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 companiesFingerTip Films for Yorkshire Television and British Sky Broadcasting
Original release
NetworkSky One (United Kingdom)
ZDF (Germany)
Antena 3 (Spain)
Release14 September (1994-09-14) 
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.[1][2][3]

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).[1][2] Bob Mahoney directed Rebirth, the first episode of the series.[2]

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

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.[2] 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

Actor Character
Bryan Brown Adam/Zachary
Tony Haygarth Godbold
Kim Thomson Beatrice
Deborah Moore Clare
Otto Tausig Wolfgang Mathias

Notable guest stars

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

Episode list

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.

Reception

TV Zone magazine, surveying the ratings for TV shows aired on Sky One, noted that The Wanderer's debut episode was watched by 0.46 million UK viewers.[4] Subsequently, the show's episodes had lower ratings, gaining fewer viewers than Sky One's showings of Star Trek: The Next Generation and Highlander: The Series.[4] The magazine concluded "Unless it [The Wanderer] performs well in other territories, a long life is not expected".[4] According to TV historian Milly Buonanno, The Wanderer was "an absolute failure according to audience ratings".[5] Unhappy with the show's performance, ZDF ceased showing The Wanderer after the third episode.[5]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Happy Wanderer", Daily Record, 20 August 1994 (p. 34)
  2. 1 2 3 4 "The Wanderer", TV Zone Magazine, October 1994 (pp. 26-29).
  3. "Tonight's TV", Evening Herald, 14 September 1994 (p.34)
  4. 1 2 3 "Ratings Review", TV Zone Magazine, Issue 63, February 1995 (pg. 4)
  5. 1 2 Milly Buonanno, Shifting landscapes : television fiction in Europe University of Luton Press, 1999. ISBN 9781860205668 (p. 153)
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