A schoolmaster finds an unconscious young man on his doorstep, takes him in and looks after him. A firm friendship develops between the stranger and the headmaster's children Bernard and Jean and their friend Peter, leading them to discover the stranger's secret: that he is from another planet and has been sent to find a new home on Earth for his people. The stranger, Adam, is joined by fellow alien Varossa. They live in a society without books where they memorise everything. In the second series the children have to enlist the help of the Australian Prime Minister when Peter is kidnapped by the alien, and a procession of intrigues eventually leads them to the aliens' home planet of Soshuniss.
Production
The Stranger was written by New Zealand-born author G.K. Saunders, produced by Storry Walton and directed by Gil Brealey, with production design by Geoffrey Wedlock. Two series of six episodes each were produced in 1964 and 1965. It was a major hit in Australia and was sold to the BBC. The series starred leading stage and radio actorRon Haddrick as "The Stranger", Adam Suisse; the children were played by Janice Dinnen and Bill Levis as Jean and Bernard Walsh and Michael Thomas as their friend Peter Cannon. The supporting cast included as Mr Walsh and as Mrs Walsh, Owen Weingott as Professor Mayer, Chips Rafferty as the Prime Minister, Reg Livermore as Varossa and Mary Mackay as the female Soshun and Ben Gabriel as the male Soshun. Other actors include Ronne Arnold, Henry Gilbert, Bernie Baia, Bill Levey, Ivor Bromley as Colonel Nash, and British actorGrant Taylor as Detective Inspector Chisholm and Jeffrey Hodgson as Detective Howell. Other minor roles are as follows: Robert McDarra plays the Squadron Leader, Denys Burrows is the Chief Police Inspector, Keith Buckley is John Robinson, Stewart Ginn is Senator Anderson and Nigel Lovell plays Group Captain Ponsonby. John Fegan and Douglas Morgan play Police officers. Alex Cann plays Rudolph Lindenberger, Dennis Carroll is Edward Mayer, and Don Philps is Wilson. Notable actors playing Soshuniss Elders include Max Phipps and Reg Evans. Istosin, the pilot of the guide ship, was played by John Unicomb and the pilot of the saucer later in the series is Scott Taylor. Judy Nunn plays a minor role in episode 7. The Lord Mayor was played by Gordon Glenwright, the Lady Mayoress by Thelma Scott and the Town Clerk by Barry Ross. The series was also notable for the fact that Saunders devised a special language that the aliens spoke amongst themselves and, like later science fiction series such as Babylon 5, they spoke English with a "foreign" accent; in the story Adam can speak German and French, and this leads to the children's father's initial assumption that he is from Switzerland. The series was made with cooperation from the CSIRO with pivotal scenes shot on location at the Parkes Observatory and the facility's radio telescope featured in the iconic opening title sequence. The CSIRO were also consulted on the design of the alien spacecraft that lands on the steps of the Sydney Town Hall where the aliens are greeted by the Prime Minister, played by veteran Australian screen star Chips Rafferty. In 2019 the entire series was digitally restored by the ABC and in January 2020 was released on their on demand service iview and the .
