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]

One more thing about Scarlet Street... 

When Edward G. Robinson asked to paint her, I thought for sure he meant in the nude. There was an earlier scene in which his wife, criticizing his paintings, said, "Next you'll be painting naked women!" EGR responded, "I've never seen a naked woman," to which his wife replied. "I should hope not!" (which says quite a bit about about their marriage). I wish the movie had revealed more about [SPOILER] the aftermath of her reunion with her "dead" first husband. [END SPOILER].

It occurs to me that when I updated the "Dark Shadows Seancé Scorecard" I should have updated the list of "Dark Shadows Literary & Cinematic Sources" as well. So far we have...

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte - (Victoria Winters)

The Crucible by Arthur Miller - (1795, Victoria, Abigail and Trask)

"The Cask of Amontillado" by Edgar Allan Poe - (1795, Barnabas and Trask)

"Dover Beach" by Matthew Arnold - (Roger recites this poem while under Angelique's spell)

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley - (Adam)

The Bride of Frankenstein by Universal Studios - (Eve)

The Bible - (Adam & Eve)

"The Premature Burial" by Edgar Allan Poe - (Elizabeth)

The Wolfman by Universal Studios - (Chris Jennings)

[The Baron]

Re-watching Journey to the Center of the Earth (1959).  I always forget that the heel in that is played by Thayer David.

[Rob Staeger (Grodd Mod)]

OK, so now we've got a heel played by Thayer David, and toes played by Joan Bennett. I feel like they should make a movie with David Soul.

[Tracy of Moon-T]

621 - The camera crew was off their game.

The concrete floor and lighting equipment are clearly visible. 

[Rob Staeger (Grodd Mod)]

Oops! Barnabas naps on the portable putting green in the head office.

[JD DeLuzio]

Collinwood had a Jungle Room. Who knew?

[Jeff of Earth-J]

Earlier in this same episode, Willie reached out to steady a wobbling tree while passing through the woods.

In an episode not too far back, the Collinwood drawing room could be glimpsed through a break in the "underbrush."

[Rob Staeger (Grodd Mod)]

I've seen through episode 639 now.  Adam, Angelique, and Nathan have disappeared. Barnabas fears Adam has died, but we know he's been cared for by professor Stokes, and so Barnabas shouldn't revert to a vampire. 

Jeff and Vicki rush a marriage at 3am, head off to the Collinsport Inn, and then Jeff gets pulled back in time. Vicki goes back to Collinwood to faint. Later, she says she's determined to find Jeff again.

Meanshile, Chris Jennings has been running around the Collinwood grounds as a werewolf, almost attacking Liz but he runs off when he sees Amy. Liz takes Amy in for the night. She and David play in the west wing, and eventually Amy starts communicating with a Collins family ghost -- Quentin Collins -- via an old telephone.

Also, Justwatch.com is saying that Dark Shadows will be leaving Tubi soon, but I'm not sure of a date. It looks like it'll still be on Pluto TV, however. 

[Rob Staeger (Grodd Mod)]

I should add: Pluto TV seems to have WAY more ads in an episode than Tubi does, judging from the one episode I watched on Pluto today. So I hope if Dark Shadows leaves Tubi, it also means it's reappearing on a paid, commercial-free service I already have, like Netflix or Prime.

[Jeff of Earth-J]

Tracy casts Dark Shadows from FreeVee.

[Jeff of Earth-J]

Rob Staeger (Grodd Mod) said:

And now I've seen through episode 622. This show has kicked into high gear. Julia convinces Nicolas to kill Angelique, but she's not in her coffin. Jeff wants to marry Vicki right away! And Angelique has just sent Eve back to 1795! This is a LOT.

We watched 622 last night. I kind of envy where you are right now; things are starting to get good. I try not to say anything in advance of you watching the episodes that night negatively influence your perception of the show. I think I said that the post-1795 storyline set in the present was "not my favorite," but only after you came to a similar conclusion yourself. Where Tracy and I are now, the show is exhibiting a definite "house-cleaning" vibe in terms of trying off unsuccessful plot threads and storylines. The introduction of the ghost of Quentin Collins (where you are) is a real game-changer for the show, but Dark Shadows will not reach its peak of popularity until the 1897 story arc (beginning in 701). 

[Rob Staeger (Grodd Mod)]

Oh nice -- I hadn't heard of FreeVee before! I'll check it out!