THE RETURN OF ALAN STRANGE
dir. Michael J. Murphy, 2015
UK. 81 min.
In English.

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 5 - 10PM
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 12 - 7:30PM
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 25 - 7:30PM

With a planned movie reboot of the 60s time travelling detective show "Alan Strange" down at heel actor Peter Hennessey (who originated the role) receives an invitation to a New Year's Eve party with a difference.

Murphy's final feature before his sudden death of a heart attack has more than a whiff of melancholy about it - shot digitally in his usual haunts of the rural UK, it is easily the most meta and self reflexive of any of his works.

Set at a New Year's Eve party hosted by the actor who replaced the original Alan Strange after a public scandal, THE RETURN OF ALAN STRANGE wrestles with a life lived at the margin of showbiz.

Using the framework of an imagined Twilight Zone style series called 'Alan Strange' gives Murphy the opportunity to look back on his works so far, with his most loyal actors - Patrick Oliver, Phil Lyndon, and Judith Holding - watching clips of old Michael J Murphy movies billed as old episodes of Alan Strange, leading to incredible moments like Patrick Oliver watching a scene from ATLANTIS (1991) and saying "I shaved my head for this?"

A fitting, if tragically early, endnote for one of the UK's most underseen and prolific filmmakers.

All films screened from new remasters courtesy of Powerhouse Films Ltd.