The Stranger (British TV Series) - image adapted by Lou16 from a photo on Pixabay.com |
The series has a British cast that if you watch many British shows you'll probably be very familiar with. There were lots of actors that I recognise from different shows that they've popped up on. The main star of the show is Richard Armitage who as an actor first came to my attention in the British spy series Spooks, although he has a number of other credits to his name.
Another star is actress Siobhan Finneran who has appeared in several British television shows over the years, but I particularly liked her portayal of a police detective in The Moorside (available through Amazon Prime). In this show she, again, plays a detective.
I would also like to mention two other stars of the show - Shaun Dooley and Jennifer Saunders. I will be honest and say that I felt both of these actors were not (in my opinion) on their best game, but the story was strong enough that they didn't need to be better. As a fan of Shaun Dooley since I watched Married, Single, Other years ago (a great British drama series) I was a little disappointed in his acting. I've also loved Jennifer Saunders since her French and Saunders days, but I didn't feel that her acting was to the standard of the rest of the cast.
An actor that was amazing was Paul Kaye, I absolutely hated his character, he played it perfectly
This series is what I call bingeworthy. We started watching it on a Sunday night and were only going to watch one episode - 3 episodes later we had to turn it off as we had work the next day. The following night we had things on and decided to just watch one episode before bed...we watched two and it was very hard to get up the following morning.
Luckily the third night we had nothing on and the series only has 8 episodes so we managed to finish it! I recommend watching it when you have 8 hours to spare because you may not want to stop.
The main story line is very interesting as it's about a stranger approaching someone with details of a secret. What keeps it enthralling is not just wondering about the stranger, but all the intricate little threads that the writers have kept running through it. The book was adapted by screenwritter Danny Brocklehurst and he has done an amazing job.
The suspense was kept up with all these surprising things happening - as an example at the end of one of the episodes someone walks into their workplace and is greeted by their workmates. That doesn't sound very cliffhangerish now does it? However it made my husband and I both sit up as we hadn't anticipated that happening!
The ending of every episode has you wanting more and that is exactly why I loved it.
I did see that Danny Brocklehurst and Harlan Coben co- wrote another Netflix series called Safe so I am definitely going to put that one on the must watch list!
One of the great things about winter is definitely cold nights watching some great shows/movies with my hubby.
I watched this series over the course of 2 days myself. It definitely keeps you wanting to watch just one more episode. I couldn't help but think how no one has the right to tell someone else's secrets and this movie shreds light on the very real dangers of doing that. I kept thinking, why didn't she just keep her mouth shut and why does she think it is okay to step into other's happy lives and destroy them. It solidified something I have always believed, don't gossip. You really don't have the right to tell everything you think you know. I think the series is worth watching if for no other reason than to make people stop and think before they start talking.
ReplyDeleteUntil your review, I was not aware that Harlan Coben's The Stranger had been made into an 8-part TV series I have been a fan of Harlan Coben's writing for years and own all his books. I remember the story line to The Stranger. It would be interesting to see the story played out in a multi-episode series. Thanks for telling me about it, Lou.
ReplyDeleteWell that does it! I'm watching this one. Thank you!!! I love reviews on TV series because there's a lot of trial and error in finding a good one to stick with. You've really peaked my interest, I'm going to start this one tonight or tomorrow!
ReplyDeleteI'm with Elf, I have read Harlan Corben's books for years, but did not know about this series. Now I have something new to watch and thank you for pointing me in the right direction.
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