Harlen Coben’s The Stranger arrives on Netflix
NETFLIX, THURSDAY 30 JANUARY
The third collab between bestselling author Harlan Coben, top TV production company Red (Years & Years) and writer Danny Brocklehurst (Come Home) is the first to be based on an existing Coben novel. But the team has taken the book’s basic premise – a seemingly random stranger approaches people and tells them a piece of information that will change their lives forever – and turned it into something new and different. Hannah John-kamen is The Stranger (in a gender swap from the book), Richard Armitage is her initial “victim”, and Siobhan Finneran and Kadiff Kirwan are the wonderfully downto-earth detective duo investigating adjacent crimes. Plus, Jennifer Saunders steals the show in a dramatic role. It’s as addictive as TV drama gets. ★★★★★ Boyd Hilton
There’s something disconcerting about the venue for today’s shoot. We’re in an abandoned hospital in Manchester, and everywhere we go, there are exposed wires and ceiling tiles falling down. But that’s not the disconcerting bit – it’s the fact that, according to the security guard, people are still coming in for appointments, like this might actually be a place where you could have your appendix taken out in modern-day Britain. But it’s not. It’s where the new Harlan Coben/netflix collaboration is making the magic happen. The story of a stranger who “appears out of nowhere, whispers a few words, then disappears, leaving you picking up the pieces of your shattered world”, the first person whose life is about to get wrecked is Richard Armitage. He tells us, “I play property lawyer and family man Adam Price. Him, his wife
Corinne and their boys have a great life – until Corinne goes missing. Then, the Stranger enters and drops a bombshell that unravels everything.” We are desperate to know more, but as we soon find out, the cast are keeping things very close to their chests. “We need to be careful not to spoiler anything as it’s a very intricate plot. What I can say is you get to know everyone in this small community and then the shit really hits the fan,” laughs Paul Kaye, who reckons his character is a complete wrong ’un. He tells us, “He’s a policeman who has lost his moral compass. Someone very dear to him is ill, and he will do whatever it takes to look after her, which means some pretty extreme actions.” But will viewers have sympathy for him? “I doubt it,” he cackles. “He’s got a good heart, but now he’s brutal and violent. But I guess he’s just doing what we’d all do for someone we loved – if we all had access to firearms!”
As various characters cross paths with the Stranger and dark secrets start to spill out, the task of unravelling what’s going on falls to Siobhan Finneran’s DS Johanna Griffin. But she’s got problems of her own. “She’s having a mid-life crisis,” says Siobhan. “She’s thinking about retirement, and has just told her husband she doesn’t want to be with him any more. She’s ready to set off on a girls-on-tour trip with her best mate, but things start to happen, and mentions of this Stranger keep popping up…”
With a cast that also includes Stephen Rea and Dervla Kirwan, is there anyone they were starstruck by? “Jennifer Saunders,” says Siobhan, without hesitation. “I couldn’t breathe. I can’t believe I managed to speak. I’m an enormous fan. I could quote sketches at her. I didn’t, but I’m pretty sure someone had to stop me licking her face at one point.”
With that, we head off to watch a scene being filmed, but as it consists of Siobhan walking down a corridor and Richard looking troubled while hiding in a corner, we are none the wiser. But we think that might be a good thing, as this is definitely one mystery we want to get stuck into.