Strange Report

When this series first hit the screens in late 1969 I was living in bedsitter land Earls Court without a TV so missed it completely. It was only recently whilst searching IMDb for Anneke Wills who had fired my schoolboy libido when she was in Doctor Who that I came across it. I managed to score a copy of the complete series on DVD and watched all the episodes over a couple of days. This is a ten star series, well written and well-acted by all concerned, especially Anthony Quayle as Adam Strange. I love watching these series from the 60's, especially the locations as I know London from that time so well. My next move is to get all the Dept S and Jason King box sets, Peter Wyngarde had a flat in the house next to mine and drove a Jenson which he parked outside, try doing that now. It also good to see the mini-skirted Anneke Wills amongst the other swinging sixties actresses including the lovely Elaine Taylor who my father once danced with on the Isle of Wight when we had a holiday there and she was doing a summer season on Sandown pier. I think he was a bit enamoured with her, well who wouldn't be. Episodes also feature some rising stars including john Thaw, Ian Ogilvy, Rosemary Leach and Martin Shaw. It is well worth getting the DVD which has been lovingly restored and looking like it was filmed recently. There are some interviews with Martin Shaw and Zienia Merton plus short documentaries with Anneke Wills and Kaz Garas. It's just a shame the cast decided they didn't want to do a second series in the United States. I can't recommend this series enough.

Funny, but a few series have come to light recently where some bright executive has thought that it does well on Britain so we should try the 'States, and got it sunk mid Atlantic.

I did not see The Strange Report first time, as I didn't have a television in 1968, so I am glad to be able to see it now. The stories are good as is the acting, and it is all clean, so clean that when I saw the first episode from half way through, I knew it wasn't 'modern'.

This particular episode, set in a hospital was roughly contemporary with one of my spells as a hospital porter. I remember the considerable precautions that the radiologists took to ensure that patient details were recorded on the film. A small stencil was made by writing with a stylus to remove radio-opaque wax, and this was then clipped onto the negative carrier so that the stencil wax showed up white and the patient details in black writing.

Of course, different hospitals had different methods.

Nevertheless, I still like the series.

I couldn't agree more with John Hughes. What an excellent series, and such a shame they never continued it. The other night I caught an episode on ITV 4 and it brought back several happy memories of being 12 in swinging sixties Britain.

Those were the days all right, and Strange Report captures them perfectly.

In terms of raw atmosphere it has oodles in common with other well-known series from the same period like: The Baron, Man in a Suitcase, Gideon's Way and The Champions. Yet, Strange Report was 'different' in a way I can only attribute to the level-headed, avuncular personality of Adam Strange himself, played brilliantly by Anthony Quayle. I guess he was the vital essence that distinguished the series from the rest.

But hey! There was a raft of other stupendous acting talents in there too – people like: John Thaw, Robert Hardy, Martin Shaw, Ian Ogilvy, Richard O'Sullivan, Julian Glover, Bernard Lee, Kenneth Griffith, Peter Vaughan, Keith Barron and Sylvia Syms. In fact, a veritable potpourri of contemporary British stardom by any measure.

Also, Roger Webb's outstanding theme tune deserves special mention. It was up-front, very catchy and eminently arresting. A classic of the genre – and of the era.

So, all in all, if you're a die-hard sixties fan like me, I reckon Strange Report is a fab way to relive the wonder years for not a lot of dosh. You'll love this one to bits.

Honest!

This was a decent action series, but isn't as fondly remembered as, say, Randall & Hopkirk or The Saint (though it was somewhat better made, with higher production values). The premise was that Adam Strange, together with two young sidekicks, would solve unusual crimes, not through routine thick-ear violence, but rather with skill, science and psychology. The scripts were intelligent, and even (as for example in the episode with Julian Glover playing a psychotic on a revenge spree) moving. And an excellent theme tune also helped.

So far, so good. But it never quite made classic status. There are a couple of possible reasons for this. Firstly, the cast was not super-charismatic. Anthony Quayle as Adam Strange is somewhat cerebral, and Kaz Garas as Ham was not terribly engaging, with his earnest manner, strangely stooping gait and persistent references to Minnesota. Both look as if the swinging sixties were about to pass them by. On the other hand, Anneke Wills, fresh from Dr Who, continued her posh dolly bird act with her usual panache, but - as in Dr Who - was too often relegated to making the tea.

Secondly, the cases fell between several stools. It is easier to say what they are not, than what they had in common. They were not surreal. They were not glamorous. They were not spooky or supernatural. They were not action-packed. They were not comedic. They were not police procedural. They were largely, but not exclusively, restricted to Britain, and often took their premises from the headlines. The title 'Strange Report' was an unfortunate misnomer - it does lead the viewer to expect something odd or off the wall, which they rarely were.

Some sort of methodical and painstaking science or data checking was usually brought in. A typical scenario would involve Ham having to stay up all night going through the telephone directory finding all the people called Smith whose houses had North-facing aspects, forty years before mashups and Google Maps would have solved all his problems.

They were certainly enjoyable, but just fail to stick in the mind. But well worth seeing, and give a much better sense of what life was actually like in the 60s and 70s than was usual in the genre.

That was probably their problem - too real and too intelligent!

I've just recently obtained the DVD set of all 16 episodes of "The Strange Report" and have managed to watch a quite few episodes. This is really a first class series. I'm a big fan of most of the ITC productions (the golden age of UK TV), but I wasn't aware of this programme until recently. It is definitely up there with such quality ITC shows as "The Champions", "The Prisoner", "Randall and Hopkirk Deceased" and "Department S". Apparently, this series differed from the rest because it was an Anglo-American co-production, involving both American and UK producers, writers etc.

The 3 main characters interact very well on screen and there is a very good rapport between them which draws the viewer in. I think the show really stands out because it tackles some very emotive subjects such as racism, immigration, medical ethics and diplomatic incidents.

Another great aspect to all the episodes are its views of late sixties London; capturing some parts of the city which have changed over time. A lot of ITC stuff tended to rely on mostly studio and set production with a little location filming and stock footage. This programme has plenty of location work which just gives it that edge. Finally, a fantastic, vibrant and very memorable theme by Roger Webb, puts the cherry on the cake.

It would have been great to see the planned second series set in the USA. Definitely a fine example of good old Anglo-American cooperation.