The Stranger (video series)

The Stranger is a series of direct-to-video (and audio CD) science-fiction dramas produced by BBV and starring Colin Baker. They are now available on DVD.

The series began in 1991 with Summoned by Shadows, co-produced with the BBC Film Club as a knowing homage to the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who (of which BBV founder Bill Baggs was a fan) and in a pragmatic attempt to take advantage of the consequent pre-existing audience. Summoned by Shadows was a Who-style tale of strange doings on a distant planet featuring three actors known for their roles in Doctor Who and playing similar characters.

The unnamed protagonist (listed in the credits as "The Stranger") was played by Colin Baker, his assistant Miss Brown by Nicola Bryant, who had played the Doctor's assistant Peri Brown opposite Colin Baker for two years, and the villain of the piece by Michael Wisher, who had been the first actor to play Davros.

The second story, More than a Messiah, adapted the Doctor Who Audio Visuals story of the same name, but with the Stranger and Miss Brown substituted for the Doctor and companion Ria (who was modelled after Peri). In a further connection, it co-starred Sophie Aldred, better known as Ace from Doctor Who, and Peter Miles, who had co-starred (opposite Wisher) in the TV serial Genesis of the Daleks – both in completely different roles.

In Memory Alone, the third film, found the Stranger and Miss Brown stranded without their mysterious transport (never seen or referred to as the TARDIS) in a desolate train station with amnesia, and battling a robot and a mysterious man played by Nicholas Briggs (who also wrote the film along with others in the Stranger series). Most releases of this film (including VHS) include a behind-the-scenes featurette and a blooper reel.