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)]

I like Nicholas a lot -- he's got no patience with Cassandra... like, at all.

I've seen through episode 531 now. Nicholas has taken Cassandra to task for dawdling; they've both tried and failed a few methods to get Vicki to experience the dream -- Nicholas with offering her a poisoned drink (despite telling Cassandra "I'm no apprentice; drugging drinks is beneath me" or something to that effect) and Cassandra by hypnotizing Vicki in her sleep to use some drugged rosewater perfume. In both cases, Vicki wriggles out of it through impatience or circumstances. Finally, Cassandra conjures Sam's ghost out of his grave and tells him he'll never rest unless he goes to Vicki and tells her the dream, which he eventually does. Sam's pretty much always let people down; I don't see why dying should stop him from doing what he loves. So Vicki has the dream, and it ends with her entering the old house and seeing Barnabas on the floor, a bite on his neck.

Meanwhile, Joe confronts Professor Stokes about hiding Adam, Adam reveals himself, Joe chases him with a rifle, Adam takes it from him because Joe apparently doesn't realize a gun is a ranged weapon. Of course, Adam doesn't realize that either, because he beats Joe half to death with it. Then he leaves the body in one of Barnabas's closets. (He's alive; Julia arranges for him to go to the hospital.)

Things are heating up!

[Jeff of Earth-J]

"Cassandra conjures Sam's ghost out of his grave..."

Like I said, very few characters on Dark Shadows dies without returning from the dead. This is, however, David Ford's last appearance on the show as human, ghost or in any other role. Just three episodes to go and you'll have put the slow-moving and repetitive "Dream Curse" arc behind you!

[Tracy of Moon-T]

https://variety.com/2022/tv/news/mitchell-ryan-dead-dark-shadows-12...

Rest well, Burke. 

[The Baron]

Ah, what a shame.

Tracy of Moon-T said:

https://variety.com/2022/tv/news/mitchell-ryan-dead-dark-shadows-12...

Rest well, Burke. 

[The Baron]

He also played Will Riker's dad on ST:TNG.

The Baron said:

Ah, what a shame.

Tracy of Moon-T said:

https://variety.com/2022/tv/news/mitchell-ryan-dead-dark-shadows-12...

Rest well, Burke. 

[Rob Staeger (Grodd Mod)]

Aw, man. He was a favorite. I'm sorry he's gone.

[Jeff of Earth-J]

He had a long life. I'm happy he was given the opportunity to reprise his role of Burke Devlin by Big Finish. (I knew Burke didn't die in that South American plane crash!) He even participated in that Dark Shadows Hallowe'en Zoom call last year. 

[Rob Staeger (Grodd Mod)]

I've seen through episode 536 now... the end of the Dream Curse, presumably! Most important, Maggie wore an Annie Hall style outfit with a maroon tie. But also, Vicki had the dream, and eventually -- at his insistence, told the dream to Barnabas. And he had the dream, and survived! Then he went outside and was attacked by a bat, either killing him or turning him back into a vampire. Julia and Willie debate about staking him in the heart, and eventually decide to bury him in the woods, unstaked.

Meanwhile, Carolyn has reconciled with Adam, who, murderous hulking baby man or not, is probably her best boyfriend yet. But he feels a  sharp pain in his neck when Barnabas gets bitten, so eventually Carolyn takes him to Prof. Stokes.  

[Jeff of Earth-J]

Tracy is out of town until next week, so now's your chance to catch up, Rob!

In the meantime, here are three posts about Bloodlust from the "Dark Shadows Every Day" blog.

BLOODLUST (Pt. 1)

BLOODLUST (Pt. 2)

BLOODLUST (Pt. 3)

(For further discussion, see pp. 170-172 of this thread.)

[Rob Staeger (Grodd Mod)]

Awesome! I'll probably hold off on that until I see the introduction of Quentin on the show, but I'm definitely interested! I really liked that Big Finish one-shot with Burke and Maggie you recommended a while back.

As for catching up...I'm swamped with prepping for our Tardy Gras party this week, so we'll see. 

[Rob Staeger (Grodd Mod)]

I've seen through episode 541 now. Cassandra has been given an ultimatum -- and a skeleton hand! -- by Nicholas: Find out why Barnabas is still alive, or else he'll destroy her. And in my favorite bit of business in the last few episodes, Nicholas gets so frustrated by her whining about her midnight deadline that he moves it up to 9pm, giving her only an hour! Which seems to me to be a way to square the necessary solution of the issue -- Cassandra hearing David's tape with Dr. Lang on it -- with the fact that there wasn't an easy way to have David walking around at midnight, and they wanted Cassandra to hear it at the absolute last minute. 

So far, Nicholas is still being portrayed consistently with him being the Devil himself. I expect that will change soon.

Other news: Carolyn is now hiding Adam in the abandoned wing of Collinwood -- and even with all the grabbing and howling, and the fact that he's a Frankenstein, he's still a better boyfriend than Buzz, that drip biker she was going to marry. Plus, Nicholas has started insinuating his way into Maggie's life, offering her $2000 for one of her dad's paintings, and Julia hasn't yet heard the tape, but David has told her roughly what's on it, but he doesn't understand enough for it to be useful. Cassandra switched tapes on them, and likely has it in her possession.

[Rob Staeger (Grodd Mod)]

I've seen through episode 545 now. Now that the Dream Curse is through, mostly it's been Adam hanging out in the west wing of Collinwood, studying how to read and write, making passes at Carolyn, and waiting for someone else to find out he's there. 

Harry Johnson finds out, tries to take him to the police, and gets the knife slapped out of his hands. He tries to blackmail Carolyn about it but winds up being hired as a chauffer (and enlisted to bring food to Adam).

Professor Stokes already knew, and has to give him an impromptu lesson on how the birds shouldn't take advantage of the bees, even though the bird is bigger and stronger and the bee has fascinating blonde hair.

Nicholas Blair raises the ghosts of the bodies Adam has borrowed parts from -- which is just out-of-this-world bonkers. A headless ghost and a one-armed ghost point the way to where Adam is staying... and which point Blair approaches him and tells him he's a private tutor, and he shouldn't always do what people tell him to do. 

And finally, Cassandra creeps in at night, wanting to kill Adam, but needing to make it look like a human did it. So she raises an ax above his head while he sleeps....CLIFFHANGER!