The Intruder (1972)

"More Classic Stuff From Network"

"You don't decide if you've written a children's book. The publisher does that," says author John Rowe Townsend in one of the extras on Network's new Blu-ray of the Granada Television adaptation of his source novel. Originally broadcast in the ITV Sunday Teatime slot over eight weeks in 1972, THE INTRUDER is a curious, bleak, and occasionally challenging work. Producer-director Peter Plummer had previously been responsible for the even more complex THE OWL SERVICE so presumably Granada were happy to let him tackle something else that would give families plenty to discuss over their cups of tea and Mr Kipling's farmhouse cake to divert them from the prospect of school / work the next day.

Arnold Haithwaite (James Bate) is a young man working as a sand pilot in a remote coastal town in the north of England. His job is to guide tourists across a treacherous stretch of intermittently-dry land to a small off shore island, and ensure they get back safely before the tide comes in. There's a fair bit of talk about how 'every sand pilot has lost a few' which makes you wonder quite why this fairly unremarkable destination is so popular given the death rate.

At the beginning of episode one Arnold meets a strange man (Milton Johns) who claims that he is the real Arnold Haithwaite. Thus is set in motion a story in which young Arnold is to discover he's not who he has always believed himself to be. 

A bleak and compelling mystery, THE INTRUDER isn't supernatural by any stretch of the imagination but it does have a strange atmosphere, created both by the location, and by the variety of characters with whom Arnold interacts. These include two young women who show interest in him - posh Jane (Sheila Ruskin who went on to appear in Blake's 7 and the Dr Who story The Keeper of Traken) who lives at the manor house and has a drippy boyfriend (Barry Stokes of Norman J Warren's PREY) whom she finds frustrating and unsatisfying, and not so posh Norma (Maggie Don) who works at the house as a maid. Arnold's 'father' refuses to be drawn on the young man's past and seems to ally himself with the Milton Johns character who also appears to be poisoning him. 

         Catherine Lacey (THE MUMMY'S SHROUD, THE SORCERERS) might have all the answers but is confoundingly cryptic. Everything builds to a massive storm (and well-executed flood of the island) in episode eight but what's most interesting about THE INTRUDER is how little resolution the ending provides for most of its characters, revealing most of them to be self-obsessed and in at least one case rather pathetic. Don't be expecting a conventional happy ending with this one.

THE INTRUDER was shot entirely on 16mm film and Network's HD transfer makes it look better than it ever must have on TV. Extras include commentaries on four of the episodes (1,3,6 and 8) from writer Tim Worthington. Writers' Gallery is a 20 minute episode from a 1970s TV series that looks as if it profiled a different author each week, in this case John Rowe Townsend talking about his work to Brian Trueman. Remembering Ravenglass is 21 minutes of actor Simon Fisher-Turner (Peter in the show) reminiscing about the location shooting of THE INTRUDER in Ravenglass in Cumberland. Finally you get a gallery of 47 images from the programme. Here's the trailer:

THE INTRUDER is out from Network (as an exclusive - order at networkonair.com) on Blu-ray on Monday 17th October 2022