document_title: Stranger Things

question_text: how many episodes of stranger things season 2 are there

text: Stranger Things

text: Premise[edit]

text: Stranger Things is set in the fictional rural town of Hawkins, Indiana, during the early 1980s. The nearby Hawkins National Laboratory ostensibly performs scientific research for the United States Department of Energy, but secretly does experiments into the paranormal and supernatural, including those that involve human test subjects. These start to affect the unknowing residents of Hawkins in calamitous ways.[1][2]

text: Cast and characters[edit]

text: Main[edit]

text:
Winona Ryder as Joyce Byers,[3] mother of 12-year-old Will Byers and teenager Jonathan Byers. Divorced from Lonnie, she relies on her older son, Jonathan, for help.
David Harbour as Jim Hopper,[3] chief of Hawkins Police Department. Hopper divorced after his young daughter died of cancer, which caused him to lapse into alcoholism.
Finn Wolfhard as Mike Wheeler,[4] son of Karen, younger brother of Nancy, and one of three friends of Will Byers. He is an intelligent and conscientious student and is committed to his friends.
Millie Bobby Brown[4] as Eleven ("El"), a young girl with psychokinetic abilities and a limited vocabulary. She befriends Mike, Dustin, and Lucas. It is eventually revealed that she may be Jane Ives, the biological daughter of Terry Ives. She escaped from Hawkins Laboratory where experiments were being performed on her.
Gaten Matarazzo as Dustin Henderson,[4] one of Will's friends. His cleidocranial dysplasia causes him to lisp.
Caleb McLaughlin as Lucas Sinclair,[4] one of Will's friends. He is wary of Eleven, yet befriends her later on.
Natalia Dyer as Nancy Wheeler,[4] daughter of Karen, older sister of Mike, and girlfriend of Steve Harrington.
Charlie Heaton as Jonathan Byers,[4] the older brother of Will Byers and the son of Joyce Byers. Considered an outsider at school, he is a quiet teenager and an aspiring photographer. He is very close with his mother and brother.
Cara Buono as Karen Wheeler,[5] mother of teenaged Nancy, middle schooler Mike, and toddler Holly.
Matthew Modine as Martin Brenner,[6] the scientist in charge of Hawkins Laboratory and the experiments performed there. He is manipulative and remote. He and his team are searching for Eleven.
Noah Schnapp as Will Byers,[4] the younger brother of Jonathan Byers and the son of Joyce Byers. He vanishes after encountering the monster that escaped through a rift to the "Upside Down", an alternate dimension, discovered by the Hawkins Laboratory scientists.[7][8]
Joe Keery as Steve Harrington, the boyfriend of Nancy Wheeler. A popular student at the high school, he initially tries to develop a relationship with Nancy and ostracize Jonathan Byers, though he comes to regret the latter.[9][8]
Sadie Sink as Max, a tomboy with a complicated history and a suspicion of those around her.[8]
Dacre Montgomery as Billy, Max’s older stepbrother, who has a violent and unpredictable nature hiding under his charisma.[8]

text: Recurring[edit]

text: Introduced in season one[edit]

text:
Shannon Purser as Barbara "Barb" Holland, best friend of Nancy Wheeler. She is concerned that her and Nancy's friendship may be threatened by Nancy's relationship with Steve.[10]
Ross Partridge as Lonnie Byers,[11] the drunk, egotistical, selfish ex-husband of Joyce Byers and father of Jonathan and Will. He has a much younger girlfriend named Cynthia.
Joe Chrest as Ted Wheeler, husband of Karen, father of teenager Nancy, middle schooler Mike, and toddler Holly.
Mark Steger as The Monster, a creature that exists in the Upside Down. Referred to as "the Demogorgon" by Mike, Lucas and Dustin.[12]
Rob Morgan as Powell, one of Hopper's officers. He is serious and by the book.
John Paul Reynolds as Callahan, another of Hopper's officers. Not nearly as serious as his partner, he still works hard in the search for Will Byers.
Randall P. Havens as Scott Clarke, the boys' teacher. He encourages their interest in science and technology and helps them whenever asked.
Aimee Mullins as Terry Ives, a woman who claims her daughter, Jane, was stolen from her shortly after she gave birth, but she has since gone into a mental state where she is unaware of her surroundings. It is implied that she is the biological mother of Eleven.[13]
Catherine Dyer as Connie Frazier, Brenner's FBI enforcer who has no qualms about murdering those who have come into contact with Eleven.
Peyton Wich as Troy, a school bully of Mike, Lucas, Dustin, and Will.[14]
Cade Jones as James, a school bully who hangs around with Troy.
Chester Rushing as Tommy H., former friend of Steve, and boyfriend of Carol.
Chelsea Talmadge as Carol, former friend of Steve, and girlfriend of Tommy.
Tinsley and Anniston Price as Holly Wheeler, daughter of Karen and Ted, younger sister of Nancy and Mike.
Chris Sullivan as Benny Hammond, owner and chef of Benny's Burgers, and friend of Hopper.
Tobias Jelinek as the lead agent at Hawkins National Laboratory, who assists Brenner.
Susan Shalhoub Larkin as Florence ("Flo"), the secretary at the Hawkins Police Station.

text: Introduced in season two[edit]

text:
Sean Astin as Bob Newby, a former schoolmate of Joyce and Hopper, who now runs the Hawkins Radio Shack,[15] and becomes Joyce's boyfriend, putting him at odds with Hopper.[16]
Paul Reiser as Owens, a Department of Energy executive tasked with containing the events of the first season.[15]
Linnea Berthelsen as Roman, a woman who was emotionally damaged as a child and has come to Hawkins due to events tied in with the strange events of the town.[15]
Brett Gelman as Murray Bauman, a former journalist that became a conspiracy theorist, who visits Hawkins to go after a cold case.[17]
Will Chase as Neil Mayfield, the father of a family of recent transplants to Hawkins, Indiana from California.[18]

text: Episodes[edit]

text: Season 1 (2016)[edit]

text: Season one begins in November 1983, when researchers at Hawkins National Laboratory open a rift to the "Upside Down", an alternate dimension. A monster from the Upside Down escapes and abducts Will Byers. His mother, Joyce, and the town's police chief, Jim Hopper, search for Will. At the same time, a young psychokinetic girl called Eleven escapes from the laboratory and assists Will's friends, Mike, Dustin, and Lucas, in their own efforts to find Will.[19]

text:
Season 1 episodes

No.
overall
No. in
season
Title
Directed by
Written by
Original release date

1
1
"Chapter One: The Vanishing of Will Byers"
The Duffer Brothers
The Duffer Brothers
July 15, 2016 (2016-07-15)

In November 1983, in a U.S. Department of Energy laboratory in the town of Hawkins, Indiana, a scientist is attacked by an unseen creature. While bicycling home from a Dungeons & Dragons session with his friends, 12-year-old Will Byers encounters the creature and vanishes. The next day, a young girl with a shaved head and wearing a hospital gown steals food from a local diner. The owner, Benny, takes pity on her and feeds her before calling social services. From a tattoo on her arm, he learns that her name is Eleven. A woman posing as a social worker arrives and kills Benny. Armed men search the diner for Eleven, but she escapes. Will's mother Joyce believes she hears Will's voice on a distorted phone call, but her phone short circuits. Will's friends Lucas, Mike, and Dustin search for Will in the woods and find Eleven.

2
2
"Chapter Two: The Weirdo on Maple Street"
The Duffer Brothers
The Duffer Brothers
July 15, 2016 (2016-07-15)

The boys bring Eleven to Mike's house, where she sleeps in the basement. The next day, Mike nicknames her "El". She says that "bad people" are looking for her and refuses to meet Mike's parents. Scientists from the laboratory find a substance oozing from the walls of Joyce's home. At Mike's home, Eleven recognizes and points out Will in a photo. Dustin and Lucas want to inform Mike's parents about Eleven, but she uses psychokinesis to stop them. While searching for Will, Mr. Clarke, the boys' science teacher, discovers a scrap of a hospital gown outside the laboratory grounds. Nancy goes with her friend Barb to a party at her boyfriend Steve's house. Will's brother Jonathan investigates the woods where Will went missing. Hearing screaming, he runs to help but finds only Steve, Nancy, and their friends roughhousing around Steve's swimming pool. He secretly photographs them. Barb, left alone by the poolside, vanishes. Joyce receives another call from Will, hears music from his room, and sees something coming through the wall.

3
3
"Chapter Three: Holly, Jolly"
Shawn Levy
Jessica Mecklenburg
July 15, 2016 (2016-07-15)

Barb wakes up in an empty and decaying pool. She screams for Nancy and attempts to climb out but is dragged down by something unseen. Joyce strings Christmas lights around her home to talk to Will, who can turn them on and off. Hawkins Lab director Dr. Martin Brenner allows Hopper to view the lab's security camera footage. Hopper realizes it is fake. He and his deputies research Hawkins Lab, Brenner, and a woman named Terry Ives who claimed her daughter was taken by Brenner. Eleven has a flashback in which Brenner, whom she calls "Papa", has her put in solitary confinement for refusing to telekinetically harm a cat. Nancy worries about Barb, who is missing. Steve and his friends discover Jonathan's photographs. They destroy them and his camera. Nancy recovers a photo of Barb by the poolside and returns to Steve's house to search for her. Nancy finds Barb's car and sees the creature in the woods. Joyce establishes a code with Will using the lights, which he uses to tell her that he is alive but unsafe. He tells Joyce to run as a creature begins to climb through her wall. Will's apparent body is discovered in the water at a quarry.

4
4
"Chapter Four: The Body"
Shawn Levy
Justin Doble
July 15, 2016 (2016-07-15)

Eleven proves to the boys that Will is still alive by making contact through Mike's walkie-talkie. Joyce goes to the morgue to view the body and refuses to believe it is Will. The boys give Eleven a makeover so they can sneak her into school. Joyce hears Will in her living room wall. Tearing away the wallpaper, she sees him behind a membrane. At school, Eleven uses Mr. Clarke's ham radio to channel Will talking to his mother. Joyce demolishes the wall with an axe but reveals only her front porch. Nancy discovers a figure behind Barb in Jonathan's photo. Jonathan realizes that the figure matches his mother's description of the creature: a humanoid figure with long arms and no face. Nancy tells the police about her missing friend and subsequently admits to her mother that she slept with Steve. When she tells Steve about the police, she is irritated that he cares only about not getting in trouble with his father. Hopper confronts the state trooper who found Will's body and beats him until he admits he was ordered to lie. Hopper goes to the morgue and finds that Will's supposed body is a dummy. He breaks into Hawkins laboratory.

5
5
"Chapter Five: The Flea and the Acrobat"
The Duffer Brothers
Alison Tatlock
July 15, 2016 (2016-07-15)

Will's father Lonnie assures Joyce that her experiences are hallucinations. The boys conclude that Will is trapped in an alternative dimension which Eleven calls the Upside Down. Hopper discovers a portal in the basement of the lab. He is knocked out by the lab's guards and wakes at home. He searches his house and finds a hidden microphone. After Will's funeral, the boys ask Mr. Clarke about other dimensions. He tells them that a high-energy spacetime tear could create a passage between dimensions. The deputies inform Hopper that Barb's car was found by the state; Hopper finds the state's involvement suspicious. Positing that a tear in spacetime would disrupt Earth's electromagnetic field, the boys follow their compasses. Eleven remembers being placed in a sensory-deprivation tank to telepathically eavesdrop on a man speaking Russian; while listening, she came across the creature. Scared of encountering the creature again, Eleven redirects the compasses. Lucas notices the distortion and confronts her. Mike defends her, he and Lucas fight, and Eleven telekinetically flings Lucas off Mike. While Dustin and Mike tend to the unconscious Lucas, Eleven disappears. In the woods, Nancy and Jonathan find a wounded deer. The creature drags the deer away, and Nancy and Jonathan follow the trail of blood. Nancy crawls through a passage to the Upside Down and discovers the creature feasting upon the deer. She snaps a twig and draws the creature's attention.

6
6
"Chapter Six: The Monster"
The Duffer Brothers
Jessie Nickson-Lopez
July 15, 2016 (2016-07-15)

When she can't get out of the portal by herself, Jonathan pulls Nancy through and saves her from the monster. In her bedroom, she is afraid to be alone and asks Jonathan to stay. Steve sees them together through her bedroom window and assumes they are dating. The next day, Nancy and Jonathan resolve to kill the monster and purchase supplies from an army surplus store. During a fist fight with Steve, Jonathan inadvertently assaults a police officer and is arrested. Joyce and Hopper track down Terry Ives, who is catatonic and tended by her sister Becky. Becky explains that Terry underwent Project MKUltra testing while unknowingly pregnant; she believed her daughter Jane was kidnapped by Brenner at birth. Joyce and Hopper conclude Eleven is likely Jane. Eleven shoplifts Eggo waffles. She recalls being asked to contact the monster and how her contact opened the portal to the Upside Down in the laboratory basement. While searching for Eleven, Mike and Dustin are ambushed by bullies Troy and James. Troy holds Dustin at knifepoint and demands that Mike make a suicidal jump into the lake where Will's body was discovered. Mike jumps but is levitated to safety by Eleven, who dispatches the bullies. Lucas sees agents leaving the laboratory and realizes they are heading to Mike's house.

7
7
"Chapter Seven: The Bathtub"
The Duffer Brothers
Justin Doble
July 15, 2016 (2016-07-15)

Lucas warns Mike via walkie-talkie that government agents are en route. Mike, Dustin, and Eleven flee the house. Eleven telekinetically flips a van that blocks their path, and the kids escape. Lucas reconciles with Mike and Eleven. Joyce and Hopper are called to the police station because of Jonathan's assault. Jonathan and Nancy reveal their knowledge of the monster to Joyce and Hopper. The group contacts Mike and his friends and they rendezvous. They ask Eleven to search for Will and Barb, but her earlier feats have left her too weak to find them. To amplify Eleven's powers, they break into the middle school and build a sensory-deprivation tank. Eleven finds Barb's corpse with a slug-like creature crawling out of her mouth. With Joyce's help, she finds Will alive, hiding in the Upside Down "Castle Byers", his backyard fort. Hopper and Joyce break into Hawkins Laboratory but are apprehended by security guards. Nancy and Jonathan resolve to kill the monster and steal their hunting gear back from the police station. In the Upside Down, the monster breaks into the fort where Will is hiding.

8
8
"Chapter Eight: The Upside Down"
The Duffer Brothers
Story by : Paul Dichter
Teleplay by : The Duffer Brothers
July 15, 2016 (2016-07-15)

Hopper gives up Eleven's location to Brenner in exchange for access to the portal. He and Joyce enter the Upside Down. Hopper recalls his daughter Sarah struggling to breathe before her cancer diagnosis. Nancy and Jonathan booby-trap the Byers' home, then cut their hands to attract the monster with their blood. Steve arrives, intending to apologize to Jonathan about their fight. The monster attacks but disappears before springing the trap. Steve gets in his car to leave but stays when he realizes the monster is returning. The monster springs the trap but escapes back to the Upside Down. Eleven and the boys hide in the middle school. Mike asks Eleven to a school dance called the Snow Ball and kisses her. Brenner and his agents arrive to get Eleven back; Eleven kills most of them, but collapses of exhaustion. As Brenner cradles her, the monster appears. The boys carry Eleven to a classroom and hide as the monster slaughters Brenner and the agents. Hopper and Joyce find the monster's nest in the Upside-Down town library. Will is there, unconscious with a tendril down his throat. At the middle school, the monster finds the children, but is pinned and disintegrated by Eleven, who vanishes. Hopper and Joyce perform CPR on Will and revive him. Will is hospitalized and reunited with his mother, brother, and friends. Hopper is reluctantly picked up by a black car. One month later, Nancy has gotten back together with Steve, and both are friends with Jonathan. Hopper leaves the other food in a box in the woods. Will coughs up a slug-like creature and has a vision of the world as the Upside Down, but he hides this from his family.

tag: table

text: Season 2[edit]

text: The second season will take place around Halloween (October 31) of 1984,[20] about a year after the events of the first season, and will explore the "bigger mythology" of Will's disappearance, according to the Duffers.[21] Levy described the second season as being about the "determined desire to return to normalcy in Hawkins" for Will, his family, his friends, and the other residents in the town affected by the events.[22] Will suffers from "some sort of post-traumatic stress disorder" from his time in the Upside Down, and Joyce is attempting to help him deal with it, while trying to date her old classmate Bob to cover up her own emotions. Nancy and Mike are mourning for the apparent losses of their friends Barb and Eleven, respectively;[20] however, Eleven is still alive and is a "major part of the season", according to Matt Duffer, and her backstory will be explored during the season.[23] Chief Hopper struggles under the weight of having to cover up for the events of the first season to protect Will and Joyce;[20] while some residents of Hawkins will be aware of these events, "certain people... don't know what happened", according to the Duffers.[16] The laboratory, as well as the rift to the Upside Down, remains open and run by Dr. Owens. The characters will face "different kinds of horror" in contrast to the monster from the first season.[20] Parts of the season will also take place outside of Hawkins, Indiana.[24]

text: Despite revealing episode titles for the season in the announcement teaser in order "to provide some hint of where we were going in season two without giving anything away,"[25][26] Matt Duffer stated that some of the titles would change, since there were some things "we didn’t want to put on there because we felt like it would give too much away,"[26] and because "people are smart on the fucking internet" with fan-created "videos analyzing the chapter titles... right on a lot" of how the titles related to the plot of the season.[27]

text:
Season 2 episodes

No.
overall
No. in
season
Title [25]
Directed by [28]
Written by
Original release date [29]

9
1
"Madmax"
The Duffer Brothers
TBA
October 27, 2017 (2017-10-27)

10
2
"The Boy Who Came Back to Life"
The Duffer Brothers
TBA
October 27, 2017 (2017-10-27)

11
3
"The Pumpkin Patch"
Shawn Levy
TBA
October 27, 2017 (2017-10-27)

12
4
"The Palace"
Shawn Levy
TBA
October 27, 2017 (2017-10-27)

13
5
"The Storm"
Andrew Stanton
TBA
October 27, 2017 (2017-10-27)

14
6
"The Pollywog"
Andrew Stanton
TBA
October 27, 2017 (2017-10-27)

15
7
"The Secret Cabin"
Rebecca Thomas
TBA
October 27, 2017 (2017-10-27)

16
8
"The Brain"
The Duffer Brothers
TBA
October 27, 2017 (2017-10-27)

17
9
"The Lost Brother"
The Duffer Brothers
TBA
October 27, 2017 (2017-10-27)

text: Production[edit]

text: Development[edit]

text: Stranger Things was created by Matt and Ross Duffer, known professionally as the Duffer Brothers.[30] The two had completed writing and producing their 2015 film Hidden, which they had tried to emulate the style of M. Night Shyamalan, however, due to changes at Warner Bros., its distributor, the film did not see a wide release and the Duffers were unsure of their future.[31] To their surprise, television producer Donald De Line approached them, impressed with Hidden's script, and offered them the opportunity to work on episodes of Wayward Pines alongside Shyamalan. The brothers were mentored by Shyamalan during the episode's production, so that when they finished, they felt they were ready to produce their own television series.[32]

text: The Duffer Brothers prepared a script that would be essentially be similar to the series' actual pilot episode, along with a 20-page pitch book to help shop the series around for a network.[33] They pitched the story to a number of cable networks, all of which rejected the script on the basis that they felt a plot centered around children as leading characters would not work, asking them to make it a children's show or to drop the children and focus on Hopper's investigation in the paranormal.[32] In early 2015, Dan Cohen, the VP of 21 Laps Entertainment, brought the script to his colleague Shawn Levy. They subsequently invited the Duffer Brothers to their office and purchased the rights for the series, giving full authorship of it to the brothers. After reading the pilot, the streaming service Netflix purchased the whole season for an undisclosed amount;[34] the show was subsequently announced for a planned 2016 release by Netflix in early April 2015.[35] The Duffer Brothers stated that at the time they had pitched to Netflix, the service had already gotten recognized for its original programming, such as House of Cards and Orange is the New Black, with well-recognized producers behind them, and were ready to start giving upcoming producers like them a chance.[33] The brothers started to write out the series and brought Levy and Cohen in as executive producers to start casting and filming.[36]

text: The series was originally known as Montauk, as the setting of the script was in Montauk, New York and nearby Long Beach locations.[35][37] The brothers had chosen Montauk as it had further Spielberg ties with the film Jaws, where Montauk was used for the fictional setting of Amity Island.[38] After deciding to change the narrative of the series to take place in the fictional town of Hawkins instead, the brothers felt they could now do things to the town, such as placing it under quarantine, that they really could not envision with a real location.[38] With the change in location, they had to come up with a new title for the series under direction from Netflix's Ted Sarandos so that they could start marketing it to the public. The brothers started by using a copy of Stephen King's Firestarter novel to consider the title's font and appearance, and came up with a long list of potential alternatives. Stranger Things came about as it sounded similar to another King novel, Needful Things, though Matt noted they still had a "lot of heated arguments" over this final title.[39]

text: With the critical success of the first season after its release in July 2016, speculation on a possible second season was raised. By the end of July, the Duffer Brothers had outlined a plan for such a season if it was green-lit,[40] and Netflix's CEO Reed Hastings said in early August that the company "would be dumb not to" renew Stranger Things for a second season.[41] On August 31, 2016, Netflix announced it had renewed Stranger Things for a second season of nine episodes, to be released in 2017.[42] The Duffer Brothers revealed that the series had been renewed for a second season before the first premiered. Regarding the decision to wait more than a month after the first season premiered to announce the renewal, Matt Duffer said, "it actually ended up working because it had built up to this fever pitch. I guess that’s what [Netflix] were intending to do all the time."[26]

text: The Duffers wrote the second season to make the combined first and second season feel like a complete work, but setting elements in place to go forward with additional seasons if they are green-lit.[43] While most of the story for the second season had been decided before the first season aired, the Duffers took in the audience reactions from the first season to adjust some of the details within the second season. They knew they would not have the same element of audience surprise as when the show aired anew, and were aware fans wanted to see certain elements, but Ross said "...the point is not to give everyone what they think they want. Because I don’t think they really know what they want."[44] Levy noted in November 2016 that he and the Duffer Brothers had already begun planning a potential third season, saying, "We are not gonna be caught off guard and we don’t wanna be making stuff up like the day before we have to write it and make it, so we are definitely optimistic and we have started thinking ahead."[45] The Duffers anticipate having about four to five seasons to work with, but do want to "have a really finite ending" while the show is still at a height of success, according to Matt, rather than letting it draw out indefinitely.[43] In August 2017, the Duffers confirmed there would be a third season, with the likelihood of one more season following that, with Ross saying, "We’re thinking it will be a four-season thing and then out".[31]

text: Writing[edit]

text: The idea of Stranger Things started with how the brothers felt they could take the concept of the 2013 film Prisoners, detailing the moral struggles a father goes through when his daughter is kidnapped, and expand it out over eight or so hours in a serialized television approach. As they focused on the missing child aspect of the story, they wanted to introduce the idea of "childlike sensibilities" they could offer, and toyed around with the idea of a monster that could consume humans. The brothers thought the combination of these things "was the best thing ever". To introduce this monster into the narrative, they considered "bizarre experiments we had read about taking place in the Cold War" such as Project MKUltra, which gave a way to ground the monster's existence in science rather than something spiritual. This also helped them to decide on using 1983 as the time period, as it was a year before the film Red Dawn came out, which focused on Cold War paranoia.[32] Subsequently, they were able to use all their own personal inspirations from the 1980s, the decade they were born, as elements of the series,[32][46] crafting it in the realm of science fiction and horror.[47] The Duffer Brothers have cited as influence for the show (among others): Stephen King novels; films produced by Steven Spielberg, John Carpenter, Wes Craven, Robert Zemeckis, George Lucas and Guillermo del Toro; films such as Alien and Stand by Me; Japanese anime such as Akira and Elfen Lied; and video games such as Silent Hill and The Last of Us.[39][48][49][50][51][52][53][54][55]

text: With Netflix as the platform, the Duffer Brothers were not limited to a typical 22-episode format, opting for the eight-episode approach. They had been concerned that a 22-episode season on broadcast television would be difficult to "tell a cinematic story" with that many episodes. Eight episodes allowed them to give time to characterization in addition to narrative development; if they had less time available, they would have had to remain committed to telling a horror film as soon as the monster was introduced and abandon the characterization.[33] Within the eight episodes, the brothers aimed to make the first season "feel like a big movie" with all the major plot lines completed so that "the audience feels satisfied", but left enough unresolved to indicate "there’s a bigger mythology, and there’s a lot of dangling threads at the end", something that could be explored in further seasons if Netflix opted to create more.[56]

text: Regarding writing for the children characters of the series, the Duffer Brothers considered themselves as outcasts from other students while in high school and thus found it easy to write for Mike and his friends, and particularly for Barb.[39] Joyce was fashioned after Richard Dreyfuss's character Roy Neary in Close Encounters of the Third Kind, as she appears "absolutely bonkers" to everyone else as she tries to find Will.[57] Other characters, such as Billy in the second season, have more villainous attributes that are not necessarily obvious from the onset; Matt explained that they took further inspiration from Stephen King for these characters, as King "always has really great human villains" that may be more malicious than the supernatural evil.[20]

text: Casting[edit]

text: In June 2015, it was announced that Winona Ryder and David Harbour had joined the series as Joyce and as the unnamed chief of police, respectively.[3] The brothers' casting director Carmen Cuba had suggested Ryder for the role of Joyce, which the two were immediately drawn to because of her predominance in the films of the 1980s.[32] Levy believed Ryder could "wretch up the emotional urgency and yet find layers and nuance and different sides of [Joyce]". Ryder praised that the show's multiple storylines required her to act for Joyce as "she's out of her mind, but she's actually kind of onto something", and that the producers had faith she could pull off the difficult role.[58] The Duffer Brothers had been interested in Harbour before, who until Stranger Things primarily had smaller roles as villainous characters, and they felt that he had been "waiting too long for this opportunity" to play a lead, while Harbour himself was thrilled by the script and the chance to play "a broken, flawed, anti-hero character".[39][59]

text: Additional casting followed two months later with Finn Wolfhard as Mike, Millie Bobby Brown in an undisclosed role, Gaten Matarazzo as Dustin, Caleb McLaughlin as Lucas, Natalia Dyer as Nancy, and Charlie Heaton as Jonathan.[4] In September 2015, Cara Buono joined the cast as Karen,[5] followed by Matthew Modine as Martin Brenner a month later.[6] Additional cast who recur for the first season include Noah Schnapp as Will,[4][8] Shannon Purser as Barbara "Barb" Holland,[10] Joe Keery as Steve Harrington,[9][8] and Ross Partridge as Lonnie,[11] among others.

text: Actors auditioning for the children roles read lines from Stand By Me.[32] The Duffer Brothers estimated they went through about a thousand different child actors for the roles. They noted that Wolfhard was already "a movie buff" of the films from the 1980s period and easily filled the role, while they found Matarazzo's audition to be much more authentic than most of the other audition tapes, and selected him after a single viewing of his audition tape.[33] As casting was started immediately after Netflix greenlit the show, and prior to the scripts being fully completed, this allowed some of the actor's takes on the roles to reflect into the script. The casting of the young actors for Will and his friends had been done just after the first script was completed, and subsequent scripts incorporated aspects from these actors.[56] The brothers said Modine provided significant input on the character of Dr. Brenner, whom they had not really fleshed out before as they considered him the hardest character to write for given his limited appearances within the narrative.[57]

text: In October 2016, it was announced that Schnapp and Keery had been promoted to the main cast for the second season, after each recurring in the first season, and that Sadie Sink and Dacre Montgomery would join the main cast as Max and Billy, respectively.[8] Ryder, Harbour, Wolfhard, Brown, Matarazzo, McLaughlin, Dyer and Heaton also return for the season.[60] Joining them in recurring roles include Sean Astin as Bob Newby, Paul Reiser as Owens, Linnea Berthelsen as Roman,[15] and Brett Gelman as Murray Bauman.[17] For Owens, the Duffer Brothers had referred to the character in their pitch to Netflix for the season as "Paul Reiser", and specifically alluded to Reiser's character Burke in Aliens, with Ross referencing James Cameron's casting choice for that film, saying, "[Cameron] thought people would inherently trust [Reiser] and it would be a twist". Reiser's son was a fan of Stranger Things, and gave his father an early appreciation of the series, so that by when the production called his agent about the role, Reiser was excited for the part.[61]

text: Filming[edit]

text: The brothers had desired to film the series around the Long Island area to match the initial Montauk concept. However, with filming scheduled to take place in November 2015, it was difficult to shoot in Long Island in the cold weather, and the production started scouting locations in and around the Atlanta, Georgia area. The brothers, who grew up in North Carolina, found many places that reminded them of their own childhoods in that area, and felt the area would work well with the narrative shift to the fictional town of Hawkins, Indiana.[38]

text: The filming of the first season began in November 2015 and was extensively done in Atlanta, Georgia, with the Duffer Brothers and Levy handling the direction of individual episodes.[62] Jackson served as the basis of the fictional town of Hawkins, Indiana.[63][64] Other shooting locations included the Georgia Mental Health Institute as the Hawkins National Laboratory site, Bellwood Quarry, Patrick Henry High School in Stockbridge, Georgia, for the middle and high school scenes,[65] Emory University’s Continuing Education Department, the former city hall in Douglasville, Georgia, Georgia International Horse Park, the probate court in Butts County, Georgia, Old East Point Library and East Point First Baptist Church in East Point, Georgia, Fayetteville, Georgia, Stone Mountain Park, Palmetto, Georgia, and Winston, Georgia.[66] Set work was done at Screen Gem Studios in Atlanta.[66] The series was filmed with a Red Dragon digital camera.[57] Filming for the first season concluded in early 2016.[63]

text: While filming, the brothers tried to capture shots that could be seen as homages to many of the 1980s references they recalled. Their goal was not necessarily to fill the work with these references, but instead make the series seem to the viewer as a 1980s film.[39] They spent little time reviewing those works and instead went by memory. Matt further recognized that some of their filming homages were not purposely done but were found to be very comparable, as highlighted by a fan-made video comparing the show to several 1980s works side-by-side.[32][67] Matt commented on the video that "Some were deliberate and some were subconscious."[32] The brothers recognized that many of the iconic scenes from these 1980s films, such as with Poltergeist, was about "taking a very ordinary object that people deal with every day, their television set, and imbuing it with something otherworldly", leading to the idea of using the Christmas light strings for Will to communicate with Joyce.[39]

text: The brothers attributed much of the 1980s feel to set and costume designers and the soundtrack composers that helped to recreate the era for them.[32] Lynda Reiss, the head of props, had about a $220,000 budget, similar to most films, to acquire artifacts of the 1980s, using eBay and searching through flea markets and estate sales around the Atlanta area. The bulk of the props were original items from the 1980s with only a few pieces, such as the Dungeons & Dragons books made as replicas.[68]

text: Filming for the second season began on November 7, 2016,[45] once again in and around the Atlanta Metro area.[69][70] Andrew Stanton, director of Pixar's Finding Nemo and WALL-E, will direct the fifth and sixth episode of the second season. Levy stated that Stanton was a big fan of the show and called up Levy, offering his directorial abilities for the show. Rebecca Thomas will direct the seventh episode of the season.[28] Unlike the first season, which they were able to film without any real security issues, the heightened awareness of the show required the producers to take significant steps to keep the show's production in secret while filming the second season. They spoke to the production team of HBO's Game of Thrones for tips and advice for securing filming sites, and have adopted code names for the series and various parts to allow the actors to speak to others without revealing details of the show's plot.[71] The second season concluded filming on June 2, 2017.[72]

text: Visual effects[edit]

text: To create the aged effect for the series, a film grain was added over the footage, which was captured by scanning in film stock from the 1980s.[57] The Duffers wanted to scare the audience, but not to necessarily make the show violent or gory, following in line with how the 1980s Amblin Entertainment films drove the creation of the PG-13 movie rating. It was "much more about mood and atmosphere and suspense and dread than they are about gore", though they were not afraid to push into more scary elements, particularly towards the end of the first season.[57] The brothers had wanted to avoid any computer-generated effects for the monster and other parts of the series and stay with practical effects. However, the six-month filming time left them little time to plan out and test practical effects rigs for some of the shots. They went with a middle ground of using constructed props including one for the monster whenever they could, but for other shots, such as when the monster bursts through a wall, they opted to use digital effects. Post-production on the first season was completed the week before it was released to Netflix.[32]

text: The title sequence uses closeups of the letters in the Stranger Things title with a red tint against a black background as they slide into place within the title. The sequence was created by the studio Imaginary Forces, formerly part of R/GA, led by creative director Michelle Doughtey.[73] Levy introduced the studio to the Duffer Brothers, who explained their vision of the 1980s-inspired show, which helped the studio to fix the concept the producers wanted. Later, but prior to filming, the producers sent Imaginary Forces the pilot script, the synth-heavy background music for the titles, as well as the various book covers from King and other authors that they had used to establish the title and imagery, and were looking for a similar approach for the show's titles, primarily using a typographical sequence. They took inspiration from several title sequences of works from the 1980s that were previously designed by Richard Greenberg under R/GA, such as Altered States and The Dead Zone. They also got input from Dan Perri, who worked on the title credits of several 1980s films. Various iterations included having letters vanish, to reflect the "missing" theme of the show, and having letters cast shadows on others, alluding to the mysteries, before settling into the sliding letters. The studio began working on the title sequence before filming, and took about a month off during the filming process to let the producers get immersed in the show and come back with more input. Initially they had been working with various fonts for the title and used close-ups of the best features of these fonts, but near the end the producers wanted to work with ITC Benguiat, requiring them to rework those shots. The final sequence is fully computer generated, but they took inspiration from testing some practical effects, such as using Kodalith masks as would have been done in the 1980s, to develop the appropriate filters for the rendering software. The individual episode title cards used a "fly through" approach, similar to the film Bullitt, which the producers had suggested to the studio.[74]

text: Music[edit]

text: The Stranger Things original soundtrack was composed by Michael Stein and Kyle Dixon of the electronic band Survive.[75] It makes extensive use of synthesizers in homage to 1980s artists and film composers including Jean-Michel Jarre, Tangerine Dream, Vangelis, Goblin, John Carpenter, Giorgio Moroder, and Fabio Frizzi.[76]

text: According to Stein and Dixon, the Duffer Brothers had been fans of Survive's music, and used their song "Dirge" for the mock trailer that was used to sell the show to Netflix.[75][77] Once the show was green-lit, the Duffers contacted Survive around July 2015 to ask if they were still doing music; the two provided the production team with dozens of songs from their band's past to gain their interest, helping to land them the role.[75] Once aboard, the two worked with producers to select some of their older music to rework for the show, while developing new music, principally with character motifs.[77] The two had been hired before the casting process, so their motif demos were used and played over the actors' audition tapes, aiding in the casting selection.[77][78] The show's theme is based on an unused work Stein composed much earlier that ended up in the library of work they shared with the production staff, who thought that with some reworking would be good for the opening credits.[75]

text: In addition to original music, Stranger Things features period music from artists including The Clash, Toto, New Order, The Bangles, Foreigner, Echo and the Bunnymen, Peter Gabriel and Corey Hart, as well as excerpts from Tangerine Dream, John Carpenter and Vangelis.[79][80] In particular, The Clash's "Should I Stay or Should I Go" was specifically picked to play at pivotal moments of the story, such as when Will is trying to communicate with Joyce from the Upside Down.[80]

text: Soundtrack[edit]

text: Stranger Things's original soundtrack, consisting of 75 songs from Stein and Dixon split across two volumes, was released by Lakeshore Records. Digital release and streaming options were released on August 10 and 19, 2016 for the two volumes, respectively, while retail versions were available on September 16 and 23, 2016.[81][80] Limited editions of the soundtrack on vinyl, in both individual and a boxed set, are set for release in July 2017.[82] A cassette version of the soundtrack, sold exclusively by Urban Outfitters, will be released on July 14, 2017. The cassette packaging features a cardboard cover that emulates an old VHS sleeves, while the cassette case is made to look like a VHS tape.[83]

text: Both volumes were nominated individually for the Best Score Soundtrack Category for the 2017 Grammy Awards, though neither won.[84]

text: Release[edit]

text: The first season consisted of eight one-hour-long episodes which were released worldwide on Netflix on July 15, 2016,[85] in Ultra HD 4K and HDR.[86] The second season, consisting of nine episodes, is scheduled to be released on October 27, 2017.[29] A teaser for the second season, which also announced the release date, aired during Super Bowl LI.[87]

text: Reception[edit]

text: Audience viewership[edit]

text: As Netflix does not reveal subscriber viewership numbers for any of their original series, Symphony Technology Group compiled data for the season based on people using software on their phones that measures television viewing by detecting a program's sound. According to Symphony, within the first 35 days of release, Stranger Things averaged ratings around 14.07 million adults between the ages 18–49 in the United States. This made it the third most-watched season of Netflix original content in the U.S. at the time behind the first season of Fuller House and fourth season of Orange Is the New Black.[88] In a September 2016 analysis, Netflix found that Stranger Things "hooked" viewers by the second episode of the first season, indicating that the second episode was "the first installment that led at least 70 percent of viewers who watched that episode to complete the entire first season of a show."[89]

text: In August 2017, the marketing analytics firm Jumpshot determined the season was the seventh-most viewed Netflix season in the first 30 days after it premiered, garnering slightly more than 20% of the viewers that the second season of Daredevil received, which was the most viewed season according to Jumpstart. Jumpshot, which "analyzes click-stream data from an online panel of more than 100 million consumers", looked at the viewing behavior and activity of the company’s U.S. members, factoring in the relative number of U.S. Netflix viewers who watched at least one episode of the season.[90]

text: Critical reception[edit]

text: Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gave the series an approval rating of 95% based on 61 reviews and a weighted average score of 8.1/10. The site's critical consensus states, "Exciting, heartbreaking, and sometimes scary, Stranger Things acts as an addictive homage to Spielberg films and vintage 1980s television."[91] Review aggregator Metacritic gave the series a normalized score of 76 out of 100 based on 34 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[92]

text: IGN gave the score of 8 out of 10 and called the series "Great" saying, "Stranger Things is an easy recommendation, offering viewers an atmospheric and endearing series that is a nostalgic throwback without feeling like a simple copy."[93] In a review of San Francisco Chronicle Dave Wiegand wrote: "Stranger Things reminds us of a time marked by a kind of no-strings escapism. And as it does so, we find ourselves yearning for it because the Duffers have made it so irresistibly appealing. There may be other equally great shows to watch this summer, but I guarantee you won’t have more fun watching any of them than you will watching Stranger Things."[94] Joshua Alston of The A.V. Club also reviewed it positively saying, "Balancing style and substance is always challenging for a series like Stranger Things, but the show is perfectly calibrated. It feels like watching a show produced during the era in which it’s set, but with the craft of today’s prestige television."[95] Reviewing for HitFix, Alan Sepinwall said, "Over the course of the eight hours, the story and characters take on enough life of their own so that the references don't feel self-indulgent, and so that the series can be appreciated even if you don't know the plot of E.T. or the title font of Stephen King's early novels (a huge influence on the show's own opening credits) by heart."[96]

text: Emily Nussbaum of The New Yorker also applauded the series and wrote, "This is astoundingly efficient storytelling, eight hours that pass in a blink, with even minor characters getting sharp dialogue, dark humor, or moments of pathos."[97] Television critic Mary McNamara of Los Angeles Times said, "For the most part, and in absolute defiance of the odds, Stranger Things honors its source material in the best way possible: By telling a sweet 'n' scary story in which monsters are real but so are the transformative powers of love and fealty."[98] The Wall Street Journal's Brian Kelly said, "Matt Duffer and Ross Duffer, brothers and the show’s creators, have done their homework when it comes to ’80s cinema. Whether you’re a fan of John Carpenter’s The Thing or The Goonies is more your speed, there’s plenty to like in Stranger Things."[99]

text: Commentary[edit]

text: Shortly after its release, Stranger Things gained a dedicated fanbase. One area of focus from these fans was the character of Barb, the nerdy friend and classmate of Nancy who is taken and killed by the monster early in the season.[100] According to actress Shannon Purser, Barb "wasn’t supposed to be a big deal", and the Duffer Brothers had not gone into great detail about the character since the focus was on finding Will. However, many fans sympathized with the character, with Laura Bradley of Vanity Fair suggesting that these people found that Barb would be a similar misfit in society, and "looks more like someone you might actually meet in real life" compared to the other characters, particularly Nancy, in the series. A hashtag "#ImWithBarb" grew in popularity after the series' release, and several fan sites and forums were created to support her.[101] While Purser will not return for the second season, the Duffer Brothers used the real-life "Justice for Barb" movement as inspiration for narrative at the start of the second season, with Nancy addressing the fact "that no one ever cares about" Barb.[16] Purser and several media outlets took her nomination as Barb for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series in the 69th Primetime Emmy Awards as achieving "justice for Barb", highlighting how well her character was received.[102][103][104]

text: Another impact of the series has been an increase demand for Eggo waffles, as they are shown to be Eleven's favorite food in several episodes and are seen as a representation of the show.[105] The Kellogg Company, which manufactures Eggo, had not been part of the production prior to the first season's release, but recognized the market impact of the series. It provided a vintage 1980s Eggo television advertisement for Netflix to use in its Super Bowl LI commercial, and is looking to become more involved with cross-promotion.[106]

text: United States Representative David Cicilline compared the state of the nation during the presidency of Donald Trump to that of Stranger Things during a speech given in Congress on February 16, 2017, using a sign "Trump Things" in the same format as the title card of the show and saying "Like the main characters in Stranger Things, we are now stuck in the Upside Down".[107]

text: As part of its release on Netflix on April 14, 2017, the cast of the rebooted version of Mystery Science Theater 3000 riffed on the first part of "Chapter 1" of Stranger Things.[108]

text: Accolades[edit]

text:
Association
Category
Nominee(s) / work
Result
Ref.

ACE Eddie Awards
Best Edited One Hour Series for Non-Commercial Television
Dean Zimmerman
"Chapter One: The Vanishing of Will Byers"
Nominated
[109]

Kevin D. Ross
"Chapter Seven: The Bathtub"
Nominated

American Film Institute
Top 10 TV Programs of the Year
Stranger Things
Won
[110]

Art Directors Guild
One-Hour Period or Fantasy Single-Camera Television Series
Chris Trujillo
"Chapter One: The Vanishing of Will Byers", "Chapter Three: Holly, Jolly" and "Chapter Eight: The Upside Down"
Nominated
[111]

Bram Stoker Awards
Superior Achievement in a Screenplay
Matt Duffer and Ross Duffer
"Chapter One: The Vanishing of Will Byers"
Nominated
[112]

Matt Duffer and Ross Duffer
"Chapter Eight: The Upside Down"
Nominated

British Academy of Film and Television Arts
Best International Program
Matt Duffer, Ross Duffer, Shawn Levy, Dan Cohen
Nominated
[113]

Cinema Audio Society
Outstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing for Television Series – One Hour
Chris Durfy, Joe Barnett, Adam Jenkins, Judah Getz and John Guentner
"Chapter Seven: The Bathtub"
Nominated
[114]

Costume Designers Guild
Outstanding Period Television Series
Kimberly Adams, Malgosia Turzanska
Nominated
[115]

Critics' Choice Television Awards
Best Drama Series
Stranger Things
Nominated
[116]

Most Bingeworthy Show
Stranger Things
Nominated

Directors Guild of America Awards
Outstanding Directorial Achievement for a Drama Series
Duffer Brothers
"Chapter One: The Vanishing of Will Byers"
Nominated
[117]

Dragon Awards
Best Science Fiction or Fantasy TV Series
Stranger Things
Won
[118]

Primetime Emmy Awards
Outstanding Drama Series
Stranger Things
Nominated
[119]
[120][121]

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series
David Harbour as Jim Hopper
"Chapter Eight: The Upside Down"
Nominated

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series
Millie Bobby Brown as Eleven / Jane Ives
"Chapter Seven: The Bathtub"
Nominated

Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series
The Duffer Brothers
"Chapter One: The Vanishing of Will Byers"
Nominated

Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series
Nominated

Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series
Shannon Purser as Barb Holland
"Chapter Three: Holly, Jolly"
Nominated

Outstanding Production Design for a Narrative Period Program (One Hour or More)
Chris Trujillo, William Davis, Jess Royal
"Chapter One: The Vanishing of Will Byers"
Nominated

Outstanding Casting for a Drama Series
Carmen Cuba, Tara Feldstein, Chase Paris
Won

Outstanding Cinematography for a Single-Camera Series (One Hour)
Tim Ives
"Chapter Eight: The Upside Down"
Nominated

Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Drama Series
Dean Zimmerman
"Chapter One: The Vanishing of Will Byers"
Won

Kevin D. Ross
"Chapter Seven: The Bathtub"
Nominated

Outstanding Hairstyling for a Single-Camera Series
Sarah Hindsgaul, Evelyn Roach
"Chapter Two: The Weirdo on Maple Street"
Nominated

Outstanding Makeup for a Single-Camera Series (Non-Prosthetic)
Myke Michaels, Teresa Vest
"Chapter Six: The Monster"
Nominated

Outstanding Music Supervision
Nora Felder
"Chapter Two: The Weirdo on Maple Street"
Nominated

Outstanding Sound Editing for a Series
Bradley North, Craig Henighan, Jordan Wilby, Jonathan Golodner, Tiffany S. Griffth, Sam Munoz, David Klotz, Noel Vought, Ginger Geary
"Chapter Eight: The Upside Down"
Won

Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Comedy or Drama Series (One Hour)
Joe Barnett, Adam Jenkins, Chris Durfy, Bill Higley
"Chapter Eight: The Upside Down"
Nominated

Outstanding Main Title Design
Michelle Dougherty, Peter Frankfurt, Arisu Kashiwagi, Eric Demeusy
Won

Outstanding Original Main Title Theme Music
Michael Stein, Kyle Dixon
Won

Outstanding Creative Achievement in Interactive Media within a Scripted Program
Netflix, CBS Digital
Stranger Things VR Experience
Nominated

Fangoria Chainsaw Awards
Best TV Series
Stranger Things
Pending
[122]

Best TV Actress
Millie Bobby Brown
Pending

Best TV Supporting Actor
David Harbour
Pending

Best TV Supporting Actress
Winona Ryder
Pending

Gold Derby TV Awards
Drama Series
Stranger Things
Won
[123]

Drama Supporting Actress
Millie Bobby Brown
Nominated

Drama Supporting Actress
Winona Ryder
Nominated

Drama Supporting Actor
David Harbour
Nominated

Drama Episode
Justin Doble, Matt Duffer and Ross Duffer
"Chapter Seven: The Bathtub"
Nominated

Drama Episode
Paul Ditcher, Matt Duffer and Ross Duffer
"Chapter Eight: The Upside Down"
Nominated

Ensemble of the Year
Cast of Stranger Things
Nominated

Breakthrough Performer of the Year
Millie Bobby Brown
Won

Golden Globe Awards
Best Television Series – Drama
Stranger Things
Nominated
[124]

Best Actress – Television Series Drama
Winona Ryder
Nominated

Golden Reel Awards
Best Sound Editing: TV Short Form – Music
David Klotz
"Chapter Three: Holly Jolly"
Won
[125]

Best Sound Editing: TV Short Form - FX/Foley
Jacob McNaughton
"Chapter Eight: The Upside Down"
Nominated
[126]

Grammy Awards
Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media
Stranger Things Volume 1
Nominated
[127]

Stranger Things Volume 2
Nominated

Hollywood Music in Media Awards
Best Main Title – TV Show/Digital Streaming Series
Kyle Dixon and Michael Stein
Nominated
[128]
[129]

Best Original Score – TV Show/Miniseries
Nominated

Outstanding Music Supervision – Television
Nora Felder
Won

Hugo Awards
Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form
Matt Duffer and Ross Duffer
Nominated
[130]

Location Managers Guild Awards
Outstanding Locations in Period Television
Tony Holley
Nominated
[131]

Make-Up Artists & Hair Stylists Guild
Best Period and/or Character Makeup – Television
Amy L. Forsythe, Samantha Smith
Nominated
[132]

Best Period and/or Character Hair Styling – Television
Sarah Hindsgaul, Evelyn Roach
Nominated

MTV Movie & TV Awards
TV Show of the Year

Won
[133]

Best Actor in a TV Show
Millie Bobby Brown
Won

Best Villain
The Demogorgon
Nominated

Best Hero
Millie Bobby Brown
Nominated

National Television Awards
Best Period Drama
Stranger Things
Nominated
[134]

People's Choice Awards
Favorite TV Show
Stranger Things
Nominated
[135]

Favorite Premium Sci-Fi/Fantasy Series
Stranger Things
Nominated

Favorite Sci-Fi/Fantasy TV Actress
Millie Bobby Brown
Nominated

Peabody Awards
Best Entertainment Program
Stranger Things
Nominated
[136]

Producers Guild of America
Episodic Television, Drama
Duffer Brothers, Shawn Levy, Dan Cohen, Iain Paterson
Won
[137]

Satellite Awards
Best Television Series – Genre
Stranger Things
Nominated
[138]

Best Actress – Television Series Drama
Winona Ryder
Nominated

Saturn Awards
Best New Media Television Series
Stranger Things
Won
[139]

Best Actress on a Television Series
Winona Ryder
Nominated

Best Younger Actor on a Television Series
Millie Bobby Brown
Won

Screen Actors Guild Awards
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series
Millie Bobby Brown
Nominated
[140]

Winona Ryder
Nominated

Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series
Main cast
Won

Society of Camera Operators
Camera Operator of the Year – Television
Bob Gorelick
Nominated
[141]

Television Critics Association
Program of the Year
Stranger Things
Nominated
[142][143]

Outstanding Achievement in Drama
Nominated

Outstanding New Program
Nominated

Teen Choice Awards
Choice Sci-Fi/Fantasy TV Show
Nominated
[144]

Choice Breakout TV Show
Nominated
[145]

Choice Breakout TV Star
Finn Wolfhard
Nominated

Choice Breakout TV Star
Millie Bobby Brown
Nominated

Visual Effects Society
Outstanding Visual Effects in a Photoreal Episode
Marc Kolbe, Aaron Sims, Olcun Tan
Nominated
[146]

Writers Guild of America
Drama Series
Stranger Things
Nominated
[147]

New Series
Stranger Things
Nominated


document_title: Dave Lamb

question_text: who does the voiceover for come dine with me uk

root

text: Dave Lamb

text: Early life[edit]

text: Lamb attended the Broxbourne School in Broxbourne, Hertfordshire, and studied Philosophy and Literature at the University of Warwick.[2]

tag: p

text: Early work[edit]

text: Lamb's first noted credit was in the 1998 British sitcom How Do You Want Me? He played a homophobic tramp called Buster. His first notable appearances were in the British Indian sketch show Goodness Gracious Me, being the only recurring white person in the cast. Throughout the 1990s and early 2000s he also appeared in comedy programmes such as People Like Us, Hippies, Armstrong and Miller, The Smoking Room and Fun at the Funeral Parlour as well as having a brief role in a couple of episodes of EastEnders. He also made a brief appearance in DIY SOS.

text: Voice-over work[edit]

text: Dave Lamb was one of the main voice-over artists on satirical cartoon 2DTV alongside Jan Ravens and Jon Culshaw,[3] but he gained cult status through his sarcastic voice-overs on dinner party show Come Dine With Me which began in 2005. In an interview he claimed that in the first series he did do quite a lot of ad-libbing but that the show's writers now know how to write for his voice. He also stated that he would never take part in a celebrity edition as he wasn't famous enough to participate.[4]

text: In 2008, Lamb provided a voice for one of the Spade brothers in Lionhead Studios' Fable II[5] and again in 2010 for Fable III.[6]

text: In 2011 for the Big Brother 2011 Come Dine With Me task, Lamb took over from usual narrator Marcus Bentley for the feature, the first time that anyone other than Bentley had provided a voice-over for the show.[7]

text: He starred in a voice-over part for a character in the 2011 MMORPG Star Wars: The Old Republic.

text: He also narrates Come Dine With Me (Ireland) and Come Dine With Me South Africa[8] and provides the voice-over on the CBeebies animation series Big Barn Farm.[9] He narrated a special section of Blue Peter on the 25th of October 2011. The section was a spoof of Come Dine With Me at a zoo where the guests were animals.[citation needed]

text: In May 2012, Dave did a voice over for UK band Jackdaw4 Jackdaw4 Pledge to promote their pledge campaign to record their fourth CD.

text: In November 2013, Lamb provided a voice over for Bedford Modern School's production of "The Only Way", a play commemorating 10 years of co-education.

text: He narrates the 2015 reboot of Danger Mouse. He also voices Stiletto Mafiosa in the series. He also narrates the live stage show of Danger Mouse at Butlins in 2017-2018

text: Recent TV appearances[edit]

text: Lamb has had two main-cast roles in television sitcoms, firstly as producer Des in BBC's The Life and Times of Vivienne Vyle (broadcast October 2007) and then in early 2008 he played put-upon television writer Carl Morris in ITV's Moving Wallpaper. He also played Sergeant Foster in two episodes of Only Fools and Horses prequel Rock & Chips, including the special shown on BBC One on New Year's Day 2011.[10]

text: He now co-presents a CBBC show Horrible Histories: Gory Games and was a regular on the first series of Alexander Armstrong's Big Ask. In 2009, he appeared in Miranda, in the episode in which Miranda pretends to go to Thailand.[11] In 2014, he appeared alongside the rest of the original cast of Goodness Gracious Me in a reunion special that was produced for BBC Two's 50th Anniversary.

text: In 2016, Lamb presented Come Dine With Me: Champion of Champions, the first time in the 11-year history of the show that he had appeared on screen rather than just narrating.[12]

text: Radio[edit]

text: Lamb was a member of radio comedy troupe The Cheese Shop and has also featured on radio recording three series of The Bigger Issues as well as featuring on 15 Minute Musical, The Alan Davies Show, ElvenQuest, No Future in Eternity, The Big Town All Stars, The Very World of Milton Jones, Artists and The Way It Is. He has also recorded two series of a radio drama entitled London, Europe for Radio 4, which he also wrote.[13] Radio 4 aired his sitcom, Hobby Bobbies during Summer 2013.

text: Stage work[edit]

text: Lamb made his stage debut alongside Russ Abbot and Eric Sykes in 2003 in a production of Ray Cooney's Caught In The Net at the Vaudeville Theatre.[13]

text: Personal life[edit]

text: Lamb lives in Brighton[14] and is a regular at the Dripping Pan, home of Lewes FC.[14] He is a shareholder of the club.[15]


document_title: The Real Housewives of Orange County (season 9)

question_text: the real housewives of orange county season 9 episode 4

text: Production and crew[edit]

text:
In November 2013, Lydia McLaughlin revealed there would be a ninth season after announcing her departure from the series.[2]
In March 2014, the official cast, trailer and premiere date of the season were announced.[3] The season premiere "Hawaii 5 Uh-Oh" was aired on April 14, 2014, while the eighteenth episode "All Apologies" served as the season finale, and was aired on August 18, 2014.[4][5][6][7] It was followed by a two-part reunion that aired on August 25 and September 1, 2014,[8][9][10][11] and a "Secrets Revealed" episode on September 8, 2014, which marked the conclusion of the season.[12][13][14][15] Adam Karpel, Alex Baskin, Douglas Ross, Gregory Stewart, Scott Dunlop, Stephanie Boyriven and Andy Cohen are recognized as the series' executive producers; it is produced and distributed by Evolution Media.[14]

text: Cast and synopsis[edit]

text:
Three of the six housewives featured on the eighth season of The Real Housewives of Orange County returned for the ninth instalment.[16]
In September 2013, it was revealed that Gretchen Rossi and Alexis Bellino had not been asked to return for season 9,[17][18] despite Bellino's willingness to quit prior to season 8.[19][20][21][22]
In November 2013, Lydia McLaughlin announced her departure from the series, saying, "I never wanted to make a career out of being a housewife. That's never really been a dream of mine", and "I want to build my brand outside of the Housewives. I've always been really honest with the producers about that. I knew that while I was filming it that I probably wasn't going to be doing it again."[23][24] In 2015, McLaughlin said she would be open to returning to Bravo on her own show.[25][26]
Recurring cast member and former housewife Lauri Peterson also leaves the series.[27][28]
Joining the series in the ninth season are two new wives, Shannon Beador and Lizzie Rovsek, and recurring cast member, Danielle Gregorio.[29] Beador is described as "quirky yet fearless," and Rovsek a "opinionated former beauty queen."[30][31] Gregorio is a charitable friend to the ladies, who is brash and brutally honest. Throughout the season Gregorio finds herself in the middle of the drama among the wives.[30][31][32]

text:
Heather Dubrow continues pursuing her acting endeavors and lands a guest role on Hawaii Five-0.[4] Dubrow oversees the construction of her new family home[33] and celebrates the breaking ground with a hoedown party.[34] Tension arises throughout the season after some of the ladies deem Dubrow as too uptight and judgmental.[4][35][36] The drama escalates to Dubrow and Beador feuding,[37] causing Dubrow to kick Beador out of her home.[38][39] Later the drama explodes at Rovsek's parents' house when rumors of Dubrow gossiping about Beador come to light, and some are left questioning Beador's integrity and stability.[40][41] Dubrow and Tamra Judge also feel a rift in their friendship, which worsens when Dubrow invites Judge onto Good Day L.A.[42]
Newlywed Judge considers having a child with Eddie[35][43] as she deals with her son's health issues.[37][44] To experience what having a child would be like, the Judges order a robotic baby called Astro.[38][39] Judge is left in tears when her son Ryan drops a bomb regarding his girlfriend Sarah.[45][41]
Vicki Gunvalson's divorce to Donn finalizes[4] and she continues to struggle to find common ground between Ayers and everyone else, especially her daughter.[40][41] Gunvalson worries that Briana and her husband Ryan will likely relocate to Oklahoma.[34][37][44][5]
Beador experiences difficulties in balancing her career and marriage to her husband David, especially when he sends her a shocking email.[42][45]
Rovsek is unsure whether to pursue her career as a swimsuit designer or have a third child with her husband Christian.[39][45] During the season, Rovesk has one of the worst birthdays she has ever had.[46] Rovsek also finds herself in the middle of Dubrow and Beador's feud,[38] as well as finding herself feuding with Judge.[47][48]

text: Taglines[edit]

text:
Heather: "You may think I have it all, but I'm just getting started."[49]
Lizzie: "Standing out is much more fun than fitting in."
Shannon: "The O.C. is full of secrets, but I have nothing to hide."
Tamra: "I'm not getting older, I'm just getting bolder."
Vicki: "I make my own rules, so don't expect me to follow yours."

tag: ul

text: Episodes[edit]

text:
No. inseries

No. inseason

Title

Original air date

U.S. viewers(million)

1241"Hawaii 5 Uh-Oh"April 14, 2014 (2014-04-14)1.70[50]
Heather befriends new housewife Shannon. She later travels to Hawaii to film for Hawaii Five-O; Tamra and Vicki join her for the weekend trip, although they clash when Heather refuses to party. Meanwhile, Vicki's divorce from Donn is finalized, and Vicki has difficulty managing the tension between her boyfriend Brooks and her daughter Briana.
1252"Meet & Potatoes"April 21, 2014 (2014-04-21)1.84[51]
Vicki explains her rekindled relationship with Brooks to Heather and Tamra before they leave Hawaii. Tamra arranges a Halloween party upon their return; after meeting the housewives, Shannon invites them to her house for dinner. Meanwhile, Tamra considers having a child with her husband Eddie.
1263"Fakes-giving, Fake Friends"April 28, 2014 (2014-04-28)1.71[52]
Heather feels excluded by the housewives while Shannon's party continues. She travels for Thanksgiving, while the other housewives enjoy a "Fakes-giving" dinner.
1274"Pretty Ugly"May 5, 2014 (2014-05-05)1.43[53]
Heather and Tamra are introduced to new housewife Lizzie at a charity event, while Tamra and Eddie discuss the idea of having a child.
1285"I Couldn't Chair Less"May 12, 2014 (2014-05-12)1.74[54]
Vicki bonds with Shannon during meetings with a holistic doctor and a Feng Shui specialist. Heather begins planning a party to commemorate the groundbreaking of her mansion, while Tamra insists that her son Ryan becomes more involved with CUT Fitness. During a group dinner outing, Vicki and Lizzie develop a distaste for one another, while Heather and Shannon argue over the seating arrangement.
1296"Showdown at the Hoedown"May 26, 2014 (2014-05-26)1.64[55]
Heather hosts a hoedown for the groundbreaking of her new house, where tensions grow between Heather and Shannon. Vicki apologizes to Lizzie.
1307"Choke-Lahoma"June 2, 2014 (2014-06-02)1.82[56]
Vicki travels to Oklahoma to help her daughter Briana look for a house. Heather and Lizzie meet with their children. Shannon and Heather also meet to discuss their issues. Shannon invites Lizzie for a makeup lesson at her house, and Tamra discovers something shocking about her son.
1318"Not So Silent Night"June 9, 2014 (2014-06-09)1.62[57]
Shannon is excited to host her annual Christmas party. At the party, Lizzie reveals that Tamra has been talking about Heather behind her back. Tamra gets some news about her son's blood test results. Vicki has trouble coping with her daughter moving to Oklahoma. At the party, Heather and Tamra talk about her guest spot on Good Day L.A.. Tamra accuses Heather of lying to her about having another gym to Good Day L.A. to compete with Tamra's gym, CUT Fitness.
1329"Not a Good Day LA"June 16, 2014 (2014-06-16)1.64[58]
After a frosty appearance on Good Day L.A., Tamra and Heather go to lunch in hopes of discussing their ongoing issues. Tamra reveals to Heather the severity of Shannon's failing marriage. During a visit from her mother, Lizzie judges a beauty pageant. Brianna and Ryan reveal the gender of their new baby to an anxious but excited Vicki. Shannon unexpectedly arrives at Tamra's house, upset about her marriage.
13310"Skunk in the Barnyard"June 23, 2014 (2014-06-23)1.86[59]
Shannon receives a text from David that rumors are going around the OC about their marriage. Shannon heads to Heather’s house to find out the source of the rumors. Vicki and Brooks head to Puerto Vallarta for a much needed vacation. Tamra orders a robotic baby.
13411"Making Woo-Hoo-Py"June 30, 2014 (2014-06-30)1.77[60]
After Heather asks Shannon to leave her house, she and David go to Puerto Vallarta to join Vicki and Brooks. Lizzie tries to balance her work and her family. Heather hires a personal chef so she can spend more time with her family. Tamra tries a experiment to teach Eddie a lesson in fatherhood, but it doesn't work out. She works on her own trying to raise the robot baby.
13512"La-Bomb-A"July 7, 2014 (2014-07-07)1.69[61]
After dinner in Mexico, Shannon and David try to get their marriage back on track with the assistance of Vicki. Heather gets new puppies while Tamra and Eddie make a final decision about Astro. Meanwhile, Lizzie tries to take her business to the next level.
13613"Point Break"July 14, 2014 (2014-07-14)1.72[62]
Lizzie hosts a dinner party at her family's beach house. Vicki brings Brooks to the party in hopes for a clean slate for him and Tamra. After entertainment the beach, tensions arise once again when a big accusation is made.
13714"Fully Loaded"July 21, 2014 (2014-07-21)1.68[63]
Lizzie's dinner party has a dramatic end when things become explosive between Heather and Shannon. Vicki and Briana see a therapist to face the "Brooks issue" once and for all. Tamra is blindsided during a family dinner where Ryan and his new girlfriend, Sarah, drop a bomb that leaves Tamra in shock.
13815"Valentines and Birthday Whines"July 28, 2014 (2014-07-28)1.77[64]
Heather and Tamra plan a trip to Bali. Lizzie's birthday doesn't reach her expectations. Heather hosts a spectacular Valentine's Day dinner party with sexy games and shenanigans.
13916"Bali Highs & Lows"August 4, 2014 (2014-08-04)1.97[65]
Heather and Shannon hope for peace and relaxation, but things escalate when Shannon gets some shocking news. Vicki hears about a statement allegedly made at the Valentine's Day dinner and Lizzie reveals her true feelings about Tamra.
14017"Eat, Pray, Run"August 11, 2014 (2014-08-11)2.03[66]
Tensions escalate as Shannon and Lizzie discuss Tamra and her part in their friendship. Vicki is shocked when she hears that Tamra has been talking about Brooks. Heather begins to hope for a new outlook between her and Shannon just as everything escalates at dinner when the ladies confront Tamra about being two-faced.
14118"All Apologies"August 18, 2014 (2014-08-18)2.03[67]
Vicki hosts a Bali dinner party and leftover tensions are still running high; the ladies don't hold back. Shannon's husband David apologizes but this leads to an unexpected fight. Vicki's daughter Briana and Tamra's son Ryan move away from the OC.
14219"Reunion Part One"August 25, 2014 (2014-08-25)1.91[68]
The ladies gather to discuss the past season's events.
14320"Reunion Part Two"September 1, 2014 (2014-09-01)2.03[69]
The ladies gather to continue to discuss the past season's events.
14421"Secrets Revealed"September 8, 2014 (2014-09-08)1.20[70]
The vault is open to air unseen footage from the season and reunion.


document_title: National Prosecuting Authority

question_text: who does the national prosecuting authority report to

text: National Prosecuting Authority

text: Structure[edit]

text: On a national level, the NPA is headed by the National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP). The NDPP is appointed by the President of South Africa for a term of 10 years.[1][2]

text: The NDPP is supported by a chief executive officer, a position which was filled by Marion Sparg from 2000 to 2007, and by four Deputy National Directors. Every seat of the High Court of South Africa is served by a Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), who acts as the prosecution authority for such Court's jurisdictional area. Further support comes from Special Directors and Investigating Directors.

text: Business units[edit]

text: The NPA comprises various core business units:

text:
The National Prosecution Service (NPS) is composed of the various DPP offices (and their subordinates) and are responsible for the day to day criminal prosecutions. State Advocates (attached to the office of the DPP) prosecute matters in the Superior Courts, whilst Public Prosecutors (attached to various Magistrate's Courts), prosecute matters in the Lower Courts.
The Directorate of Special Operations (DSO or Scorpions) was launched on 1 September 1999, in Cape Town, as a step towards putting in place the necessary machinery to eradicate organised crime in South Africa. It was the birth of what is envisaged to become a world-class law enforcement agency. The DSO was later disbanded in July 2009 and the investigative capacity transferred to the South African Police Service
The Asset Forfeiture Unit (AFU) was established in May 1999, to give effect to certain provisions in the Prevention of Organised Crime Act (Act 121 of 1998) allowing for the criminal or civil seizure (and subsequent forfeiture to the State) of assets belonging to perpetrators of crime. Once forfeited, these assets are realised and are utilised to compensate the victims of crime and/or are ploughed back into law enforcement.
Sexual Offences and Community Affairs (SOCA) was established in October 1999, with the main objective of eradicating all forms of gender-based violence against women and children. The Unit comprises four sections, namely the Sexual Offences Section; the Domestic Violence Section; the Maintenance Section; and the Child Justice Section.
The Specialised Commercial Crime Unit (SCCU) was established with the focal objective of prosecuting serious economic offences, such as Fraud and related offences.
The Witness Protection Unit (WPU) essentially provides support services to vulnerable and intimidated witnesses and related persons in any judicial proceedings in the Criminal Justice System. The unit also provides assistance and co-operation to other countries, Tribunals and Special Courts, in the field of Witness Protection. The functions and duties of the WPU are classified "SECRET" in terms of the Witness Protection Act.
The Priority Crimes Litigation Unit (PCLU) was created by Presidential proclamation on 23 March 2003. In terms of its mandate, it is to manage and direct investigations and prosecutions relating to: criminal prosecutions arising from the Rome Statute; crimes against the State, including national and international terrorism; matters emanating from the Truth and Reconciliation (TRC) process and contraventions of The Regulation of Foreign Military Assistance Act (Act No 15 of 1998), the Non-Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction Act (Act No 87 of 1993), The National Conventional Arms Control Act (Act No 41 of 2002), The Nuclear Energy Act (Act No 46 of 1999) and The Intelligence Services Act (Act No 65 of 2002).
The Integrity Management Unit (IMU) is a relatively new unit, tasked to continually assess, prevent, monitor, evaluate and maintain the NPA's integrity so that it is not in any way compromised. The IMU is further tasked to have complete oversight of the reactive systems and processes in instances where there has been a compromise of the organisation’s integrity.
Corporate Services (CS) is tasked to focus on servicing customer needs and to concentrate resources to provide low cost, high quality corporate service support to multiple business partners within the NPA.

text: Leadership[edit]

text: Controversial extraordinary changes in NPA leadership have been attributed to political interference.[1][2][3][4][5] In June 2014 former NPA prosecutor Glynnis Breytenbach, a Member of Parliament for the Democratic Alliance (DA) and Shadow Minister of Justice,[6][7] called for an end to ongoing political interference that has compromised the integrity of the NPA.[8][9]

text: The first NDPP, Bulelani Ngcuka, was appointed in 1998 and resigned in 2004.[5] He was succeeded by Vusi Pikoli (2005–2007), Mokotedi Mpshe (acting NDPP),[10][11] Menzi Simelane (2009–2012), Nomgcobo Jiba (acting NDPP),[10] and Mxolisi Nxasana appointed with effect from 1 October 2013.[1][5][12] On 5 July 2014, President Zuma announced an inquiry to determine whether Nxasana is fit and proper to hold office in terms of section 12(6)(a)(iv) of the National Prosecuting Authority Act, 1998.[2][5][13] On 11 May 2015, the inquiry was terminated, but unconfirmed reports suggested that Nxasana has agreed to resign his post.[14] On 31 May 2015 it was announced that Nxasana was stepping down as the National Director of Public Prosecutions.[15] He was paid out the value of the remainder of his 10-year-contract amounting to R17 million.[16] On 16 June 2015, Shaun Abrahams was appointed as the National Director of Public Prosecutions.[17]

text: Suspension of Vusi Pikoli[edit]

text: On 23 September 2007 President Thabo Mbeki suspended the then NDPP Vusi Pikoli.[18] Following Pikoli’s suspension, President Mbeki established a Commission of Enquiry headed by Dr Frene Ginwala (Ginwala Commission) in terms of section 12(6) of the National Prosecuting Act 32 of 1998 to determine the fitness of Pikoli to hold office of National Director. In the Report of the Enquiry into the Fitness of Advocate VP Pikoli to Hold the Office of the NDPP, the Ginwala Commission made a number of recommendations including that “Pikoli should be restored to his position and be sensitized to the broader responsibilities of his office and in particular to enhance his understanding of the security environment in which that office should function”.[19] One scholar has observed that despite the Ginwala Commission’s recommendations, Advocate Pikoli was removed from office by President Kgalema Montlante on 8 December 2008.[20] Mhango, who has written on the subject, notes that Montlante was later prevented by the judiciary in Pikoli v President and Others[21] to appoint a permanent NDPP until the legalities regarding the removal of Pikoli had been sorted in the courts.[22]

text: On 27 September 2007 the South African Broadcasting Corporation claimed that a warrant was issued on 10 September by the NPA for the arrest of the head of the South African Police and Interpol, Jackie Selebi. According to SABC the warrant was secured by Pikoli, before Pikoli was suspended by the country's President Mbeki.[23] [24] President Mbeki suspended NPA Head Vusi Pikoli, allegedly because of "an irretrievable breakdown" in the relationship between Pikoli and Justice Minister Brigitte Mabandla. However, journalists at the Mail and Guardian claim to have solid information supporting the widespread suspicion that President Mbeki suspended Pikoli as part of a bid to shield Police Commissioner Selebi.[25]

text: DA leader Helen Zille said that the suspension of Pikoli was a "serious development" that needed further explanation: "The country needs to know why Pikoli has been suspended."[26] Human Sciences Research Council political commentator Adam Habib said:[27]

text:
“
If the president suspended Mr Pikoli on the grounds that he had issued a warrant for the commissioner's arrest, then it suggests that an invasion is being made into an independent institution's operations. Intervening in the operations of the National Prosecuting Authority constitutes a violation of our Constitution.
”

text: Application to suspend Shaun Abrahams[edit]

text: The application to suspend Shaun Abrahams was struck off the roll.