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)]

Charging ahead, I've now seen through episode 595. And finally, after all that... WE HAVE A BRIDE!

Life force has been provided by Danielle Roget, Revolutionary-era French murderess and presumably a thesaurus author. She was brought back to life in a ceremony by Nicholas and Carolyn, who was recently killed and brought back to life herself. 

Maggie, with her memory, in the mausoleum, still hasn't been dealt with. Julia's tried to hypnotize her and it didn't work. 

[Jeff of Earth-J]

We wanted to let you get a bit ahead of us before we resumed watching (at our usual pace).

I guess it's time to add the Bible to the list of DS's literary references. (Adam alone = Frankenstein; Adam + Eve = the Bible.) 

[Rob Staeger (Grodd Mod)]

Yeah, I forgot to mention that she gets a name!

I'd give me a little more time before resuming, then... I'll typically be plodding along at my usual pace. But episode 600 is in sight... and then, around episode 623... the official halfway point!

Didn't the Fantastic Four play around with the Adam & Eve concept too, with the being who would eventually become Adam Warlock? It's been ages since I read that story, but I *kind of* remember an Eve, too?  Adam Warlock's a corner of the Marvel Universe I never followed, so I've only got passing familiarity with him at all.

[The Baron]

There was a Her to go with Adam Warlock's Him.  I think she's known as "Ayesha" now.

[Rob Staeger (Grodd Mod)]

Thanks, Baron! I thought there was a Her, but, well... it's a pretty hard thing to google.

[Jeff of Earth-J]

Her started out as "Paragon" (a male character) in Hulk Annual #6

"But episode 600 is in sight... and then, around episode 623... the official halfway point!"

Your next big milestones to look for are 606 and 610. I won't say what they are, but they are two entirely different things. 

[Rob Staeger (Grodd Mod)]

I've now seen through episode 599. 

Eve's alive! And Professor Stokes has figured out she's actually the murderous Danielle Roget via the time-honored method of Word Scramble. If it's good enough for Rosemary Woodhouse, it's good enough for Stokes!

Also, Daniel -- who apparently has been having an offscreen friendship with Adam for weeks -- has started poking his nose into stuff again and found Maggie locked up in the mausoleum. He frees her, she uses her last reserves of strength to get to town and find Joe, and when she gets to his apartment, Angelique is biting him! Fleeing one vampire, and running right into another! It's one of my favorite moments in the show so far, and it worked like gangbusters on me. 

I love Maggie's insistence that they flee, and Joe's trying to go with her, but not being able to defy Angelique. 

I'm disappointed that apparently Maggie has gotten memory-wiped/brainwashed yet again (this time by Nicholas, presumably) -- these few episodes don't seem like enough to explore Maggie grappling with all the horror in the town. I'd love to see Maggie go from friendly innocent to badass vampire hunter, but it doesn't look like that's in the cards.

[Rob Staeger (Grodd Mod)]

I just reached episode 600 -- we get our first really good look at Evil Eve, who is a blast so far. I love that she hates Adam... I mean, who wouldn't at this point?

Also, the spirit that's been haunting the Old House is revealed to be Philippe Cordier, Danielle Roget's former lover., who wants to kill Adam as revenge for her stepping out on him. At the end of the show, Adam is clutching his throat, hoping to get air...and a few miles away, so is Barnabas. Symbiosis means trouble!

Also, I just looked back on this thread, & I started posting on August 28, 2020, with episode 9. Page 188. I still have to go back and read the discussions, at least of the first half of the series.

[Rob Staeger (Grodd Mod)]

I guess I was really busy the week before I went on vacation, because I watched several episodes and didn't mention them here. Last night I caught up with episode 605, which culminates in Barnabas sneaking into Nicholas's house and being confronted by Angelique! So could the next episode be when Barnabas returns to being a vampire at last? I sure hope so.

[Rob Staeger (Grodd Mod)]

And now I've seen through episode 607. Barnabas isn't a vampire...yet. But he HAS been bitten. So that'll be some drama. Plus, Joe gets rejected by Angelique and stabs himself! But before that, an anguished scene between him and Maggie that absolutely tore my heart out. They're the couple I root for most in this show, and to see them torn apart...well, I don't like it one bit.

[Jeff of Earth-J]

Tracy has been bugging me for months now to start watching Dark Shadows again. We started last night (with 587, where we left off) and plan to watch through 625.

[Rob Staeger (Grodd Mod)]

I've seen through episode 609. After some good Angelique/Joe/Barnabas action, we get an episode with Adam bringing Eve to meet Carolyn... but while Eve is at Collinwood she sees Jeff Clark in the courtyard...and recognizes him as Peter Bradford? Also, David will be Peter and Vicki's ring bearer, assuming they ever actually do get married.