The Strangerers

From The Goon Show Depository

The Strangerers
The Strangerers title screen.jpg
Title screen
GenreComedy drama
Science fiction
Created byRob Grant
Written byRob Grant
Directed byLiddy Oldroyd
Nick Wood
StarringMark Williams
Jack Docherty
Sarah Alexander
Mark Heap
Milton Jones
Morwenna Banks
David Walliams
Paul Darrow
Doon Mackichan
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of series1
No. of episodes9
Production
Camera setupSingle-camera setup
Running time60 minutes (Episode 1)
30 minutes (Episodes 2–9)
Production companiesAbsolutely Television
Taken for Granted Productions Ltd.
Original release
NetworkSky One
Release15 February (2000-02-15) –
11 April 2000 (2000-04-11)

The Strangerers is a British television comedy-drama science fiction series written by Rob Grant (best known as co-creator of Red Dwarf) and was broadcast on Sky One between 15 February and 11 April 2000.

A single series was made with a total of nine episodes (the first being one hour in length and the rest 30 minutes each). The show ended on a cliffhanger. It has not been released on DVD, nor repeated since its original run.

Plot

The story centres around two alien agents, Cadet Flynn and Pseudo-Cadet Niven. They are incredibly advanced and evolved vegetables on a fact finding mission to Earth, where they take on human form. Their supervisor is accidentally decapitated shortly after arrival, leaving the cadets to fend for themselves. Through the course of the series the aliens discover the intricacies of basic needs, like the eating ritual, the sleeping ritual and how to purchase things, usually doing so in their own idiosyncratic manner.

Their exact whereabouts on Earth is something of a mystery. The society in which they find themselves bears some resemblance to both Britain and America, and there are hints that a totalitarian government is in charge. There are also street gangs parodying those in A Clockwork Orange. Two agents and their apparently psychopathic commander try to capture the aliens. The aliens repeatedly escape, but not without suffering occasional injuries themselves.

Cast

Episodes

No.TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal air date
1"Space Cadets"Liddy OldroydRob Grant15 February 2000 (2000-02-15)
2"Vegetables"Liddy OldroydRob Grant22 February 2000 (2000-02-22)
3"Crunchy Munchy"Liddy OldroydRob Grant29 February 2000 (2000-02-29)
4"Fargle"Liddy OldroydRob Grant7 March 2000 (2000-03-07)
5"Zap Type 'Z'"Nick WoodRob Grant14 March 2000 (2000-03-14)
6"Angels"Nick WoodRob Grant21 March 2000 (2000-03-21)
7"The Streets of Laredo"Nick WoodRob Grant28 March 2000 (2000-03-28)
8"Eyepoppers"Nick WoodRob Grant4 April 2000 (2000-04-04)
9"The Getawaying"Nick WoodRob Grant11 April 2000 (2000-04-11)

External links