The Stranger: Summoned by Shadows

"I misunderstood the nature of the universe..."

This is, and is not, a Doctor Who spin-off- indeed, it riffs and perhaps relies on that very ambiguity. Please bear with me, non-Doctor Who fans; this is, I fear, something of a niche little short film, made in 1991 during that long hiatus of 1989 to 2005 where, one failed American TV pilot aside, Doctor Who had been cancelled by the BBC, perhaps forever, and it fell to fandom to fill the space with various amateur and, indeed, not so amateur material.

This is the first of several straight-to-video productions by Bill Baggs, and it's a fascinating artifact, very much of its time. The music, the hair, the cinematography, the camera angles- it all screams 1991. Although obviously cheap, the whole thing manages to look good, partly through cleverly relying on intrigue and atmosphere over spectacle. While it stars Colin Baker, the overall mood and effect is strongly evocative of the McCoy years, and of Andrew Cartmel's vision far more than Eric Saward.

It's rather good for what it is- watching it today, the plot feels very much like a New Adventures novel, but such was the zeitgeist. Colin Baker, in particular, is superb as a perhaps later version of hs Doctor, world-weary and far more self-aware. Michael Wisher, always a joy to see, is similarly excellent as the villain.  But this is very much of its time, very much aimed at a telefantasy audience with none of the mass appeal through character drama that RTD would one day bring.

Its a promising and entertaining watch, though, especially for what it is, and very much worthwhile to the Doctor Who completist.