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

[Rob Staeger (Grodd Mod)]

Wow, I'd totally forgotten about Peter Guthrie... and I remember when I'd totally expected him to be the kind of character that Julia has become!

I've seen a couple more episodes, up to episode 520. So Maggie's come to live with the Collinses (although she hasn't been seen yet), Joe's upstairs waiting for her to wake up, Cassandra gets kidnapped by Trask, tied to a tree and supposedly exorcised (she disappeared), Roger is looking for her, Liz still think she's Naomi, Trask's skeleton has rematerialized in Barnabas's Basement, Liz (as Naomi) spilled the beans about Barnabas being the living dead to Julia (who knew) and Roger (who didn't, but thinks she's speaking nonsense), and then Liz poisons herself (why she had poison isn't explained) and goes up to the tower (like Naomi did), where she's found by Barnabas and Julia...in the nick of time, I suspect.

Oh, and we saw Vicki for a couple minutes, too.

[Jeff of Earth-J]

Yer killin' me, Rob.

[Rob Staeger (Grodd Mod)]

Sorry! the pace won't be picking up this week either. I'm swamped with work for these next few days, and then I'll be away in Pittsburgh to curl for a long weekend. 

[Rob Staeger (Grodd Mod)]

OK, I just saw episode 521, so I've just (briefly) met Cassandra's brother Nick,* if that's what you were impatient for. Also, it looks like Liz is going to the hospital again. Plus, Professor Stokes has been educating Adam with flash cards!

*I don't yet believe that Nick is a) actually named Nick; b) actually Cassandra's brother. But I'm pretty sure he'll be trouble.

[Jeff of Earth-J]

"Cassandra's brother Nick,* if that's what you were impatient for."

Well, yes. *(Nicholas, please.) You're right: he's going to be trouble. Last night, we watched the episode that introduced [ANOTHER MAIN CHARACTER] (554). It's like, a couple of years ago, a number of my coworkers were watching The Walking Dead on TV and were all excited about "The Prison," whereas I was reading the comics and wanted to discuss Hilltop, the Kingdom, the  Saviors and the Survivors.

"Also, it looks like Liz is going to the hospital again."

Or it's time for Joan Bennett's vacation.

[Rob Staeger (Grodd Mod)]

Good for her, she's earned it! 

I'll try to speed up once I'm home from Pittsburgh, but I'm not a binge-watcher by nature. It's a miracle that I've gotten this far! 

And jeez, someone new in 554! There's always something poppin' at Collinwood!

Jeff of Earth-J said:

"Cassandra's brother Nick,* if that's what you were impatient for."

Well, yes. *(Nicholas, please.) You're right: he's going to be trouble. Last night, we watched the episode that introduced [ANOTHER MAIN CHARACTER] (554). It's like, a couple of years ago, a number of my coworkers were watching The Walking Dead on TV and were all excited about "The Prison," whereas I was reading the comics and wanted to discuss Hilltop, the Kingdom, the  Saviors and the Survivors.

"Also, it looks like Liz is going to the hospital again."

Or it's time for Joan Bennett's vacation.

[Tracy of Moon-T]

I've only seen this storyline once before so I am looking forward to all the characters moving in and out of the plot. Nicholas is an interesting character.

[Rob Staeger (Grodd Mod)]

Tried to squeeze in a few more as I was packing, so I'm up to episode 525 now. Nicholas has been searching for Cassandra, and by hypnotizing Vicki to lead him to Trask's tree, he's found the spot where he thinks he can summon her back (and seems to at the end of the episode). Jeff's back, and is starting to come to terms that he might be Peter! Liz has been shunted off to her sanitarium vacation. Maggie moved back home, and find's Stokes's stickpin on the carpet -- she and Joe suspect he and Adam were there. 

Loved the confrontation between Nicholas and Rev Trask: "I serve the Lord!" "You only thought you did." Nice stuff. I like this Ol' Nick -- and I wouldn't be surprised if he's the devil himself at this point.

[Jeff of Earth-J]

The Nick/Nicholas connection honestly never occurred to me until you mentioned it; now it seems perfectly obvious. It don't think he's "THE" devil, Although it's never spelled out explicitly, it will become clear he reports to someone. 

[Rob Staeger (Grodd Mod)]

I wonder if they were hinting at him being the devil himself for a while -- certainly someone who makes bargains with people, especially witches -- and then decided to change direction and give him a boss later.

I'm halfway through episode 527 now, so Vicki's back with a button in her hand, Jeff knows it's Nicks and confronts him about it, and they're off to see Professor Stokes, who's teaching Adam to read (and finding out more about his past). Meanwhile, Cassandra is back, and Nicholas has made it clear that he's helping her because of a bargain they made, and if he didn't help, she wouldn't be able to keep her end of it. 

[Tracy of Moon-T]

I find myself fond of Nicholas even though I am not supposed to like/trust him. He's excellent for mixing up the main cast. 

[Jeff of Earth-J]

Nicholas moves the story forward. Until he came along, the "Dream Curse" arc was spinning its wheels. He will put a stop to that in short order.