Strangers

This series was highly popular when first broadcast on ITV almost 40 years ago.The basic premise is that 3 undercover police officers are seconded from the Met(London Police) to an unnamed city in the North Of England where they are totally unknown to the local villains,hence the title.The trio are led by Det .Sgt Bulman played by Don Henderson whose trademarks are his perennial gloves ,nasal inhaler and plastic carrier bag.The stories aren't just the usual drug dealers,pimps and blaggers,but suspect councillors and people who get themselves involved in crime by their lack of common sense. Dennis Blanche plays Bulman's action man sidekick and the trio is completed in the first two series by the excellent Frances Tomelty, who to be honest,never seemed totally happy with the role and was replaced in series 3 by Fiona Mollison who was a kind of Purdey like character,posh accent and well able to look after herself in a tight corner. At times the stories can be very slow moving,making Inspector Morse look like Starsky and Hutch but the lack of shootouts and car chases adds to the worth of the show. Available from Network DVD in the UK and currently very well priced for the complete series on Amazon UK. Worth getting hold of if you're a fan of British cop shows from the period. The series spawned a spin-off "Bulman".

It sounds like a decent cover of Weather Report's Birdland. I am a fan of that band, co led by Wayne Shorter and Joe Zawinul and gave Jaco Pastorius world acclaim. The theme changed halfway through the run but being reminded of Weather Report in the early episodes is weird but not in a bad way.

Strangers is one of the rare examples of a spin-off series being better and more successful than where it came from. The series XYY Man introduces detectives Bulman and Willis and this series carries on with the detectives being assigned far from "the Met" in the North country.

What is typical of British drama and what draws me to their shows is how much more care in development of depth in character. It does not seem to happen quite as much in American shows from this era (it certainly does now in the memorable shows.). DS George Bulman has many idiosyncrasies that makes him a distinctly unique character. That is a credit to Kenneth Royce, Don Henderson and Murray Smith. Bulman is one of those characters that simply could not be played by a different actor. I do not feel that is quite as true with Dennis Blanch's portrayal of DC Derek Willis but that mostly is due to Willis not having as many characteristics like the gloves, nasal spray, a penchant for quoting classical literature and a taste for Nigerian lager. Having good characters makes one want to watch a show.

Police dramas were never my all time favorite form of entertainment but this show really is well written and done well. Murray Smith is a genuine talent. There is only 30 episodes but it ran for 5 years which is about how long these types of shows should run. I notice some changes over its run. It shifted to becoming a show shot entirely on film about half way through. It also seems to develop a lighter tone when that change over happened. The final episode had some genuine comedic moments toward the end of it. Even the location filming is fascinating in its own way. The location becomes a kind of character in itself especially early on in the Series. The "strangers" never do fit in there.