Men and Motors Men & Motors was a men's lifestyle television channel in the UK. It was the last remaining station operated by the former Granada Sky Broadcasting joint venture, set up by Granada Television (now part of ITV plc) and satellite broadcaster Britis ...

also screened the series in 2007.

Home media

Techno Film released two episodes – "SHRAPNEL" and "HOSTAGE" – on Super 8 cine film for home use in 1970. ITC Video released two VHS tapes of the series in the UK in 1994, containing the episodes – 'Heart'/'X-Ray', and 'Covergirls'/'Cult'. The series was digitally restored for Carlton Visual Entertainment by BBC Resources in 2003. The full series was released on DVD in the UK by the Network imprint as a five-disc special edition in 2004 and as a four-disc edition in 2005. The special edition was subsequently re-released in the UK in 2007 and the regular one in 2009. The series was also released on DVD in Australia by Umbrella Entertainment in 2007. In 2011, Network re-released the episode 'Kidnap' in its retro-ACTION! Volume 1 Blu-Ray, this is the first time an episode of the series had been shown in a superior high-definition quality. The same episode was further released in Network's 2018 retro-ACTION! Blu-Ray.

In other media

Books

A paperback novel "based on the famous TV series" and written by John Burke was published by

Hodder & Stoughton Hodder & Stoughton is a British publishing house, now an imprint of Hachette. History Early history The firm has its origins in the 1840s, with Matthew Hodder's employment, aged 14, with Messrs Jackson and Walford, the official publishe ...

in 1970.

Records

The theme to the series by Roger Webb was released as a 7 inch single on

Columbia Columbia may refer to: * Columbia (personification), the historical female national personification of the United States, and a poetic name for America Places North America Natural features * Columbia Plateau, a geologic and geographic region i ...

records (DB 8803) in 1971. "The World of Love", the song from the episode 'Cult', was released as the B-side of The Strangers' first single, "I've Got You", on the little-known Harvard record label (Harv 001) in 1970. The accompaniment to the song is credited to Geoff Love who, in 1972, recorded his own version of the ''Strange Report'' theme for the Music For Pleasure LP ''Geoff Love and his Orchestra Play Your Top TV Themes'' (MFP 5272). This version can also be found on the

Virgin Records Virgin Records is a record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman. It grew to be a world ...

CDs ''This Is Easy'' (1996) and ''This is....Cult Fiction Royale'' (1997), and the ''ITV 50 Cult TV Themes'' CD (2005) released to celebrate 50 years of ITV. In 2009, Network issued a soundtrack album containing Webb's theme music and original scores composed for the episodes "REPORT 4407: HEART – No Choice for the Donor", "REPORT 1553: RACIST – A Most Dangerous Proposal", "REPORT 0649: SKELETON – Let Sleeping Heroes Lie", "REPORT 5055: CULT – Murder Shrieks Out", "REPORT 7931: SNIPER – When is Your Cousin Not?" and "REPORT 3424: EPIDEMIC – A Most Curious Crime", as well as unused and alternate takes, plus library music from other composers also used in the series. Note: 'The Strangers' mentioned here should not be confused with either the Australian or Irish groups of the same name.

References

External links

* * {{ITC Distributions 1960s British drama television series 1969 British television series debuts 1970 British television series endings Television series by ITC Entertainment ITV television dramas NBC original programming Television series produced at Pinewood Studios English-language television shows Television shows set in London