"... 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 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. Following the series, a further spin-off, simply entitled Bulman, ran for two series on ITV. The series follows Bulman, again played by Don Henderson, as he continues to dabble in private detective work after retiring from the police force. All five series of Strangers were released on DVD via the Network imprint as a complete box-set on 19 October 2009.
Characters
Initially, the 'Unit 23' team consisted of Bulman, Willis and WDC Linda Doran. Their local liaison was provided by Detective Sergeant David Singer, while their superior officer was Detective Chief Inspector Rainbow. Despite being based around a comparatively small team of detectives, a regular feature of the programme in its early years was that few episodes featured the entire team, with most using just two or three of the regulars in any major role. The second series, shown in early 1979, introduced the character of WDC Vanessa Bennett, played by Fiona Mollison, who replaced the outgoing Frances Tomelty. David Hargreaves would also depart the show following this series. For the third series, Bulman, Willis, Bennett and the newly promoted Detective Inspector Singer became members of the 'Inner City Squad', under the command of Detective Chief Superintendent Jack Lambie. The basic premise was similar, but rather than covering just the north west of England, the team's remit now extended to the whole country. By the fourth series, Bulman had also gained promotion to Detective Chief Inspector. This series also re-introduced the semi-regular character of William 'Bill' Dugdale, a member of the British Foreign Office and Secret Services who would become involved when there was a political or intelligence aspect to the investigation. His role was not necessarily to help the detectives; that would only happen when it was in the government's interest for them to succeed.
Production
The first series was shot primarily on videotape, with only location footage shot on film. The second series would feature even more film, with the opening episode The Wheeler Dealers being shot entirely on film, and the final episode, Marriages, Deaths And Births, being shot entirely on film bar 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 incorporated a number of writers, with only Leslie Duxbury writing more than one episode. He would later contribute one further script for the second series. During series two, series creator Murray Smith came to the fore as the principal writer, having only previously scripted one episode for the first series. Smith went on to write all but six of the remaining twenty-five episodes.
