diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 37c853e68..9cfc40290 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -68,6 +68,7 @@ Version 2.0.5 - "Tanchico" - in development
 * Math.interpolateAngles and Math.nearestAngleBetween have been removed for the time being. They threw run-time errors previously.
 * PIXI.InteractionManager is no longer over-written if the object already exists (thanks @georgiee, #818)
 * Key.justPressed and justReleased incorrectly set the delay value to 2500ms. Now defaults to 50ms (thanks @draklaw, fix #797)
+* Stage.backgroundColor can now accept short-code hex values: `#222`, `#334`, etc.
 
 
 ### New Features
@@ -115,6 +116,7 @@ Version 2.0.5 - "Tanchico" - in development
 * RandomDataGenerator.integerInRange would return a non-integer value if you passed in a float.
 * Timer class updated so that code-resumed pauses don't mess up the internal _pausedTotal value (thanks @joelrobichaud, fix #814)
 * Timer class when paused by code after a game-level pause wouldn't set the codepaused flag (thanks @joelrobichaud, fix #814)
+* Stage.backgroundColor now properly accepts hex #RRGGBB and color values 0xRRGGBB again (fix #785)
 
 
 ### To Do
diff --git a/src/Phaser.js b/src/Phaser.js
index 82e0daf7d..8797942aa 100644
--- a/src/Phaser.js
+++ b/src/Phaser.js
@@ -77,6 +77,5 @@ var Phaser = Phaser || {
 
 // We don't need this in Pixi, so we've removed it to save space
 // however the Stage object expects a reference to it, so here is a dummy entry.
-// Ensure that an existing PIXI.InteractionManager is not overriden- in case you're using your own PIXI library.
-
-PIXI.InteractionManager = PIXI.InteractionManager || {};
+// Ensure that an existing PIXI.InteractionManager is not overriden - in case you're using your own PIXI library.
+PIXI.InteractionManager = PIXI.InteractionManager || function () {};
diff --git a/src/core/Stage.js b/src/core/Stage.js
index d8a415959..61555afa4 100644
--- a/src/core/Stage.js
+++ b/src/core/Stage.js
@@ -35,6 +35,11 @@ Phaser.Stage = function (game, width, height) {
     */
     this.name = '_stage_root';
 
+    /**
+    * @property {boolean} interactive - Pixi level var, ignored by Phaser.
+    * @default
+    * @private
+    */
     this.interactive = false;
 
     /**
@@ -334,23 +339,27 @@ Phaser.Stage.prototype.visibilityChange = function (event) {
 };
 
 /**
-* Sets the background color for the stage.
+* Sets the background color for the Stage. The color can be given as a hex value (#RRGGBB) or a numeric value (0xRRGGBB)
 *
 * @name Phaser.Stage#setBackgroundColor
-* @param {number} backgroundColor - The color of the background, easiest way to pass this in is in hex format like: 0xFFFFFF for white.
+* @param {number|string} backgroundColor - The color of the background.
 */
 Phaser.Stage.prototype.setBackgroundColor = function(backgroundColor)
 {
-    // console.log('setBackgroundColor');
-    this._backgroundColor = backgroundColor || 0x000000;
-    this.backgroundColorSplit = PIXI.hex2rgb(this.backgroundColor);
-    var hex = this._backgroundColor.toString(16);
-    hex = '000000'.substr(0, 6 - hex.length) + hex;
-    this.backgroundColorString = '#' + hex;
-    // console.log(this._backgroundColor);
-    // console.log(this.backgroundColorSplit);
-    // console.log(hex);
-    // console.log(this.backgroundColorString);
+    if (typeof backgroundColor === 'string')
+    {
+        var rgb = Phaser.Color.hexToColor(backgroundColor);
+        this._backgroundColor = Phaser.Color.getColor(rgb.r, rgb.g, rgb.b);
+    }
+    else
+    {
+        var rgb = Phaser.Color.getRGB(backgroundColor);
+        this._backgroundColor = backgroundColor;
+    }
+
+    this.backgroundColorSplit = [ rgb.r / 255, rgb.g / 255, rgb.b / 255 ];
+    this.backgroundColorString = Phaser.Color.RGBtoString(rgb.r, rgb.g, rgb.b, 255, '#');
+
 };
 
 /**
@@ -360,22 +369,15 @@ Phaser.Stage.prototype.setBackgroundColor = function(backgroundColor)
 Object.defineProperty(Phaser.Stage.prototype, "backgroundColor", {
 
     get: function () {
+
         return this._backgroundColor;
+
     },
 
     set: function (color) {
 
-        this._backgroundColor = color;
-
-        if (this.game.transparent === false)
+        if (!this.game.transparent)
         {
-            if (typeof color === 'string')
-            {
-                // console.log(color);
-                color = Phaser.Color.hexToRGB(color);
-                // console.log(color);
-            }
-
             this.setBackgroundColor(color);
         }
 
diff --git a/src/utils/Color.js b/src/utils/Color.js
index 1e43b15f6..c3c9e2275 100644
--- a/src/utils/Color.js
+++ b/src/utils/Color.js
@@ -751,23 +751,42 @@ Phaser.Color = {
     },
 
     /**
-    * Return the component parts of a color as an Object with the properties alpha, red, green, blue
+    * Return the component parts of a color as an Object with the properties alpha, red, green, blue.
     *
     * Alpha will only be set if it exist in the given color (0xAARRGGBB)
     *
     * @method Phaser.Color.getRGB
     * @static
     * @param {number} color - Color in RGB (0xRRGGBB) or ARGB format (0xAARRGGBB).
-    * @returns {object} An Object with properties: alpha, red, green, blue.
+    * @returns {object} An Object with properties: alpha, red, green, blue (also r, g, b and a). Alpha will only be present if a color value > 16777215 was given.
     */
     getRGB: function (color) {
 
-        return {
-            alpha: color >>> 24,
-            red: color >> 16 & 0xFF,
-            green: color >> 8 & 0xFF,
-            blue: color & 0xFF
-        };
+        if (color > 16777215)
+        {
+            //  The color value has an alpha component
+            return {
+                alpha: color >>> 24,
+                red: color >> 16 & 0xFF,
+                green: color >> 8 & 0xFF,
+                blue: color & 0xFF,
+                a: color >>> 24,
+                r: color >> 16 & 0xFF,
+                g: color >> 8 & 0xFF,
+                b: color & 0xFF
+            };
+        }
+        else
+        {
+            return {
+                red: color >> 16 & 0xFF,
+                green: color >> 8 & 0xFF,
+                blue: color & 0xFF,
+                r: color >> 16 & 0xFF,
+                g: color >> 8 & 0xFF,
+                b: color & 0xFF
+            };
+        }
 
     },