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

[Jeff of Earth-J]

Ha! I never made that association. 

I would have loved to see the First Doctor cross over with Dark Shadows in the b&w days. 

I posted such a fanfic on the old board (and I'm glad it's gone now). 

[Rob Staeger (Grodd Mod)]

Oh, I knew that name sounded familiar!

[Rob Staeger (Grodd Mod)]

I watched SHE a couple of years ago, and gave it this review on Letterboxd:

Hoary adventure tale about three men wandering into a desert to find a beautiful woman who offers the least interesting one of them immortality. Big set pieces, volcano pits, feathered robes and gold headdresses... it doesn't add up to much, but it can be fun to look at. And at least I now know where the phrase "She who must be obeyed" originated.*

*Although likely with the original H. Rider Haggard story, and the movie just popularized it.

In looking it up, I found there was another movie called She in 1984, starring Sandahl Bergman (from Conan the Barbarian) which has this amazing summary: "SANDAHL BERGMAN TEMPTED CONAN AND NOW SHE IS READY TO TAKE ON THE WORLD! In a backward post-apocalyptic world, She aids two brothers’ quest to rescue their kidnapped sister. Along the way, they battle orgiastic werewolves, a psychic communist, a tutu-wearing giant, a mad scientist, and gladiators before standing against the odds to defeat the evil Norks."  It's apparently also based on the H. Rider Haggard novel, but ... well, check out the trailer on YouTube and see for yourself.

Anyway, I've seen up through episode 739 now. Judith has offered to host Hatch's school on Collinwood's estate, Laura has saved herself by somehow incarnating Amun-Ra into Dirk the groundskeeper, and Charity has gone moony for Barnabas again, even though she just learned he's engaged. Unfortunately she just fainted in front of her dad, and her bite marks are showing. Oh, and Barnabas has a portrait of Laura from back when she was married to Jerimiah (is this a retcon? It has to be, right? Jeremiah was going to marry Angelique when he died; I don't remember any mention of a Laura involved).

[Rob Staeger (Grodd Mod)]

And sheesh, there are a lot of similar-looking blondes running around Collinwood lately. Angelique and Laura, Beth and Charity! 

[Jeff of Earth-J]

"(Is this a retcon? It has to be, right? Jeremiah was going to marry Angelique when he died; I don't remember any mention of a Laura involved)."

I was going to say something about this during the original Phoenix storyline, but I didn't remember how much was retconned and when (and I didn't want to spoil anything). As it turns out, the original storyline was fairly consistent (such as it is), although a bit self contradictory. To refresh everyone's memory, that storyline established...

"Laura Stockbridge... died by fire."

"Laura Radcliffe... died by fire."

"Laura Murdoch... died by fire."

The retcon comes in 1897 when those women are revealed to be...

Laura Stockbridge Collins (wife of Jeremiah, 18th century)

Laura Radcliffe Collins (wife of Edward, 19th century)

Laura Murdoch Collins (wife of Roger, 20th century)

That's a "neat idea" that doesn't quite work. First, it messes up the "every 100 years" conceit; second, if you parse it out, because Laura was the mother of Jamison, and Jameson was the father of Roger, she actually married her own grandson. Also, it think it's pretty clear that Josette was Jeremiah's first wife, yet, because he dies in 1795, we mist assume Josette was his second wife and that Laura was a hitherto unmentioned previous marriage.

We watched both the 1935 as well as the 1965 movie versions of She; there is also a 1968 sequel, The Vengeance of She, but we didn't watch that. We left off (some time ago, now) with 741.

[Rob Staeger (Grodd Mod)]

I'm caught up to you -- saw through episode 741 last night! Magda urges Barnabas to prepare to skip town, since people know there's a vampire about; Barnabas is having none of it. He shows Laura the portrait of her previous life, drawing her attention to him (Grodd knows why). Laura has Magda read her cards; it always begins with Death. She and Quentin have a long talk about the kids -- is killing them better then raising them to be patrician monsters? Tough call, honestly. And Sandor and Barnabas exhume Laura's coffin and find there's nobody inside. Meanwhile, Quentin gets a telegram from Egypt saying Laura died there last year; a death certificate will follow. And he REALLY wants to see Barnabas during the day, pressing for a lunch date. 

[Rob Staeger (Grodd Mod)]

I've seen through episode 743 now. Barnabas has used the Egyptian Book of the Dead to conjure the colonial-era Laura, Laura Stockbridge Collins, into 1897 -- at which point, 1897 Laura disappears. Charity sees him do it and runs out; Quentin comes in and sees this other Laura there. She says who she is, and disappears. 1897 Laura returns in the cottage, in front of Dirk. Barnabas and Quentin decide to team up against her. 

Later, Laura uses magic (and Dirk unlocking the door) to free Jenny, so she'll go to kill her husband, Quentin.

[Rob Staeger (Grodd Mod)]

I caught 1 more last night, episode 744. Jenny bonks Judith on the head and goes looking for Quentin. Barnabas invites her into the Old House, brings her up to Josette's room, and encourages her to get a makeover. (You can comb that hair, but there ain't nothing you can do about those crazy eyes!) He locks her in and goes to sleep downstairs, and Quentin finds the key and is going up to the room to kill her. 

[The Baron]

If I lived in Collinwood, I'd probably destroy the atmosphere of the place by putting my Alex Ross Crisis on Infinite Earths poster  up on the wall.

[The Baron]

Just a random question:  Was there ever a non-white character on this show? I grant that Maine is about as "white" as you can get in this country, but you'd think that there would've been one over the eyars.

[Jeff of Earth-J]

Not unless you include white actors playing gypsies or something like that. I can't think of a single Black character ever appearing, not even as an extra in the Blue Whale.

[Rob Staeger (Grodd Mod)]

There's one: Beverly Hope Atkinson played a nurse at Collinsport Hospital in episode 563. Someone in the comments of DSED says that later a Black actor plays a mute in the 1897 storyline, but I haven't seen him yet. And since he doesn't have any lines, they didn't put his name in the credits.