Strange Report
| Strange Report | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Starring |
Anthony Quayle Kaz Garas Anneke Wills |
| Opening theme | Roger Webb |
| Composer(s) | Roger Webb |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of episodes | 16 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Norman Felton |
| Producer(s) | Robert Buzz Berger |
| Running time | 50 mins |
| Production company(s) | Arena Productions |
| Distributor | ITC Entertainment |
| Release | |
| Original network | ITV |
| Picture format | 35 mm film 4:3 Colour |
| Audio format | Mono |
| Original release | 21 September 1969 – 11 January 1970 |
Strange Report is a British television drama starring Anthony Quayle as Adam Strange. It was produced by ITC Entertainment and first broadcast in 1969.
Adam Strange, a retired Home Office criminologist, solves bizarre cases – which had been marked "Open File" by various government departments – with the help of Hamlyn Gynt (Kaz Garas), Evelyn (Anneke Wills) and Professor Marks (Charles Lloyd-Pack). He employed the latest techniques in forensic investigation, which he undertook in his own laboratory in his flat in Warwick Crescent in the Maida Vale/Little Venice area of Paddington.
Unlike other ITC productions, which were created in order to be sold to the U.S. market, Strange Report was created in collaboration with NBC's films unit Arena in the United States with the suggestion that the first half of the series would take place in the United Kingdom and the second half would see Strange visiting the United States. This fell through, which explains why such a short season of episodes was created. The second series also fell through because Quayle and Wills decided not to continue due to personal concerns.
In the United States, NBC broadcast Strange Report from 8 January 1971, to 10 September 1971. It aired on Fridays from 10:00 to 11:00 p.m. Eastern Time throughout its American run.[1]
The series opening theme, composed by Roger Webb, was also available as sheet music.
Cast and characters
- Anthony Quayle – Adam Strange
- Kaz Garas – Hamlyn Gynt
- Anneke Wills – Evelyn McClean
Episode list
Filmed July 1968 – March 1969 on location and at Pinewood Studios, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire.
Airdate[2] is for ATV Midlands. ITV regions varied date and order.
| Episode # | Prod # | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original airdate | Filmed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 104 | "REPORT 5055: CULT Murder Shrieks Out" | Charles Crichton | Morris Farhi | 21 September 1969 | Sept. 1968 |
| When a pop singer is electrocuted during a charity performance, Adam Strange becomes involved with a charity collecting religious sect, which requires Ham to infiltrate. | ||||||
| 2 | 103 | "REPORT 0649: SKELETON Let Sleeping Heroes Lie" | Peter Medak | Brian Degas and Tudor Gates | 28 September 1969 | Aug/Sept 1968 |
| When a skeleton of a man found on a London second world war bombsite was killed by a bullet and not a falling bomb, Adam Strange investigates a thirty-year-old crime. | ||||||
| 3 | 115 | "REPORT 2641: HOSTAGE If You Won't Learn, Die" | Charles Crichton | John Kruse | 5 October 1969 | Feb. 1969 |
| Adam Strange is called in to mediate when a Chinese diplomat is kidnapped and the Chinese threaten to retaliate. | ||||||
| 4 | 116 | "REPORT 0846:LONELY HEARTS Who Killed Dan Cupid" | Peter Duffell | Roger Parkes | 12 October 1969 | Feb/Mar 1969 |
| The owner of a Lonely Hearts club is murdered and the police arrest a client recently introduced to a girl who has a big time crook for a friend. | ||||||
| 5 | 113 | "REPORT 8319: GRENADE What Price Change?" | Charles Crichton | Bill Strutton | 19 October 1969 | Jan, 1969 |
| Two opposing factions at a university demonstrating about defence research taking place looks like descending into violence. The police ask Adam Strange to look into the affair. | ||||||
| 6 | 110 | "REPORT 3906:COVERGIRLS Last Year's Model" | Peter Duffell | Terence Maples | 26 October 1969 | Nov/Dec 1968 |
| Adam Strange finds himself entangled in the world of fashion where Evelyn is modelling for a designer whose collection is stolen and is threatened unless she pulls out of the show. | ||||||
| 7 | 107 | "REPORT 3424: EPIDEMIC A Most Curious Crime" | Daniel Petrie | Don Brinkley | 2 November 1969 | Oct/Nov 1968 |
| Adam Strange meets the men who turn blood into gold by smuggling illegal immigrants into Britain. One of the immigrants has cholera bringing with it heartbreak, disillusion, and murder. | ||||||
| 8 | 109 | "REPORT 2475: REVENGE When a Man Hates" | Charles Crichton | Martin Hall | 9 November 1969 | Nov. 1968 |
| Adam Strange finds himself on a death list of a man released from prison bent on revenge on the people who put him there. The problem is who is he and where is he? | ||||||
| 9 | 114 | "REPORT 1021: SHRAPNEL The Wish in the Dream" | Brian Smedley-Ashton | Jan Read | 23 November 1969 | Feb. 1969 |
| Adam Strange becomes personally involved when he receives a coded tape recording following the death of a man whose autopsy he attends when a piece of shrapnel in the body is identified as Japanese. The strange events lead to an eternal triangle and possible murder. | ||||||
| 10 | 112 | "REPORT 8944:HAND A Matter of Witchcraft" | Peter Duffell | Edward DeBlasio | 30 November 1969 | Dec/Jan 1969 |
| Adam Strange is asked to help the police when a young office secretary is murdered in brutal circumstances and witchcraft is involved. | ||||||
| 11 | 102 | "REPORT 1553:RACIST A Most Dangerous Proposal" | Peter Duffell | Arthur Dales | 7 December 1969 | Aug. 1968 |
| The conflicting ideals of father and daughter, he a racist leader of an anti-black organisation and she tolerant and a believer in integration. When a clergyman is murdered and the father is suspected Scotland Yard ask Adam Strange to investigate a potential explosive racial situation. | ||||||
| 12 | 106 | "REPORT 7931: SNIPER When is Your Cousin Not?" | Peter Medak | Nicholas Palmer | 14 December 1969 | Oct.1968 |
| A student leader is murdered in an East European country Adam Strange is lured there to investigate by a girl who claims to be Strange's cousin. | ||||||
| 13 | 111 | "REPORT 4821:X-RAY Who Weeps for the Doctor?" | Charles Crichton | Roger Parkes | 21 December 1969 | Dec. 1968 |
| A man commits suicide because a set of X-Rays showing he had a brain tumour. At the autopsy no such condition existed. Adam Strange investigates how this mistake could have occurred. | ||||||
| 14 | 105 | "REPORT 2493:KIDNAP Whose Pretty Girl Are You" | Daniel Petrie | Don Brinkley | 28 December 1969 | Sept. 1968 |
| A beauty queen is kidnapped but is it a publicity stunt or real? The girl's wealthy father asks Strange to help and what is thought to be a hoax takes a nasty turn. | ||||||
| 15 | 101 | "REPORT 4407: HEART No Choice for the Donor" | Robert Asher | Edward DeBlasio | 4 January 1970 | July/Aug. 1968 |
| When a noted heart surgeon goes missing, his wife goes to Adam Strange believing he has been kidnapped to perform a heart transplant on a ruthless foreign dictator using a live donor. | ||||||
| 16 | 108 | "REPORT 4977: SWINDLE Square Root of Evil" | Brian Smedley-Aston | Leigh Vance | 11 January 1970 | Nov. 1968 |
| A gang of swindlers trick a banknote printing company into printing a massive order of notes with the government having no knowledge of it. | ||||||
Broadcast
The series was repeated on UK satellite channel Bravo in 1996/97, and on UK digital channel ITV4, from digitally restored prints, in 2005/2006, (the episode 'Heart' was not screened by ITV4), satellite channel Men and Motors also screened the series in 2007.
Home media
Techno Film released two episodes – SHRAPNEL and HOSTAGE – on Super 8 cine film for home use in 1970.
ITC Video released two VHS tapes of the series in the UK in 1994, containing the episodes – 'Heart'/'X-Ray', and 'Covergirls'/'Cult'.
The full series was released on DVD in the UK by Network as a 5 Disc Special Edition in 2004 and as a 4 Disc Edition in 2005. The 5 Disc Special Edition was subsequently re-released in the UK in 2007 and the 4 Disc set in 2009: The series was digitally restored for Carlton Visual Entertainment by BBC Resources in 2003. The series was also released on DVD in Australia by Umbrella Entertainment in 2007.
Novel
A paperback novel "based on the famous TV series" and written by John Burke was published by Hodder & Stoughton in 1970.
Records
The theme to the series by Roger Webb was released as a 7 inch single on Columbia records (DB 8803) in 1971. "The World of Love", the song from the episode Cult, was released as the b-side to The Strangers first single, "I've Got You", on the little-known Harvard record label (Harv 001) in 1970. The accompaniment to the song is credited to Geoff Love who, in 1972, recorded his own version of the Strange Report theme for the Music For Pleasure LP "Geoff Love and his Orchestra Play Your Top TV Themes" (MFP 5272). This version can also be found on the Virgin Records CD's "This Is Easy" (1996) and "This is....Cult Fiction Royale" (1997), and the "ITV 50 Cult TV Themes" CD (2005) released to celebrate 50 years of ITV.
In 2009 Network issued a soundtrack album containing Webb's theme music and original scores composed for the episodes "REPORT 4407: HEART - No Choice for the Donor," "REPORT 1553: RACIST - A Most Dangerous Proposal," "REPORT 0649: SKELETON - Let Sleeping Heroes Lie," "REPORT 5055: CULT - Murder Shrieks Out," "REPORT 7931: SNIPER - When is Your Cousin Not?" and "REPORT 3424: EPIDEMIC - A Most Curious Crime," as well as unused and alternate takes plus library music from other composers also used in the series.
Note: 'The Strangers' mentioned here should not be confused with either the Australian or Irish groups of the same name.