For 55 years, 12 episodes of a hit science-fiction TV show, The Stranger, sat in the ABC's film vaults, catalogued, preserved, and largely forgotten.
But who knew the meaning they held for a 90-year-old man at the end of his life and the family who adored him?
Accomplished actor Ron Haddrick was the star of The Stranger, which hit TV screens in 1964.
In an impressive career spanning more than 65 years, on radio, stage and screen, he regarded his performance as Adam Suisse, a mysterious visitor from space, as one of his finest and most important roles.
"It was the role that gave him a public profile," says his son Greg Haddrick, renowned screen writer and TV executive producer.
But it was a performance he'd not seen since it first went to air, and feared was long discarded.
"Dad thought the master copies of The Stranger had been lost forever and that saddened him," says Greg, who recalls his father often speaking of the program in the decades after it was made.
"Ten years ago, we found out that parts of episode 1 are held at the National Film and Sound Archive and he thought well, at least there is some surviving remnant.
"In the last six months of his life he was very sick, and it was in early February when we said to him, 'Guess what? The ABC has put The Stranger on iView.
"He said 'wow', and it put a really big smile on his face.
"Then there was a lovely day when he sat and watched the first episode with mum holding his hand."
The universe looking after him through his end of life
After months in hospital battling meningitis, Ron was physically weak and bedridden.
His daughter Lyn Haddrick held up an iPad for him to watch the first episode as his wife of 67 years, Lorraine, sat beside him.
"He watched it with a lot of concentration, and avidly," recalls Lyn.
"He remembered all this detail about shooting it, particularly the beginning which shows him lying at a gate and the rain coming down — he could remember that night vividly.
"He said he was surprised at how it stood up so well 50 years on.
"He was really proud."
It was a particularly poignant moment for Lorraine.
"It meant a tremendous amount to me," she says.
"The years go by and he's done so much but The Stranger and The Outcasts [another early ABC TV program in which he starred] were two we always remembered, and it did occur to us that we'd never see the episodes again, so it was really lovely to watch them again, together.
"He looked so young — he said I was 35 when I did that — and it meant a lot to me to see him performing as a young man.
"I remember our grand-daughter Milly coming in and saying 'Papa, I have seen all The Stranger and you were so handsome!'."
The family planned to watch the remaining 11 episodes together, but sadly Ron passed away before they could.
Lorraine has since watched them all.
"I enjoyed watching him again. It's brought me some comfort, given me some solace," she says.
An important program in Australian TV history
Ron Haddrick was regarded as one of the finest actors of his generation.
In the 50s, he performed five seasons with the The Shakespeare Memorial Theatre Company (now known as the Royal Shakespeare Company) at Stratford-upon-Avon, alongside giants of the stage Laurence Olivier, Vivien Leigh, Michael Redgrave and John Gielgud.
He appeared in countless plays, (and later musicals), with Australia's top theatre companies and greatest actors, including Ruth Cracknell and John Bell.
One of his most memorable performances was a leading role in the first production of David Williamson's iconic play The Club.
On screen, Haddrick appeared in a wide range of popular TV shows from Homicide to Underbelly, Mother and Son, Home and Away and Cloudstreet.
But The Stranger (and his role in The Outcasts) represented, for Haddrick, the vindication of a gutsy decision to leave a successful career in the UK and return home to help grow the fledgling Australian theatre and television industry.
"Ron was very happy with The Stranger because it was written by an Australian and produced and directed by Storry Walton, an Australian, and it was an Australian cast — before then they were mainly English programs with English actors," recalls Lorraine.
"This is what he came back from the UK for, because he wanted to help Australian TV and theatre to build up and he was delighted The Stranger was being made."
Was The Stranger Australia's Doctor Who?
The Stranger, which also featured legendary film actor Chips Rafferty in one episode, launched in 1964 at a time when the wonder of space exploration captured the public's imagination.
"At the time it was broadcast, The Stranger was a huge success, both in Australia and the UK — it was the first ABC Television production sold to the BBC," says ABC archivist Jon Steiner.
"While Doctor Who went on to become a long-running cult classic The Stranger faded into obscurity."
That was until archivist Helen Meany stumbled across it in a film database when looking for content for RetroFocus, which she and colleague Jon Steiner created to give old programs and news clips from the ABC's vast film and television collection a second life on digital platforms.
"We started watching it and were really blown away by the writing and acting," says Steiner.
"It's quite a sophisticated and complex story, and, far from being just a kitschy retro sci-fi series, it actually holds up extremely well today thanks to both its great storytelling and its forward-thinking themes.
"We loved it so much but weren't sure if that was just because we're archives nerds, so we did a test viewing with our spouses and kids, and they all loved it too.
"We then became obsessed with getting it back out in the world, but there were a few hurdles to overcome."
The ABC had to get permission from the estate of the writer, Ken Saunders, clear rights with the 35 actors in the series and then embark on a complicated remastering of the film.
"Nearly two years after Helen first mentioned it, we finally got to launch it on iView and YouTube and watch the world react to The Stranger and read all the comments on YouTube, Twitter and Facebook," says Steiner.
"Across platforms, it's achieved more than 100,000 views and it was really fun to get to share it with such an appreciative audience."
A truly special and treasured moment
There was no audience more appreciative than in the home of Ron Haddrick.
"It made me very happy to see how happy he was at what he'd achieved," says Greg Haddrick.
"Dad was a very modest man who often felt he hadn't actually achieved as much as he could have or would have.
"Just to see he was pleased with his performance in The Stranger and, in last two or three days, that he could look back on his life and career with happiness and pride was a lovely thing.
After his father died, Greg Haddrick wrote to a contact at the ABC to pass on to those who were behind the remastering of The Stranger how much it meant to Ron and the family.
"One of the joys of his last two weeks of life was to see the ABC re-launch via iView. To see my mother sit beside him and hold his hand … watching what Dad was capable of in his prime after 55 years, when he thought for decades that famous show had been lost forever, was a truly special, treasured moment. Please pass on my extreme gratitude to whoever took the decision to put the show up on iView. They couldn't have had any idea what a beautiful thing for us it was." Greg Haddrick
The archive team had previously heard of Ron's death and hoped he'd been able to watch The Stranger.
"We were heartbroken to hear of his death," says Steiner.
"We had been watching the episodes over and over while restoring the series, and he felt so familiar and beloved to us.
"A few weeks later, Helen and I received Greg's email.
"I was so happy that Ron had had a chance to see it, and so grateful to hear how much it meant to him and to Greg.
"That alone made the whole endeavour worthwhile."
Read more behind-the-scenes stories on ABC Backstory and watch The Stranger on iview or on the ABC TV and iview YouTube channel
No comments:
Post a Comment