Strangers (1978 TV series)

Strangers
Genre	Crime drama
Created by	Murray Smith
Starring	Don Henderson Dennis Blanch Frances Tomelty John Ronane David Hargreaves Fiona Mollison Mark McManus Bruce Bould Thorley Walters
Composer	Mike Moran
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language	English
No. of seasons	5
No. of episodes	32 (list of episodes) Preview warning: Page using Template:Infobox television with "list_episodes" parameter using self-link. See Infobox instructions and MOS:INFOBOXPURPOSE.
Production
Executive producer	Richard Everitt
Producer	Mervyn Watson
Cinematography	Mike Thomson Mike Popley
Editor	David Rees
Running time	60 minutes
Production company	Granada Television
Original release
Network	ITV
Release	5 June 1978 (1978-06-05) – 20 October 1982 (1982-10-20)
Related
The XYY Man Bulman
Infobox instructions (only shown in preview)

Strangers is a British television crime drama series, principally written and created by Murray Smith, and first broadcast on ITV on 5 June 1978. The series, featuring the characters of Detective Sergeant George Bulman (Don Henderson) and his assistant Detective Constable Derek Willis (Dennis Blanch), was a spin-off from the 1976 TV series The XYY Man, adapted from the novels of Kenneth Royce.^[1] The series was first suggested by Granada Television executives, who in 1977, outlined their plan to devise a new series to feature the regular characters of Bulman and Willis.^[2]

"... I was sent here to be a stranger in town, a face they didn't recognise ..." - George Bulman

The series began life as a fairly standard police drama, with Bulman positioned as its eccentric lead. The series' premise centred around a group of police officers, including Bulman and Willis, known as 'Unit 23', who are brought together from different parts of the country to Manchester to infiltrate areas and investigate crimes that familiar local detectives could not.^[3] Five series were broadcast, with the final episode airing on 20 October 1982.

All five series of Strangers were released on DVD via the Network imprint as a complete box-set on 19 October 2009.^[4]

Following the series, a further spin-off, simply entitled Bulman, ran for two series on ITV. It follows Bulman, again played by Don Henderson, as he retires from the police and becomes a private detective.