ALL SCI-FI

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The Stranger was a science-fiction TV-movie/pilot that debuted on NBC on February 26, 1973. It was created by Gerald Sanford (Night Gallery, ST: Deep Space Nine, Fantasy Island, A Man Called Sloane, Knight Rider, Cybermutt, Time Express, Earth: Final Conflict, Freaky Stories, Flash Gordon: TV series).

NASA astronaut Neil Stryker (Glenn Corbett) and his two fellow astronauts are on a space mission. Their ship crashes and Neil awakens to find that he is quarantined in a hospital. He discovers he's been there for quite some time, and that his fellow astronauts apparently were killed in the crash.

Neil becomes increasingly suspicious as to why he is continually being held incommunicado by the hospital. Unbeknownst to Neil, he is being closely watched by Dr. Revere (Tim O'Conner, Buck Rogers), and government agent Benedict (Cameron Mitchell : Flight to Mars, The High Chaparral).

Neil makes the decision that something is not right and that he must escape the hospital in order to find out what is really going on.

Shortly after his escape he is given a ride. Looking out at the night sky, Neil is stunned to see three moons! He now knows that he is not on his Earth but a very similar one to it. And yet, different. In time he finds out that this twin planet is located on the far side of the sun and it's unknown to Earth. The planet is called Terra, its inhabitants are left-handed, and it has a vibrant space program.

Physical suffering, poverty, and religion have been eliminated by the government known as The Perfect Order. However, everyone is under close scrutiny by this Perfect Order. Propaganda is pervasive about how good the Perfect Order is, and that it must be obeyed. Any citizens with incompatible ideas will be arrested for reconditioning. If that doesn't work, then they are executed.

Agent Benedict knows that Neil is indeed from a parallel Earth. He also knows that Neil hails from a culture that is about freedom of thought. Benedict is fiercely determined to keep these things a secret from his world. To do that he must hunt down Neil Stryker and kill him.

For his part, Neil wants to escape this harsh draconian world and somehow find his way back home.

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The Stranger is clearly inspired by George Orwell's classic novel 1984 with its Big Brother tyrannical government large & in charge. There's even a scene in The Stranger where an inhabitant of Terra informs the astronaut from Earth that you can watch TV, and the TV watches you back.

Gerry & Sylvia Anderson's feature film Journey to the Far Side of the Sun is about a twin Earth on the opposite side of our sun. In both The Stranger & movie, an astronaut discovers a civilization of beings that look just like humans, but seem to have comparable technology.

Finally, our Earth astronaut has escaped the ruthless hegemony of The Perfect Order at the conclusion of the TV-movie/pilot. He is now on the run for his very life, just like Dr. Richard Kimble on The Fugitive.