The first Australian science fiction TV series
has been given a new lease of life.
The Stranger
enjoyed immediate popularity when first broadcast on the ABC in
1964, but has since faded into obscurity.
However a team of dedicated film archivists has
remastered the show for release on ABC iview.
Producer and director Storry Walton
recalled
in an interview
that he was astonished at the freedom the show was given to film at Australian
landmarks.
"For instance, we were given almost free reign on the then quite new
Parkes radio telescope. For three days we virtually took it over and our cast fiddled with
the actual controls in the command centre.
And we had a chase sequence which was a chase across the open dish of
the telescope, which they allowed us to lower to its lowest possible
point so that our hero schoolboy could race down the open dish, sit on
the rim and jump down on to the ground."
The image above is taken from that scene. (Image credit: ABC)
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