Dark Shadows

[Jeff of Earth-J]

I’d like to start this continuation of the Dark Shadows discussion from the old board with a look at some of the new and upcoming Dark Shadows audio stories from Big Finish Productions. There aren’t nearly as many Dark Shadows audio adventures as there are Doctor Who ones, but the Doctor Who series has been around longer. The Dark Shadows audios are a mixed bag. The first release was a full-cast sequel titled “Return to Collinwood”. Later they began to release a series of interconnected sequential stories grouped in short “seasons”. More recently they’ve been going back to the timeline of the original television show and telling interstitial one-shots. As the Dark Shadows series seems to be catching on, Big Finish seems to be ramping up their production schedule. “Curse of the Pharaoh” was released in September, and the next four are set for monthly release beginning in January at a special subscription rate.

CURSE OF THE PHARAOH:

“Curse of the Pharaoh” stars Nancy Barrett (reprising her role as Carolyn Stoddard) and Marie Wallace (perhaps best known as “Eve” on the TV show) in a new role, famed Egyptologist Dr. Gretchen Warwick. The story doesn’t specify, but I assume it takes place shortly after the end of the series original TV series, circa 1970 or so. Both actresses are kind of rusty and sound as old as they are, not as young as they (Caroline, anyway) are supposed to be. Barrett was always a better actress than Wallace, and that remains true. Wallace’s shortcomings are spotlighted in this “dramatic reading” in which she plays other bit parts, most of the male (Bob the bartender at The Blue Whale, Eliot Stokes on the telephone, Carolyn’s father in flashback), which she performs in a gruff kind of storybook voice as if reading aloud to a child. The story itself is a sequel to the unpopular “Leviathan” television storyline. If you’ve never heard a Dark Shadows audio and thinking of trying one out, there are better ones to start with than this.

KEY: OB = Old Board; UR = Un-Reviewed

Return to Collinwood - 169

SEASON ONE:
S1.1 The House of Despair - 1
S1.2 The Book of Temptation - OB
S1.3 The Christmas Presence - 264
S1.4 The Rage Beneath - 7

SEASON TWO: Kingdom of the Dead - 7

DRAMATIC READINGS:

1. Angelique’s Descent-Pt. 1 - OB
2. Angelique’s Descent-Pt. 2 - OB
3. Clothes of Sand - OB
4. The Ghost Walker - OB
5. The Skin Walkers - OB
6. The Path of Fate - OB
7. The Wicked & the Dead - OB
8. Echoes of Insanity - OB
9. Curse of the Pharaoh - 1
10. Final Judgment - 1
11. Blood Dance - 1
12. The Night Whispers - 1
13. London’s Burning - 2
14. The Doll House - 30
15. The Blind Painter - 87
16. The Death Mask - 88
17. The Creeping Fog - 89
18. The Carrion Queen - 89
19. The Poisoned Soul - 96
20. The Lost Girl - 96
21. The Crimson Pearl - 114
22. The Voodoo Amulet - 129
23. The House by the Sea - 170
24. Dress Me in Dark Dreams - 154
25. The Eternal Actress - 162
26. The Fall of House Trask - 163
27. Operation: Victor - 166
28. Speak No Evil - 166
29. The Last Stop - 166
30. Dreaming of the Water - 167
31. The Haunted Refrain - 167
32. A Collinwood Christmas - 167, 264
33. The Phantom Bride - 167
34. Beneath the Veil - 167
35. The Enemy Within - 167
36. The Lucifer Gambit - 167
37. The Flip Side - 167
38. Beyond the Grave - 168
39. Curtain Call - 168
40. The Harvest of Souls - 170
41. The Happier Dead - 168
42. The Carriage Damned - 168
43. The Devil Cat - 168
44. The Darkest Shadow - 173

SEASON THREE: Bloodlust - 170-172, 181, 269

45. Panic - 173
46. The Curse of Shurafa - 173
47. In the Twinkling of an Eye - 173
48. Deliver Us from Evil - 173
49. Tainted Love - 173
50. ...And Red All Over - 175

Echoes of the Past - 176

Blood & Fire - 176

Haunting Memories - 177

Phantom Melodies - 178

Dreams of Long Ago - 178

THE TONY & CASSANDRA MYSTERIES:
The Mystery at Crucifix Heights - 179
The Mystery of La Danse Macabre - 179
The Mystery of Flight 493 - 180
The Mystery of Karmina Sonata - 180

SHADOWS OF THE NIGHT:
Trio - 180
Honeymoon from Hell - 180
Retreat -180
1:53 AM - 180

MAGGIE & QUENTIN - THE LOVERS' REFRAIN:
The Girl Beneath the Water - 180
The Sand That Speaks HIs Name - 180
The Hollow Winds That Beckon
The Paper to the Flame

GOTHIC PAPERBACK LIBRARY

1. Dark Shadows - p183
2. Victoria Winters - p183
3. Strangers at Collins House - p183
4. The Mystery of Collinwood - p184
5. The Curse of Collinwood - p184
6. Barnabas Collins - p185
7. The Secret of BC - p185
8. The Demon of BC - p185
9. The Foe of BC - p185
10. The Phantom of BC - p185
11. BC vs. the Warlock - p186
12. The Peril of BC - p186
13. BC and the Mysterious Ghost - p187
14. BC and Quentin's Demon - p188
15. BC and the Gypsy Witch - p188
16. B, Q and the Mummy's Curse - p188
17. B, Q and the Avenging Ghost - p242
18. B, Q and the Nightmare Assassin - p244
19. B, Q and the Crystal Coffin
20. B, Q and the Witch's Curse
21. B, Q and the Haunted Cave
22. B, Q and the Frightened Bride
23. B, Q and the Scorpio Curse
24. B, Q and the Serpent
25. B, Q and the Magic Potion
26. B, Q and the Body Snatchers
27. B, Q and Dr. Jekyll's Son
28. B, Q and the Grave Robbers
29. B, Q and the Sea Ghost
30. B, Q and the Mad Magician
31. B, Q and the Hidden Tomb
32. B, Q and the Vampire Beauty
33. House of Dark Shadows - p241

ROB STAEGER: p189

NEWSPAPER STRIPS: p241

[The Baron]

It seems to me that there was an extreme lack of rocket scientists and brain surgeons around Collinwood.

Rob Staeger (Grodd Mod) said:

Episode 75. So weird to see sourpuss Roger happy. So glad it won't last.

Vicki found the pen!

Carolyn: "Some days I hate this room... some days I love it!" Sweetie, you can't make up your mind about ANYTHING. You were just telling Vicki what a huge threat Burke would be, and then 10 minutes later when you're on the phone with Joe, you completely dismiss him. It's almost like you're merely a pretty exposition machine without a thought in your head.

[Rob Staeger (Grodd Mod)]

Up to episode 78 now. Burke has come to Collinwood announcing his intention to buy the house -- and the Collins's businesses, too. Then David & Carolyn argue about Burke Devlin, and then Elizabeth lectures David on family loyalty. We also get some hints that Elizabeth's marriage to Paul Stoddard wasn't a happy one.

And then, in the fun episode 78, a bunch of folks all gather at the Blue Whale. 

The kids (Maggie and Joe, as well as Sam, always up for a reason to drink) have fun making a drinking game out of whenever a Collins is mentioned. Sam joins Roger to conspire while Vicki hangs with the kids. Roger throws some really snobby shade at Joe and Maggie, and Joe almost cleans his clock.  Woulda loved to have seen that! I've no idea how Vicki still seems to think he's a nice guy, but as Bob says, there aren't a of of brain surgeons on this show.

Oh, and Maggie shows an interest in Joe!

[Jeff of Earth-J]

Mustn't... get... ahead... of... discussion! 

"We also get some hints that Elizabeth's marriage to Paul Stoddard wasn't a happy one."

Ben Cartwright's first wife was Elizabeth Stoddard (of the Boston Stoddards).*

*See Bonanza.

[Rob Staeger (Grodd Mod)]

Wait, what? There's a Bonanza/Dark Shadows connection? I don't know that show at all, TBH.

[The Baron]

"Late at night Barnabas wants a bite, BONANZA!"

Rob Staeger (Grodd Mod) said:

Wait, what? There's a Bonanza/Dark Shadows connection? I don't know that show at all, TBH.

[Jeff of Earth-J]

"Wait, what?"

I've been posting about Bonanza lately to the "What Are You Watching Right Now?" discussion. Ben Cartwright's first wife (the mother of Adam) was Elizabeth Stoddard of Boston. It's unlikely she was an ancestor of Elizabeth Collins Stoddard, but she may well have been a (collateral*) ancestor of Paul Stoddard. 

*Meaning he was not descended from her directly, but perhaps from a sibling.

[Rob Staeger (Grodd Mod)]

Ah.... and you posted a screen grab from an episode where the original Matthew showed up, too!

Meanwhile, I got up to episode 80. To recap, the last three week-ending cliffhangers:

70: A GHOST! GHOSTS ARE REAL, EVERYBODY!

75: Victoria finds a pen.

80: Roger knows Victoria found a pen.

Having JUST SEEN A GHOST, those later events -- even suffused, as they are, with a greater significance to the plot -- feel like super small potatoes, all of a sudden. 

[Jeff of Earth-J]

Wait'll you get to 85. ;)

[Rob Staeger (Grodd Mod)]

I've seen up to episode 82 now... Mrs. Johnson has been hired at Collinwood, and Burke is pressing Roger (and the sheriff) about the missing pen! (And the guy playing the timpani in the Dark Shadows Orchestra was left unsupervised at the end of 82.)

[Rob Staeger (Grodd Mod)]

Wow... yeah, we've got cliffhangers! 

I'm on episode 86 now... David's locked Vicki in the closed off part of Collinwood, and the Ghost of Bill Molloy was so concerned that he warned her to get out before she's killed! Plus, Joe's having dinner with Maggie, and Carolyn is having drinks with Burke! Everything's topsy turvy!

Roger suspects David knows where Vicki is, but he hasn't forced him to tell him yet. 

There was a fun scene of Roger and Burke patching things up in the Blue Whale, and singing "Drunken Sailor" in Bill's honor... and he sings a bit of it before he wakes Vicki, too. 

A fun string of episodes!

[Jeff of Earth-J]

What DO you do with a drunken sailor?

[Rob Staeger (Grodd Mod)]

I finished the week -- up through episode 90. Vicki, after her scare, is finally going to stay -- since she found a ledger entry to a "B. Hanscomb" -- the woman in the portrait, although she doesn't remember that yet --  in the old Collins accounting books. Left for her by a ghost, I assume? Also, her trick to escape by dragging the key under the door works in the light of day, when the night before the key was too thick to make it under. 

David now says he loves her, because she can see ghosts. A mixed blessing: The last thing Carolyn remembers him loving was his kitten, which he drowned. 

Meanwhile, Burke is going full J.R. Ewing, planning a corporate takeover by tempting Elizabeth's employees away from the Collins Cannery. And Maggie & Joe had a great dinner together (Sam kept drinking at the Blue Whale, I guess), but he left with just a chummy kiss and Maggie making goo-goo eyes at him. It was kind of weird, after all the hauntings, to have an episode that was Pure Soap.