About this season
Strangers is a 1978–82 ITV police procedural created and principally written by Murray Smith, based on characters created by Kenneth Royce in his novel series and subsequent 1977–78 television adaptation The XYY Man. Don Henderson and Dennis Blanch reprise their roles, respectively, of Detective Sergeant (DS) George Bulman and Detective Constable (DC) Derek Willis. A group of police officers are brought together from across the country to the north of England. There, the fact that they're not well-known gives them the advantage to infiltrate where a more familiar local detective could not. Despite being based around a comparatively small team of detectives, a regular feature in its early years is that few episodes feature the entire team, with most using just two or three regulars in any major role.
Episodes (7)
1. Retribution
Aired 14 October 1980 • 52 min
Bulman and Willis join the new inter-city detective squad and are involved in tracking down a gang of sophisticated villains running an arms-for-sale racket out of London.
2. You Can't Win 'Em All
Aired 21 October 1980 • 51 min
Bulman and Willis are assigned to a case involving the widespread fraud of major banks.
3. Armed and Dangerous
Aired 28 October 1980 • 50 min
A routine escort job turns dangerous for Bulman and Willis when they're assigned to bring a villain to London for questioning, and two inter-city detectives are murdered.
4. Racing Certainty
Aired 4 November 1980 • 52 min
Bulman and Willis find themselves going undercover to track down a gang hedging their bets by ensuring that the odds are in their favour during a racehorse meeting at Newmarket.
5. Clowns Don't Cry
Aired 11 November 1980 • 50 min
One of Bulman's criminal contacts is beaten up for no apparent reason. The trail leads Bulman and Willis into the world of counter-espionage, and a circus that chooses the towns in which it plays.
6. Tom Thumb and Other Stories
Aired 18 November 1980 • 51 min
Bulman disguises himself as a tramp hoping to catch the smugglers' 'Tom Thumb' who works Liverpool docklands. He soon discovers that with a fortune at stake the organisation behind the ring will stop at nothing to protect their interests.
7. No Orchids for Missing Blandisch
Aired 25 November 1980 • 50 min
Bulman gets a tip-off from an informer about a hired killer. With Willis and Bennett, he tries to find the connection between the killer and two arms dealers.