The Wanderer (TV series)

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The Wanderer
GenreFantasy drama
Created byTom Gabbay
Roy Clarke
Written byRoy Clarke
Directed byBob Mahoney (episode 1)
Terry Marcel
(episodes 2, 3 and 5)
Christopher King
(episodes 4 and 9)
Alan Grint
(episodes 6–8 and 12–13)
Rick Stroud
(episodes 10 and 11)
StarringBryan Brown
Tony Haygarth
Kim Thomson
Deborah Moore
Otto Tausig
ComposersPaul Hart
Joe Campbell
Bob Mahoney (vocals)
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Germany
Spain
Original languageEnglish
No. of episodes13
Production
Executive producersKeith Richardson
Tom Gabbay
ProducerSteve Lanning
Production locationsLeeds (England)
Salzburg (Austria)
Munich (Germany)
Soria (Spain)
London (England)
Scarborough (England)
Running time55 minutes (including adverts)
Production companyFingerTip Films for Yorkshire Television and British Sky Broadcasting
Release
Original networkSky One (United Kingdom)
ZDF (Germany)
Antena 3 (Spain)
Picture format4:3
Audio formatStereo
Original release14 September –
7 December 1994 (1994-12-07)

The Wanderer is a fantasy drama television miniseries of a British origin, first transmitted on Sky One from 14 September to 7 December 1994, and comprising 13 hour-long episodes.

Every episode brings a new adventure, and the story of long-ago brothers Adam and Zachary, Princess Beatrice, and Lady Clare slowly unfolds as the present-day Adam searches for the original Zachary's grave, a magic stone, and a lost book of power.

Premise[]

The central characters of the programme were created, and its core format was developed, by Tom Gabbay, who also served as executive producer of the series, which was filmed on locations in Austria, Germany, Spain, and England, including Chinatown in London, Helmsley Castle and the Yorkshire Moors, made by FingerTip Films (a partnership between Roy Clarke, who wrote the scripts, and producer Steve Lanning) for Yorkshire Television with British Sky Broadcasting (United Kingdom), ZDF (Germany), and Antena 3 (Spain). Bob Mahoney directed Rebirth is the first episode of the series.

In the United States, The Wanderer was transmitted primarily in first-run syndication.[citation needed]

Opening narration[]

Beginning for the first episode:

Long ago, at the end of the first millennium, twin brothers were born. In appearance, the twins were identical in every way. But below the surface, the spirits were not at all alike. At the time of their passage into manhood, each twin was given his birthright : Identical stones lay in the hilt of a shimmering sword, they were said to hold a unique power - the stone reveals the man - a power that would lay open the soul of the man who possessed it.

Beginning from episodes 2 to 13:

Long ago, when the line between good and evil was clearly drawn. Twin brothers faced each other in battle, good was triumphant and the knight buried his brother. Now, a thousand years later, the struggle continues...

Plot summary[]

The shy multi-millionaire businessman Adam ("the Wanderer" of the programme's title) and his wicked twin brother Zachary (both played by Brown) are two former knights from the late 10th century during the Middle Ages at the end of the 1st millennium, both of whom have been born again (or reincarnated) in the late 20th century. Zachary is after a complicated revenge on Adam, who killed him in the year A.D. 1000, but much more is at stake than mere vengeance. As the turn of the 3rd millennium is approaching, people are growing more superstitious, and Zachary plans to use this for his own purpose. He needs his brother Adam dead, and Adam's death to be seen by witnesses, so he can pose as Adam resurrected.

The other players in both time-zones are Zachary's beautiful but deadly companion Beatrice (played by Thomson), Adam's friend Godbold (in the present day a philosophically-minded plumber and professional wrestler with a large beard, but once a hermit and monk, played by Haygarth), and Adam's 10th century lover Lady Clare (played by Moore). She has come back in the present day as Clare, a high-spirited photographer, and she does not plan to lose her man a second time.

Wolfgang Mathias (played by Tausig) is Adam's personal assistant. Unfortunately for him, as he himself has no roots in the 10th century, he finds virtually everything about the Wanderer's world extremely confusing.

Cast[]

Main characters[]

Notable guest stars[]

  • Tatjana Blacher as Inspector Mentzel (Rebirth)
  • Alexander Stebele as Forster (Mind Games)
  • Ann-Kathrin Kramer as Kiara (Mind Games)
  • August Schmölzer as Kurt (Mind Games)
  • Jan Biczycki as Oskar (Bridges)
  • Uwe Ochsenknecht as Brandt (False Witness)
  • Felipe Jiménez as Fatso (Clare)
  • Pedro Bea as Skinny (Clare)
  • Fernando Hilbeck as Clare's father (Clare, Everybody Must Get Stoned)
  • Isabel Prinz as Clare's mother (Clare, Everybody Must Get Stoned)
  • Debora Izaguirre as Loura (Everybody Must Get Stoned)
  • Pablo Scola as Pascual (Everybody Must Get Stoned)
  • Burt Kwouk as Ling Fat (A Dragon by Any Other Name)
  • Choy Ling Man as Sun Li (A Dragon by Any Other Name)
  • K.C. Leong as Wen (A Dragon by Any Other Name)
  • Mark Burns as Sir Niles (Home)

Episode listing[]

No. Episode Director Air Date
1 "Rebirth" Bob Mahoney 14 September 1994
2 "Mind Games" Terry Marcel 21 September 1994
3 "Bridges" 28 September 1994
4 "False Witness" Christopher King 5 October 1994
5 "Castle Takes Knight" Terry Marcel 12 October 1994
6 "Clare" Alan Grint 19 October 1994
7 "No Bull" 26 October 1994
8 "Everybody Must Get Stoned" 2 November 1994
9 "A Dragon by Any Other Name" Christopher King 9 November 1994
10 "See No Evil" Rick Stroud 16 November 1994
11 "Waste Not, Want Not" 23 November 1994
12 "Home" Alan Grint 30 November 1994
13 "Knight Time" 7 December 1994

Home media availability[]

ITV Studios Home Entertainment, owners of the copyright to The Wanderer, was not known to have released it on home media in any format as of the beginning of August 2014.

See also[]

External links[]

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