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

[Doctor Hmmm?]

"Blow the whistle on you"? What's that all about?

That would be telling.

What's the deal with the paintings?

That would be telling.

What's in...THE ROOM?

That would be telling.

Starring Jeff of Earth-J as the New Number Two.

[Jeff of Earth-J]

"You are Number Six."

[Doctor Hmmm?]

I am not a number. I am a free man.

[The Baron]

Dark Shadows, aired 3/29/67

1)I like how Roger wears a tie to go exploring the cellar.

2)"Yes, that's it." "Yeah, that's it, that's the ticket!"

3)Sam Evans also wears a tie, just to sit around the house, drinking.

4)Willy?

5)So, has the fact that Roger apparently ran someone over and killed them, then blamed it on Burke, been referenced before, or is this a Big Revelation?

[Jeff of Earth-J]

I like how Roger wears a tie to go exploring the cellar.
Sam Evans also wears a tie, just to sit around the house, drinking.

They take their haberdashery cues from Ward Cleaver.

Willy?

Willie.

So, has the fact that Roger apparently ran someone over and killed them, then blamed it on Burke, been referenced before, or is this a Big Revelation?

It may have been the first time anyone came out and stated it outright, but it wouldn't have been a Big Revelation to anyone paying attention to the previous 197 episodes! Same thing applies to "Who sabotaged Roger's car?," "What's in the locked basement room?" and (to a certain extent) "Who are Victoria Winters' parents?"

[The Baron]

I can't thinking how wussy these Collinses are. If this was a certain family I know, Jason McGuire would be lucky not to have been found in a ditch somewhere, had he tried that kind of crap on us them.

[Jeff of Earth-J]

I'm sure foremost in Elizabeth's mind is the Collins' name and reputation.

[The Baron]

Jeff of Earth-J said:

I'm sure foremost in Elizabeth's mind is the Collins' name and reputation.

I see. That's not something the family I'm thinking of ever worried about.

[The Baron]

Dark Shadows, aired 3/30/67

1)Is this a reprise from last episode? What is this, 70's Doctor Who?

2)Jonathan Winters would of made a good Sam Evans.

3)Knowing this show, the guy Roger "killed" is is going to show up alive eventually.

4)"Logansport Enterprises", makers of Cranberry Frosted Cod Flakes Cereal.

5)McGuire's got a Renfield.

6)They sure do drink alot on this show.

7)Willie's a violent little freak.

8)Cliffhanger: Sam rats out Roger to Burke!

[The Baron]

Dark Shadows, aired 3/31/67

1)What will Burke do? Amke them wear clown suits?

2)Be funny if Burke ran over Jason on the way up to Collinwood.

3)Hey, wait, there's benn six characters in the episode - I thought they were only allowed five?

4)Cliffhanger: "We've come to talk to you, Roger - both of us!"

I have the awful suspender that Sam is going to cave when he's face-to-face with Roger...

[Jeff of Earth-J]

Willie's a violent little freak.

Don’t get too used to this Willie. James Hall plays the role for only four more episodes, then John Karlen takes over for a much lunger and more successful run. The thing that kind of creeps me out about James Hall’s Willie Loomis is that he looks and behaves very much as I imagine a young George W. Bush did.

Hey, wait, there's been six characters in the episode - I thought they were only allowed five?

Well there’s no law against having more than five characters per episode, but five actors and three sets is the general rule of thumb.

[The Baron]

They replaced him after four episodes? Was he just not working out?