Dark Shadows
Encyclopedia
Dark Shadows is a gothic soap opera
that originally aired weekdays on the ABC
television network, from June 27, 1966 to April 2, 1971. The show was created by Dan Curtis
. The story bible, which was written by Art Wallace
, does not mention any supernatural elements. It was unprecedented in daytime television when ghosts were introduced about six months after it began.
The series became hugely popular when vampire Barnabas Collins
(Jonathan Frid
) appeared a year into its run. Dark Shadows also featured werewolves, zombies, man-made monsters, witches, warlocks, time travel, and a parallel universe. A small company of actors each played many roles (as actors came and went, some characters were played by more than one actor). Major writers besides Art Wallace included Malcolm Marmorstein
, Sam Hall
, Gordon Russell
, and Violet Welles.
Dark Shadows was distinguished by its vividly melodramatic performances, atmospheric interiors, memorable storylines, numerous dramatic plot twists, an unusually adventurous music score, and a broad and epic cosmos of characters and heroic adventures. Now regarded as somewhat of a camp
classic, it continues to enjoy an intense cult following. Although the original series ran for only five years, its scheduling as a daily daytime drama allowed to amass more single episodes during its run (1,225) than any other science-fiction/fantasy genre series produced for English-language television, including Doctor Who
and the entire Star Trek
television franchise.
Directors Tim Burton
, Quentin Tarantino
, and pop icon Madonna
have publicly stated they are fans of the series. As a child, Johnny Depp
was so obsessed with Barnabas Collins that he wanted to be him. He has collaborated with Tim Burton on a theatrical film adaptation
which is scheduled to open in 2012, in which he plays Barnabas.
In 2004 and 2007, Dark Shadows was ranked #19 and #23 on TV Guide
s Top Cult Shows Ever.
had a dream in 1965 of a mysterious young woman who was on a train. The following day Curtis told his wife of the dream and pitched the idea as a TV show to ABC
. Network officials greenlit production and Curtis began hiring crew members.
Art Wallace
was hired to create a story from Curtis’s dream sequence. Wallace wrote the story bible Shadows on the Wall, the proposed title for the show, later changed to Dark Shadows. Robert Costello was added as a line producer
, and Curtis took on the creator and executive producer roles. Lela Swift
, John Sedgewick, and Henry Kaplan
all agreed to be directors for the new series. Robert Cobert
created the musical score and Sy Thomashoff designed the set.
Curtis then set out to find the actress to play the girl who was on the train. Alexandra Moltke
, a young actress with little experience, was discovered and cast in the role of Victoria Winters
, an orphan who ends up in the mysterious town of Collinsport, Maine to unravel the mysteries of her own past.
Film star Joan Bennett was soon cast as Victoria’s employer Elizabeth Collins Stoddard
, a woman who had not left her home in over eighteen years. Stage actor Louis Edmonds
was cast as Elizabeth’s brother Roger Collins. Another stage actress Nancy Barrett
was then cast as Elizabeth’s rebel daughter Carolyn Stoddard. Child actor David Henesy
was cast as Roger’s troubled son David Collins
.
Dark Shadows had a rocky beginning. Critics were quick to deem the show rather boring for its heavy use of unknown actress Alexandra Moltke
and the slow progression of the legacy of the show. The earliest episodes consisted of introducing the troubled characters and did not show many of the supernatural elements that later made the show known.
As production on the series continued, the introduction of many new and mysterious characters and various unknown actors and actresses was prevalent on the set. Most actors also ended up playing multiple characters and their same characters that would often come back from the dead in the unprecedented use of parallel times and flashbacks.
(1970) and Night of Dark Shadows
(1971) were shot primarily on location at the Lyndhurst
estate in Tarrytown
, New York. For the TV series, Essex, Connecticut
was the locale used for the town of Collinsport. Among the locations located there are the Collinsport Wharf, Main Street and the Evans Cottage. The Griswold Inn
in Essex was used for the Collinsport Inn and the town Post Office was used for the town Police Station. The Collinwood stand-in mansion used for the TV series is the Carey Mansion
in Newport, Rhode Island, until August 2009 used by Salve Regina University
. The exteriors for the "Old House" (original Collinwood mansion) were filmed at Spratt Mansion which was also located on the Lyndhurst estate. This mansion was destroyed by fire in 1969. The Lockwood-Mathews Mansion
in South Norwalk, Connecticut
was also used for some scenes in House of Dark Shadows
. Some outdoors shots for the series were filmed in the famous Sleepy Hollow Cemetery
, not very far from the Lyndhurst Mansion.
In retrospect, however, the actors — who effectively formed a repertory company
as they played many different roles — created memorable characters, and overcame the challenge of daily scripts combined with brief and demanding rehearsals.
inspired music score, which broke new ground for a television program. The original soundtrack cracked the top 20 of Billboard's national album chart in 1969 and still ranks as one of the top-selling TV soundtracks ever. The spoken-word instrumental track "Quentin's Theme", for which Cobert earned a Grammy nomination, was recorded by the Charles Randolph Grean
Sounde. The single peaked at number 13 on the Billboard Hot 100
chart (and number 3 on its Easy Listening chart) in summer 1969, when Dark Shadows was perhaps at the peak of its popularity.
format. For the one lost episode (#1219), only a home audio recording of the episode exists. The home video version and cable reruns of this episode were reconstructed from this soundtrack, the closing scene from the episode #1218, the opening scene from episode #1220, and from video still frames sourced from other episodes.
/ 3:00 PM Central, where it aired for almost all of its network run, the exception being a 15-month stretch between April 1967 and July 1968, when it aired a half hour earlier. With mothers (and, sometimes, grandmothers) usually away from the television set at that time of day in order to tend to household chores such as preparing the family's dinner, the young people got control of the family set and claimed the show as a badge of the then-burgeoning youth consciousness in the culture at large.
Whatever the cultural context or audience composition of Dark Shadows, it became one of ABC's first daytime shows to actually win its timeslot, leading to the demise of NBC's original Match Game
and Art Linkletter
's long-running House Party
on CBS, both in 1969. Even the launch of Somerset
, a much-ballyhooed spinoff of NBC's Another World
, the following year did not hurt Dark Shadows. Originally, it started in black and white, but the show went into color starting with the August 14, 1967 telecast. (The previous Friday's episode was produced in color, but aired in black and white.)
By early 1971, though, ABC was trying to cut costs in the face of harsh new economic realities including a national economic recession, a sharp dip in advertising revenue following the U.S. government's recent ban on cigarette commercials, and a record-high number of competing soap operas — which were more expensive to produce than game or talk shows — on the networks' daytime schedules. Thus the network began weeding out supposedly unproductive programming. Despite its relatively high station clearances for its timeslot and low production costs, Dark Shadows fell victim to the purge mainly because of its young audience, who usually did not make decisions about the purchasing of household goods and food products for the family, which were the two chief industries that bought airtime on daytime television in that era. Practically no other daytime show skewed so much under the 18–35 demographic threshold as Dark Shadows did. Furthermore, primetime shows and movies with horror or science fiction themes (e.g., Star Trek
, The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
) had been on the decline for some time, and, of course, the serial appealed heavily to fanciers of those genres, people who usually snubbed their noses at the often sentimental domestic or romantic themes that traditional soaps had relied on since their inception on radio in the 1930s. In addition and probably more decisively, the program experienced a precipitous drop in its ratings during its last two years on the air, falling from a peak of 8.4 in the 1968–1969 television season to a 5.3 in 1970–1971.
So, despite many letters of protest from outraged fans, ABC cancelled the five-year-old show on April 2, 1971 and replaced it with a new version of the hit 1960s game show Password. Although some highly irate viewers threatened to vocally decry the cancellation by disrupting the taping of Password at ABC's Los Angeles studios, nothing ever came of those plans. The rather abrupt ending of the series left some plotlines (such as Victoria Winters' parentage, and the story of the Jennings family) unfinished, though most of the plot threads came to a happy conclusion, via a voiceover explaining future events in the final minute of the last episode.
rules forcing the networks to sell off their syndication companies. Finally, in 1975, Worldvision Enterprises (spun off from ABC Films) released 130 episodes to syndication. Over the years, more episodes were released in varying quantities until the show finished its syndicated run in 1990. However, the first 209 shows and roughly the last years’ worth of shows were never seen in syndication. It is still important to note however that Dark Shadows was lucky to be in syndication at all while other daytime serials sat on the shelf collecting dust or have been lost forever.
For many years, the show was rerun on Syfy
. Unlike previous networks, Syfy had the entire run of 1,225 episodes to show. The network stopped airing Dark Shadows in December 2003, only two weeks short of completing the series. All 1,225 episodes in the series were shown at various times between 1992 and 2003.
(Alexandra Moltke
) and the members of the Collins family, who reside on top of Widows’ Hill in a house called Collinwood in Collinsport, Maine. Victoria was orphaned, and she came to Collinwood in order to find out more about her eerie past. David Collins
(David Henesy
) would constantly tell Victoria of the ghosts he saw. Victoria also encountered the ghost of Josette Collins
(Kathryn Leigh Scott
) when she was looking through the closed-off west wing of Collinwood.
Laura Collins (Diana Millay
) returned to Collinwood and proceeded to wreak havoc on her family members, resorting to the use of magic. Laura ended up facing an early demise herself. Jason McGuire (Dennis Patrick) comes back to Collinsport to blackmail Elizabeth Collins Stoddard. When Willie Loomis
(John Karlen
) goes into the Collinwood mausoleum to search for the supposed family jewels, he unknowingly releases a vampire, Barnabas Collins
(Jonathan Frid
). Julia Hoffman
(Grayson Hall
) then came to Collinsport with the intent of destroying the vampire once and for all, but in an unexpected twist, she falls in love with him instead.
Barnabas first mistakes Maggie Evans
(Kathryn Leigh Scott
) for Josette and kidnaps her. After Maggie escapes, she is sent to Windcliff because she had lost her memory. When Julia arrives in Collinsport, she reports that Maggie is dead to protect her. Maggie eventually escapes Windcliff with the help of Sarah Collins (Sharon Smyth) and returns to the Blue Whale. After seeing her old friends, she collapses, remembering fragments of her past.
During a séance at Collinwood, Victoria is transported back into 1795 and meets not only Barnabas before he turned into a vampire, but also the people she knew in their past lives. Victoria also meets Angelique Bouchard (Lara Parker
), Barnabas’s former lover, Josette, his fiancée, and his sister Sarah.
Angelique, tormented by Barnabas’s betrayal and love for Josette, curses Barnabas into becoming a vampire, and tortures Josette until she unwittingly throws herself off Widows’ Hill so she will not become the horrifying vision that Angelique has created. Victoria falls in love with a man named Peter Bradford (Roger Davis
) after being imprisoned for practicing witchcraft. Eventually, Victoria is condemned and hanged, but before she dies, she is sent back to 1968 and Angelique follows.
Back in the 1968 timeline, Barnabas fears that Victoria has discovered his secret vampirism and he tricks her into agreeing to marriage. After they left Collinwood, a car accident brought a man with a resemblance to Peter to Victoria. The man claims his name is Jeff and has no recollection of Victoria. Her persistence leads him to regaining his memory, but he is mysteriously driven back to the past. Victoria manages to find him and they spend their lives in the past.
In 1969, Quentin Collins
(David Selby
) haunts Collinwood, so Barnabas travels back into 1897. Barnabas first finds himself chained to his coffin but is able to escape due to the help of Sandor (Thayer David
) and Magda Rakosi (Grayson Hall
). Andreas Petofi (Thayer David
) paints a portrait of Quentin in this time, making him immortal so that his ghost does not haunt Collinwood in the present. Barnabas encounters Kitty Soames (Kathryn Leigh Scott
), who is the reincarnation of Josette. When Kitty puts on Josette’s wedding dress, she steps into Josette’s portrait and is transported back to 1795.
In 1970, Collinwood is destroyed. Julia travels back in time to 1840 using the Stairway into Time created by Quentin. She released Barnabas from his coffin, and eventually the Barnabas from 1970 was able to regain control of the counterpart’s body. Barnabas has Judah Zachary (Michael McGuire) to remove Angelique’s power. Angelique then creates an alliance with Barnabas and they destroy Judah.
During the 1841 parallel time, Catherine Harridge (Lara Parker
) is to marry Morgan Collins (Keith Prentice
). Daphne Harridge (Kate Jackson
) suspects that Catherine is still in love with Bramwell Collins (Jonathan Frid
). When Bramwell returns to Collinwood, he is upset by the marriage and demands that he and Catherine be together.
Bramwell kidnaps Catherine and she professes her love to him, but still wants to marry Morgan. Morgan tells Catherine of the Collins family secret. During the wedding, Bramwell interrupts, and he and Morgan duel. Bramwell ends up wounded, but Daphne cares for him, and the two end up getting married themselves. Melanie Collins (Nancy Barrett
) was found in the woods with strange bite marks on her neck, which turn out to be from an animal rather than a vampire.
1991 (NBC
In 1991, a short-lived primetime remake was produced by MGM Television
and aired on NBC from January 13 to March 22. The revival was a lavish, big budget weekly serial combining gothic romance and stylistic horror. Although it was a huge hit at introduction (watched by almost 1 in 4 households according to official ratings during that time period), the onset of the Gulf War
caused NBC to continually preempt or reschedule the episodes resulting in declining ratings. It was canceled after the first season.
The final episode ended with a cliffhanger: Victoria Winters
(Joanna Going
) learning that Barnabas Collins
(Ben Cross
) was a 200-year old vampire. It has been reported that the opening episode for a proposed second season would have had Victoria collapsing, after seeing Barnabas, and losing her memory of his terrible secret.
It also starred veterans Jean Simmons
as Elizabeth Collins Stoddard
and Roy Thinnes
as Roger Collins, British character actress Lysette Anthony
as Angelique Collins, Barbara Steele
as Julia Hoffman
, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt
as David Collins
.
as Victoria Winters
and Alec Newman
as Barnabas Collins
was written and shot, but never picked up. The pilot has been screened at the Dark Shadows Festival conventions with Dan Curtis Productions' blessing, but has yet to surface elsewhere. This pilot was produced by Warner Bros. Television
.
2012 (Film
Warner Bros.
is producing a film adaptation of the soap opera. Tim Burton
is directing the film, and Johnny Depp
stars as Barnabas Collins.
currently holds the home video rights to the series. All episodes were issued on VHS from 1989 through 1995. Episodes 210–1245 (Barnabas' arrival through to the end of the series) have been released on DVD in 26 Collections from 2002 through 2006. Episodes 1–209 were released in 2007 under the title of Dark Shadows: The Beginning.
released a feature film entitled House of Dark Shadows in 1970. Dan Curtis
directed it, and Sam Hall
and Gordon Russell
wrote the screenplay. Many cast members from the soap opera reprised their roles. These included Jonathan Frid
, Grayson Hall
, Roger Davis
, and Kathryn Leigh Scott
, among others. 1971 saw the release of Night of Dark Shadows, also directed by Dan Curtis. In addition, Curtis and Sam Hall wrote it. Actors included David Selby
, Grayson Hall, Kate Jackson
, and Lara Parker
, among others.
, Angelique's Descent and The Salem Branch, and Dreams of the Dark by horror authors Elizabeth Massie
and Stephen Mark Rainey
.
There also have been several books about Dark Shadows, including The Dark Shadows Almanac and The Dark Shadows Companion.
, and Castle of Frankenstein
. In 2003, a two-part article entitled "Collecting Dark Shadows: Return to Collinwood," appeared in Autograph Collector magazine. It was the first major article to chronicle the show in years. In 2005, Scary Monsters magazine #55 devoted an entire issue to Dark Shadows. Included were full-length interviews with cast members Marie Wallace, David Selby, and Kathryn Leigh-Scott, as well as "Don't Open That Coffin! A Baby Boomer's Adventures in the Land of Dark Shadows!" Both the Autograph Collector and Scary Monsters articles were penned by freelance writer Rod Labbe, who once ran a fan club for Dennis Patrick (Jason McGuire, Paul Stoddard). Labbe also contributes to Fangoria magazine and will be doing a series of full-length interviews with surviving original cast members, leading up to the release of Burton's film. Labbe's interview with Jerry Lacy, who played the nefarious Reverend Trask, appeared in issue #296. His second, with Chris Pennock (Jebez Hawkes, aka "The Leviathan") will be in issue #304. He's already interviewed Kathryn Leigh Scott for Fangoria, and a more lengthy version of the interview can be found on her website.
From March 14, 1971 to March 11, 1972, the Newspaper Enterprise Association syndicated a Dark Shadows comic strip
by illustrator Kenneth Bruce Bald
(credited as "K. Bruce" because of contractual obligations) to dozens of newspapers across the country.
Gold Key Comics
released 35 issues of a regular Dark Shadows comic book
, which ran for years after the cancellation of the series on ABC. 1969–1976; and in 1991, Innovation Publishing
released a short-lived comic book series based on the NBC-TV revival show. Hermes Press will release a multi-volume archive reprint series of the Gold Key series beginning in 2010.
reel.
continued the Dark Shadows saga with an original series of audio dramas, starring the original cast. The first season featured David Selby
(Quentin Collins
), Lara Parker
(Angelique), Kathryn Leigh Scott
(Maggie Evans
), and John Karlen
(Willie Loomis
). Robert Rodan
, who played Adam in the original series, also appears in the fourth story, playing a new character. A second series was released in 2010. In addition to the cast returning from Series One, Kingdom of the Dead
also featured Lysette Anthony
, Alec Newman
, Lizzie Hopley
, Jerry Lacy
, and David Warner
.
-styled Canadian-made serial Strange Paradise
soon followed, which was broadcast on CBC Television
and in the United States in syndication from October 20, 1969 to July 22, 1970. (U.S. airdates varied; 195 half-hour episodes were produced.) In later years the prime-time satire Soap
would introduce an Exorcist
-inspired storyline. In 1986, "Dark Mansions," a made-for-TV movie intended to be a pilot for a weekly supernatural serial, was produced by Aaron Spelling. Days of Our Lives
featured a plot in which its leading female character, Marlena Evans
(Deidre Hall
), was possessed by Satan
. Coming full circle, the soap operas Port Charles
and Passions
emerged in the 1990s, both largely driven by supernatural-based plots involving vampires, witches, and werewolves. The popular Joss Whedon
series Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel
, with their continuing serial plotlines, could be described as treading a path first laid by Dark Shadows. The popular gay and lesbian here! network has produced its own supernatural soap operas Dante's Cove
and The Lair
which both contain witchcraft and vampire storylines. Dark Shadows is also widely credited with introducing the concept of the "compassionate vampire", the mostly "good" vampire tortured by his affliction and looking for a cure. This concept has continued to be used in many vampire television series and films.
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
that originally aired weekdays on the ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
television network, from June 27, 1966 to April 2, 1971. The show was created by Dan Curtis
Dan Curtis
Dan Curtis was an American director and producer of television and film, probably best known for his miniseries The Winds of War and War and Remembrance, his afternoon TV series Dark Shadows, and the made for TV movie, . Dark Shadows originally aired from 1966 to 1971 and has aired in syndication...
. The story bible, which was written by Art Wallace
Art Wallace
Art Wallace was an American television writer best known for his work on the gothic soap opera Dark Shadows. He began work in television in the 1940s, on the anthology series Studio One and Kraft Television Theater. Over the years, Wallace wrote for Tom Corbett, Space Cadet, Combat!, Star Trek, and...
, does not mention any supernatural elements. It was unprecedented in daytime television when ghosts were introduced about six months after it began.
The series became hugely popular when vampire Barnabas Collins
Barnabas Collins
Barnabas Collins is a fictional character, one of the feature characters in the ABC daytime serial Dark Shadows, which aired from 1966 to 1971. Originally played by Canadian actor Jonathan Frid, Barnabas Collins is a 200-year-old vampire who is in search of fresh blood and his lost love, Josette...
(Jonathan Frid
Jonathan Frid
John Herbert Frid is a theater, television, and film actor, best known for playing the role of vampire Barnabas Collins on the gothic television soap opera Dark Shadows.-Early Life:...
) appeared a year into its run. Dark Shadows also featured werewolves, zombies, man-made monsters, witches, warlocks, time travel, and a parallel universe. A small company of actors each played many roles (as actors came and went, some characters were played by more than one actor). Major writers besides Art Wallace included Malcolm Marmorstein
Malcolm Marmorstein
Malcolm Marmorstein is a British television writer.-Positions held:Peyton Place, Love Bites, Dead Men Don't Die, ABC Weekend Specials, The Witching of Ben Wagner, Konrad, Rose Petal Place: Real Friends, Poochie, Return from Witch Mountain, Pete's Dragon, Whiffs, Mary, Mary, Bloody Mary, S*P*Y*S,...
, Sam Hall
Sam Hall (writer)
Gordon Russell and Sam Hall were a pair of writers known for their work in daytime soap operas.-Dark Shadows:They are best known for their works on Dark Shadows and One Life to Live...
, Gordon Russell
Gordon Russell
Gordon Russell and Sam Hall were a pair of writers well known for their work in daytime soap operas.-Dark Shadows:They are best known for their works on Dark Shadows and One Life to Live...
, and Violet Welles.
Dark Shadows was distinguished by its vividly melodramatic performances, atmospheric interiors, memorable storylines, numerous dramatic plot twists, an unusually adventurous music score, and a broad and epic cosmos of characters and heroic adventures. Now regarded as somewhat of a camp
Camp (style)
Camp is an aesthetic sensibility that regards something as appealing because of its taste and ironic value. The concept is closely related to kitsch, and things with camp appeal may also be described as being "cheesy"...
classic, it continues to enjoy an intense cult following. Although the original series ran for only five years, its scheduling as a daily daytime drama allowed to amass more single episodes during its run (1,225) than any other science-fiction/fantasy genre series produced for English-language television, including Doctor Who
Doctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
and the entire Star Trek
Star Trek
Star Trek is an American science fiction entertainment franchise created by Gene Roddenberry. The core of Star Trek is its six television series: The Original Series, The Animated Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise...
television franchise.
Directors Tim Burton
Tim Burton
Timothy William "Tim" Burton is an American film director, film producer, writer and artist. He is famous for dark, quirky-themed movies such as Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Ed Wood, Sleepy Hollow, Corpse Bride and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet...
, Quentin Tarantino
Quentin Tarantino
Quentin Jerome Tarantino is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, cinematographer and actor. In the early 1990s, he began his career as an independent filmmaker with films employing nonlinear storylines and the aestheticization of violence...
, and pop icon Madonna
Madonna (entertainer)
Madonna is an American singer-songwriter, actress and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan, she moved to New York City in 1977 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing in the music groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her debut album in 1983...
have publicly stated they are fans of the series. As a child, Johnny Depp
Johnny Depp
John Christopher "Johnny" Depp II is an American actor, producer and musician. He has won the Golden Globe Award and Screen Actors Guild award for Best Actor. Depp rose to prominence on the 1980s television series 21 Jump Street, becoming a teen idol...
was so obsessed with Barnabas Collins that he wanted to be him. He has collaborated with Tim Burton on a theatrical film adaptation
Dark Shadows (film)
Dark Shadows is an upcoming supernatural drama film based on the 1966-1971 gothic soap opera of the same name. The film is directed by Tim Burton and stars Johnny Depp as the vampire Barnabas Collins. It is scheduled to be released on , 2012 in both conventional and IMAX theaters.-Synopsis:In 1752,...
which is scheduled to open in 2012, in which he plays Barnabas.
In 2004 and 2007, Dark Shadows was ranked #19 and #23 on TV Guide
TV Guide
TV Guide is a weekly American magazine with listings of TV shows.In addition to TV listings, the publication features television-related news, celebrity interviews, gossip and film reviews and crossword puzzles...
s Top Cult Shows Ever.
History
Creator Dan CurtisDan Curtis
Dan Curtis was an American director and producer of television and film, probably best known for his miniseries The Winds of War and War and Remembrance, his afternoon TV series Dark Shadows, and the made for TV movie, . Dark Shadows originally aired from 1966 to 1971 and has aired in syndication...
had a dream in 1965 of a mysterious young woman who was on a train. The following day Curtis told his wife of the dream and pitched the idea as a TV show to ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
. Network officials greenlit production and Curtis began hiring crew members.
Art Wallace
Art Wallace
Art Wallace was an American television writer best known for his work on the gothic soap opera Dark Shadows. He began work in television in the 1940s, on the anthology series Studio One and Kraft Television Theater. Over the years, Wallace wrote for Tom Corbett, Space Cadet, Combat!, Star Trek, and...
was hired to create a story from Curtis’s dream sequence. Wallace wrote the story bible Shadows on the Wall, the proposed title for the show, later changed to Dark Shadows. Robert Costello was added as a line producer
Line producer
A line producer is the key manager during the daily operations of a motion picture production.The line producer supports the vision given by the director but does not have direct influence on the creative expression or narrative of the film....
, and Curtis took on the creator and executive producer roles. Lela Swift
Lela Swift
Lela Swift is a television director best known for her work on Dark Shadows, which she also produced from 1970 to 1971, and Ryan's Hope....
, John Sedgewick, and Henry Kaplan
Henry Kaplan
Henry Kaplan was a television director known for his works on Dark Shadows, Ryan's Hope, The Doctors and All My Children. He also directed seven episodes of the sitcom The Adventures of Aggie.- External links :...
all agreed to be directors for the new series. Robert Cobert
Robert Cobert
Robert "Bob" Cobert is an American musical composer who has written for television and movies. He is best known for his work for the TV mini-series The Winds of War and War and Remembrance. Together, the film scores for these two movies constitute the longest film score ever written for a movie...
created the musical score and Sy Thomashoff designed the set.
Curtis then set out to find the actress to play the girl who was on the train. Alexandra Moltke
Alexandra Isles
Countess Alexandra Moltke or Alexandra M. Isles is an actress and documentary filmmaker. She is best known for her role as the original Victoria Winters from 1966–68 on the cult TV serial Dark Shadows, which aired on ABC TV from 1966–1971.Isles was born in Uppsala, Sweden to Mab Wilson Wright and...
, a young actress with little experience, was discovered and cast in the role of Victoria Winters
Victoria Winters
Victoria Winters is a fictional character from the television Gothic soap opera Dark Shadows and its remakes of the same name. The role was originated by Alexandra Moltke on the ABC series from 1966–1968. After Moltke left to raise a family in 1968, actresses Betsy Durkin and Carolyn Groves briefly...
, an orphan who ends up in the mysterious town of Collinsport, Maine to unravel the mysteries of her own past.
Film star Joan Bennett was soon cast as Victoria’s employer Elizabeth Collins Stoddard
Elizabeth Collins Stoddard
Elizabeth Collins Stoddard was a fictional character played by Joan Bennett on the cult television ABC-TV Gothic horror soap opera Dark Shadows from 1966-1971. Jean Simmons portrayed the character in the reival series in 1991, Blair Brown took over the role in the WB pilot and will be played by...
, a woman who had not left her home in over eighteen years. Stage actor Louis Edmonds
Louis Edmonds
Louis Edmonds was an American actor from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He was best known for his roles in Dark Shadows and All My Children....
was cast as Elizabeth’s brother Roger Collins. Another stage actress Nancy Barrett
Nancy Barrett
Nancy Barrett, born , is an American actress. She is best known for her portrayal of "Carolyn Stoddard" in the popular 1960s Gothic soap opera Dark Shadows....
was then cast as Elizabeth’s rebel daughter Carolyn Stoddard. Child actor David Henesy
David Henesy
David Henesy Raised in New York City, Henesy was a child actor in film, television, and Broadway. He appeared in "Oliver!", "Jenny" , and daytime television series Dark Shadows in the roles of David Collins, Daniel Collins, Jamison Collins, and Tad Collins...
was cast as Roger’s troubled son David Collins
David Collins (Dark Shadows)
David Collins was a fictional character, the son of Roger Collins, on the television serial Dark Shadows, played by David Henesy. In the 1990 made-for-television movie and 1991 revival series, David Collins was played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt. In the 2004 WB Pilot for Dark Shadows, he was played by...
.
Dark Shadows had a rocky beginning. Critics were quick to deem the show rather boring for its heavy use of unknown actress Alexandra Moltke
Alexandra Isles
Countess Alexandra Moltke or Alexandra M. Isles is an actress and documentary filmmaker. She is best known for her role as the original Victoria Winters from 1966–68 on the cult TV serial Dark Shadows, which aired on ABC TV from 1966–1971.Isles was born in Uppsala, Sweden to Mab Wilson Wright and...
and the slow progression of the legacy of the show. The earliest episodes consisted of introducing the troubled characters and did not show many of the supernatural elements that later made the show known.
As production on the series continued, the introduction of many new and mysterious characters and various unknown actors and actresses was prevalent on the set. Most actors also ended up playing multiple characters and their same characters that would often come back from the dead in the unprecedented use of parallel times and flashbacks.
TV and film locations
Both theatrical films, House of Dark ShadowsHouse of Dark Shadows
House of Dark Shadows is a 1970 feature-length horror film directed by Dan Curtis based on his Dark Shadows television series. Filming took place at Lyndhurst in Tarrytown, New York with additional footage at nearby Sleepy Hollow Cemetery: parts of the locals appeared on the Dark Shadows series as...
(1970) and Night of Dark Shadows
Night of Dark Shadows
Night of Dark Shadows is a 1971 horror film by Dan Curtis. It is the sequel to House of Dark Shadows. It centers on the story of Quentin Collins and his bride Tracy at the Collinwood Mansion in Collinsport, Maine....
(1971) were shot primarily on location at the Lyndhurst
Lyndhurst (house)
Lyndhurst, also known as Jay Gould estate, is a Gothic Revival country house within its own park beside the Hudson River, located in Tarrytown, New York approximately one-half mile south of the Tappan Zee Bridge on US 9.-History:...
estate in Tarrytown
Tarrytown, New York
Tarrytown is a village in the town of Greenburgh in Westchester County, New York, United States. It is located on the eastern bank of the Hudson River, about north of midtown Manhattan in New York City, and is served by a stop on the Metro-North Hudson Line...
, New York. For the TV series, Essex, Connecticut
Essex, Connecticut
Essex is a town in Middlesex County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 6,505 at the 2000 census. It is made up of three villages: Essex Village, Centerbrook, and Ivoryton.- History :- The Great Attack :...
was the locale used for the town of Collinsport. Among the locations located there are the Collinsport Wharf, Main Street and the Evans Cottage. The Griswold Inn
The Griswold Inn
The Griswold Inn, located in Essex, Connecticut, is the oldest continuously-run tavern in the United States of America . Founded by three brothers in the late 18th century, it has been under the stewardship of only 6 families. The Inn was captured by British troops and used as a base of operations...
in Essex was used for the Collinsport Inn and the town Post Office was used for the town Police Station. The Collinwood stand-in mansion used for the TV series is the Carey Mansion
Carey Mansion
Carey Mansion, originally called Seaview Terrace, is a sprawling French Renaissance château located in Newport, Rhode Island. It was the last of the great "Summer Cottages” constructed, and is the fifth-largest of Newport's mansions — after The Breakers, Ochre Court, Belcourt Castle, and...
in Newport, Rhode Island, until August 2009 used by Salve Regina University
Salve Regina University
Salve Regina University is a university in Newport, Rhode Island. Founded by the Sisters of Mercy, the university is a Catholic, co-educational, private, non-profit institution chartered by the State of Rhode Island in 1934. In 1947 the university acquired Ochre Court and welcomed its first class...
. The exteriors for the "Old House" (original Collinwood mansion) were filmed at Spratt Mansion which was also located on the Lyndhurst estate. This mansion was destroyed by fire in 1969. The Lockwood-Mathews Mansion
Lockwood-Mathews Mansion
The Lockwood-Mathews Mansion is a Second Empire style country house, now a museum, in Norwalk, Connecticut. It was featured in the movies The Stepford Wives and House of Dark Shadows....
in South Norwalk, Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
was also used for some scenes in House of Dark Shadows
House of Dark Shadows
House of Dark Shadows is a 1970 feature-length horror film directed by Dan Curtis based on his Dark Shadows television series. Filming took place at Lyndhurst in Tarrytown, New York with additional footage at nearby Sleepy Hollow Cemetery: parts of the locals appeared on the Dark Shadows series as...
. Some outdoors shots for the series were filmed in the famous Sleepy Hollow Cemetery
Sleepy Hollow Cemetery
Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Sleepy Hollow, New York is the resting place of numerous famous figures, including Washington Irving, whose story "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" is set in the adjacent Old Dutch Burying Ground. Incorporated in 1849 as Tarrytown Cemetery, it posthumously honored Irving's...
, not very far from the Lyndhurst Mansion.
Special effects
Working within the constraints of the live-to-tape format — with almost every scene done in one take — Dark Shadows displayed an unusually inventive use of costume, make-up and, in particular, special effects. Both time travel and ghosts allowed characters killed in earlier sequences to return, often in period clothing. Séances held in the old mansion were often visited by ghostly apparitions of quivering ectoplasm. Dream sequences included colorful psychedelic spectacles superimposed over ethereal, fog-filled fantasies. Individuals of normal appearance were transformed into hideous creatures of the netherworld.Errors
The difficulty of keeping up with the demanding schedule of a daily half-hour show manifested itself on screen. In addition to sets wobbling unintentionally, actors — especially Frid and Bennett — often struggled with their lines. Occasionally a stagehand could be spotted wandering onto the back of the set. Other times the microphone boom appeared in the frame (giving the show the unintentional nickname "Mic Shadows"), a TV camera would appear on screen, a fly hovered around the head of an actor, or window curtains fell down.In retrospect, however, the actors — who effectively formed a repertory company
Repertory
Repertory or rep, also called stock in the United States, is a term used in Western theatre and opera.A repertory theatre can be a theatre in which a resident company presents works from a specified repertoire, usually in alternation or rotation...
as they played many different roles — created memorable characters, and overcame the challenge of daily scripts combined with brief and demanding rehearsals.
Music
Of particular note is Robert Cobert'sRobert Cobert
Robert "Bob" Cobert is an American musical composer who has written for television and movies. He is best known for his work for the TV mini-series The Winds of War and War and Remembrance. Together, the film scores for these two movies constitute the longest film score ever written for a movie...
inspired music score, which broke new ground for a television program. The original soundtrack cracked the top 20 of Billboard's national album chart in 1969 and still ranks as one of the top-selling TV soundtracks ever. The spoken-word instrumental track "Quentin's Theme", for which Cobert earned a Grammy nomination, was recorded by the Charles Randolph Grean
Charles Randolph Grean
Charles Randolph Grean was an American producer and composer.-Professional life:Grean's first work was as a copyist in several big bands, including Glenn Miller, Artie Shaw, and Charlie Spivak...
Sounde. The single peaked at number 13 on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
chart (and number 3 on its Easy Listening chart) in summer 1969, when Dark Shadows was perhaps at the peak of its popularity.
Episode numbering
A total of 1,225 episodes were produced, but during the course of its run, the show was preempted 20 times. ABC would compensate for this by sometimes double numbering and, in one case, triple numbering episodes in order to keep a show ending in a 5 or 0 airing on Fridays. This is why the last episode produced has #1245 when in actuality it was only the 1,225th episode produced.Preservation
Dark Shadows has the distinction of being one of the few classic television soap operas to have all of its episodes survive intact except one, although a handful of early episodes are available only in 16 mm kinescopeKinescope
Kinescope , shortened to kine , also known as telerecording in Britain, is a recording of a television program made by filming the picture from a video monitor...
format. For the one lost episode (#1219), only a home audio recording of the episode exists. The home video version and cable reruns of this episode were reconstructed from this soundtrack, the closing scene from the episode #1218, the opening scene from episode #1220, and from video still frames sourced from other episodes.
Broadcast history
Perhaps one of ABC's first truly popular daytime shows, Dark Shadows found its perfect demographic niche in teenagers coming home from school in time to watch the show at 4:00 PM EasternEastern Time Zone
The Eastern Time Zone of the United States and Canada is a time zone that falls mostly along the east coast of North America. Its UTC time offset is −5 hrs during standard time and −4 hrs during daylight saving time...
/ 3:00 PM Central, where it aired for almost all of its network run, the exception being a 15-month stretch between April 1967 and July 1968, when it aired a half hour earlier. With mothers (and, sometimes, grandmothers) usually away from the television set at that time of day in order to tend to household chores such as preparing the family's dinner, the young people got control of the family set and claimed the show as a badge of the then-burgeoning youth consciousness in the culture at large.
Whatever the cultural context or audience composition of Dark Shadows, it became one of ABC's first daytime shows to actually win its timeslot, leading to the demise of NBC's original Match Game
Match Game
Match Game is an American television game show in which contestants attempted to match celebrities' answers to fill-in-the-blank questions...
and Art Linkletter
Art Linkletter
Arthur Gordon "Art" Linkletter was a Canadian-born American radio and television personality. He was the host of House Party, which ran on CBS radio and television for 25 years, and People Are Funny, on NBC radio-TV for 19 years...
's long-running House Party
Art Linkletter's House Party
House Party is an American radio daytime variety/talk show that aired on CBS Radio and on ABC Radio from January 15, 1945 to October 13, 1967...
on CBS, both in 1969. Even the launch of Somerset
Somerset (TV series)
Somerset is an American television soap opera which ran on NBC from March 30, 1970 until December 31, 1976. The show was a spinoff of another NBC serial, Another World.-Overview :...
, a much-ballyhooed spinoff of NBC's Another World
Another World (TV series)
Another World is an American television soap opera that ran on NBC from May 4, 1964 to June 25, 1999. It ran for a total of 35 years. It was created by Irna Phillips along with William J...
, the following year did not hurt Dark Shadows. Originally, it started in black and white, but the show went into color starting with the August 14, 1967 telecast. (The previous Friday's episode was produced in color, but aired in black and white.)
By early 1971, though, ABC was trying to cut costs in the face of harsh new economic realities including a national economic recession, a sharp dip in advertising revenue following the U.S. government's recent ban on cigarette commercials, and a record-high number of competing soap operas — which were more expensive to produce than game or talk shows — on the networks' daytime schedules. Thus the network began weeding out supposedly unproductive programming. Despite its relatively high station clearances for its timeslot and low production costs, Dark Shadows fell victim to the purge mainly because of its young audience, who usually did not make decisions about the purchasing of household goods and food products for the family, which were the two chief industries that bought airtime on daytime television in that era. Practically no other daytime show skewed so much under the 18–35 demographic threshold as Dark Shadows did. Furthermore, primetime shows and movies with horror or science fiction themes (e.g., Star Trek
Star Trek: The Original Series
Star Trek is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry, produced by Desilu Productions . Star Trek was telecast on NBC from September 8, 1966, through June 3, 1969...
, The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
The Man from U.N.C.L.E. is an American television series that was broadcast on NBC from September 22, 1964, to January 15, 1968. It follows the exploits of two secret agents, played by Robert Vaughn and David McCallum, who work for a fictitious secret international espionage and law-enforcement...
) had been on the decline for some time, and, of course, the serial appealed heavily to fanciers of those genres, people who usually snubbed their noses at the often sentimental domestic or romantic themes that traditional soaps had relied on since their inception on radio in the 1930s. In addition and probably more decisively, the program experienced a precipitous drop in its ratings during its last two years on the air, falling from a peak of 8.4 in the 1968–1969 television season to a 5.3 in 1970–1971.
So, despite many letters of protest from outraged fans, ABC cancelled the five-year-old show on April 2, 1971 and replaced it with a new version of the hit 1960s game show Password. Although some highly irate viewers threatened to vocally decry the cancellation by disrupting the taping of Password at ABC's Los Angeles studios, nothing ever came of those plans. The rather abrupt ending of the series left some plotlines (such as Victoria Winters' parentage, and the story of the Jennings family) unfinished, though most of the plot threads came to a happy conclusion, via a voiceover explaining future events in the final minute of the last episode.
Syndication and cable repeats
Dark Shadows was to be syndicated by ABC's distribution arm, ABC Films, as the series was ending in late 1970 and early 1971. However, delays kept the show from entering syndication, mainly because the FCC imposed fin-synFin-syn
The Financial Interest and Syndication Rules, widely known as fin-syn rules, were a set of rules imposed by the Federal Communications Commission of the U.S. in 1970. The FCC sought to prevent the Big Three television networks from monopolizing the broadcast landscape by preventing them from owning...
rules forcing the networks to sell off their syndication companies. Finally, in 1975, Worldvision Enterprises (spun off from ABC Films) released 130 episodes to syndication. Over the years, more episodes were released in varying quantities until the show finished its syndicated run in 1990. However, the first 209 shows and roughly the last years’ worth of shows were never seen in syndication. It is still important to note however that Dark Shadows was lucky to be in syndication at all while other daytime serials sat on the shelf collecting dust or have been lost forever.
For many years, the show was rerun on Syfy
Syfy
Syfy , formerly known as the Sci-Fi Channel and SCI FI, is an American cable television channel featuring science fiction, supernatural, fantasy, reality, paranormal, wrestling, and horror programming. Launched on September 24, 1992, it is part of the entertainment conglomerate NBCUniversal, a...
. Unlike previous networks, Syfy had the entire run of 1,225 episodes to show. The network stopped airing Dark Shadows in December 2003, only two weeks short of completing the series. All 1,225 episodes in the series were shown at various times between 1992 and 2003.
Story
The beginning of the show introduces Victoria WintersVictoria Winters
Victoria Winters is a fictional character from the television Gothic soap opera Dark Shadows and its remakes of the same name. The role was originated by Alexandra Moltke on the ABC series from 1966–1968. After Moltke left to raise a family in 1968, actresses Betsy Durkin and Carolyn Groves briefly...
(Alexandra Moltke
Alexandra Isles
Countess Alexandra Moltke or Alexandra M. Isles is an actress and documentary filmmaker. She is best known for her role as the original Victoria Winters from 1966–68 on the cult TV serial Dark Shadows, which aired on ABC TV from 1966–1971.Isles was born in Uppsala, Sweden to Mab Wilson Wright and...
) and the members of the Collins family, who reside on top of Widows’ Hill in a house called Collinwood in Collinsport, Maine. Victoria was orphaned, and she came to Collinwood in order to find out more about her eerie past. David Collins
David Collins (Dark Shadows)
David Collins was a fictional character, the son of Roger Collins, on the television serial Dark Shadows, played by David Henesy. In the 1990 made-for-television movie and 1991 revival series, David Collins was played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt. In the 2004 WB Pilot for Dark Shadows, he was played by...
(David Henesy
David Henesy
David Henesy Raised in New York City, Henesy was a child actor in film, television, and Broadway. He appeared in "Oliver!", "Jenny" , and daytime television series Dark Shadows in the roles of David Collins, Daniel Collins, Jamison Collins, and Tad Collins...
) would constantly tell Victoria of the ghosts he saw. Victoria also encountered the ghost of Josette Collins
Josette du Pres
Josette du Pres was a character played primarily by Kathryn Leigh Scott during the 1795 flashback on the cult TV serial Dark Shadows.-Josette and Barnabas:...
(Kathryn Leigh Scott
Kathryn Leigh Scott
Kathryn Leigh Scott is an American television and film actress who is best remembered for playing Maggie Evans, Josette DuPres Collins, Rachel Drummond, Lady Kitty Soames Hampshire, and Maggie Evans PT on Dark Shadows.-Early life:Scott was born Marlene Kringstad in Robbinsdale, Minnesota in 1943...
) when she was looking through the closed-off west wing of Collinwood.
Laura Collins (Diana Millay
Diana Millay
Diana Millay is an American actress. She is best known for her work in television, having guest starred in close to 200 primetime TV shows and later played continuing roles on two daytime offerings, Dark Shadows and The Secret Storm.Diana started her career as a model, first as a child for the...
) returned to Collinwood and proceeded to wreak havoc on her family members, resorting to the use of magic. Laura ended up facing an early demise herself. Jason McGuire (Dennis Patrick) comes back to Collinsport to blackmail Elizabeth Collins Stoddard. When Willie Loomis
Willie Loomis
Willie Loomis was a character on the ABC-TV gothic horror soap opera, Dark Shadows, which aired from 1966 until 1971. The character was first played by actor James Hall for a total of four episodes, who was subsequently replaced by John Karlen beginning with episode #206. Karlen continued to play...
(John Karlen
John Karlen
John Karlen is a character actor best known for playing Willie Loomis, Carl Collins, William H. Loomis, Desmond Collins, and Kendrick Young on the ABC serial Dark Shadows, in various episodes between 206 and 1245, which aired from 1966-1971. In 1971 Karlen starred as the male lead in "Daughters...
) goes into the Collinwood mausoleum to search for the supposed family jewels, he unknowingly releases a vampire, Barnabas Collins
Barnabas Collins
Barnabas Collins is a fictional character, one of the feature characters in the ABC daytime serial Dark Shadows, which aired from 1966 to 1971. Originally played by Canadian actor Jonathan Frid, Barnabas Collins is a 200-year-old vampire who is in search of fresh blood and his lost love, Josette...
(Jonathan Frid
Jonathan Frid
John Herbert Frid is a theater, television, and film actor, best known for playing the role of vampire Barnabas Collins on the gothic television soap opera Dark Shadows.-Early Life:...
). Julia Hoffman
Julia Hoffman
Julia Hoffman is a fictional character played by Grayson Hall in the 1966 ABC soap opera Dark Shadows. A doctor in the fields of psychology and rare blood disorders and head of the Windcliff Sanitarium, she moved into Collinwood and discovered the vampire, Barnabas Collins...
(Grayson Hall
Grayson Hall
Grayson Hall was an American television, film and stage actress. She was widely regarded for her avant garde theatrical performances in the 1960s-80s. Hall was nominated in 1964 for an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award for the John Huston film The Night of the Iguana...
) then came to Collinsport with the intent of destroying the vampire once and for all, but in an unexpected twist, she falls in love with him instead.
Barnabas first mistakes Maggie Evans
Maggie Evans
Maggie Evans was a character most prominently played by Kathryn Leigh Scott on the 1960s ABC-TV gothic horror soap opera serial Dark Shadows and in the 1970 film House of Dark Shadows.-Early days:...
(Kathryn Leigh Scott
Kathryn Leigh Scott
Kathryn Leigh Scott is an American television and film actress who is best remembered for playing Maggie Evans, Josette DuPres Collins, Rachel Drummond, Lady Kitty Soames Hampshire, and Maggie Evans PT on Dark Shadows.-Early life:Scott was born Marlene Kringstad in Robbinsdale, Minnesota in 1943...
) for Josette and kidnaps her. After Maggie escapes, she is sent to Windcliff because she had lost her memory. When Julia arrives in Collinsport, she reports that Maggie is dead to protect her. Maggie eventually escapes Windcliff with the help of Sarah Collins (Sharon Smyth) and returns to the Blue Whale. After seeing her old friends, she collapses, remembering fragments of her past.
During a séance at Collinwood, Victoria is transported back into 1795 and meets not only Barnabas before he turned into a vampire, but also the people she knew in their past lives. Victoria also meets Angelique Bouchard (Lara Parker
Lara Parker
Lara Parker is an American television, stage, and film actress best known for her role as Angelique on the cult ABC-TV serial Dark Shadows which aired from to...
), Barnabas’s former lover, Josette, his fiancée, and his sister Sarah.
Angelique, tormented by Barnabas’s betrayal and love for Josette, curses Barnabas into becoming a vampire, and tortures Josette until she unwittingly throws herself off Widows’ Hill so she will not become the horrifying vision that Angelique has created. Victoria falls in love with a man named Peter Bradford (Roger Davis
Roger Davis (television actor)
Jon Roger Davis is an American actor and entrepreneur. The sandy-haired Davis is best known for his boyish good looks, and lilting, Henry Fonda-like voice. He came to fame in such television series as Dark Shadows and Alias Smith and Jones...
) after being imprisoned for practicing witchcraft. Eventually, Victoria is condemned and hanged, but before she dies, she is sent back to 1968 and Angelique follows.
Back in the 1968 timeline, Barnabas fears that Victoria has discovered his secret vampirism and he tricks her into agreeing to marriage. After they left Collinwood, a car accident brought a man with a resemblance to Peter to Victoria. The man claims his name is Jeff and has no recollection of Victoria. Her persistence leads him to regaining his memory, but he is mysteriously driven back to the past. Victoria manages to find him and they spend their lives in the past.
In 1969, Quentin Collins
Quentin Collins
Quentin Collins is the name of several characters featured in the 1966-1971 ABC cult TV Gothic horror-soap opera Dark Shadows. All variations of the character have been played by actor David Selby.-Quentin I:...
(David Selby
David Selby
David Lynn Selby is an American character and stage actor. He has worked in movies, soap operas and television. The naturally black-headed Selby is best known for playing the roles of Quentin Collins on the ABC-TV serial, Dark Shadows , and as the evil and compassionate...
) haunts Collinwood, so Barnabas travels back into 1897. Barnabas first finds himself chained to his coffin but is able to escape due to the help of Sandor (Thayer David
Thayer David
Thayer David was a film, stage and television actor. He was best known for his work on the cult ABC serial Dark Shadows and as the fight promoter George Jergens in the Oscar-winning movie Rocky . He also appeared as Count Arne Saknussemm in the film Journey to the Center of the Earth in 1959...
) and Magda Rakosi (Grayson Hall
Grayson Hall
Grayson Hall was an American television, film and stage actress. She was widely regarded for her avant garde theatrical performances in the 1960s-80s. Hall was nominated in 1964 for an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award for the John Huston film The Night of the Iguana...
). Andreas Petofi (Thayer David
Thayer David
Thayer David was a film, stage and television actor. He was best known for his work on the cult ABC serial Dark Shadows and as the fight promoter George Jergens in the Oscar-winning movie Rocky . He also appeared as Count Arne Saknussemm in the film Journey to the Center of the Earth in 1959...
) paints a portrait of Quentin in this time, making him immortal so that his ghost does not haunt Collinwood in the present. Barnabas encounters Kitty Soames (Kathryn Leigh Scott
Kathryn Leigh Scott
Kathryn Leigh Scott is an American television and film actress who is best remembered for playing Maggie Evans, Josette DuPres Collins, Rachel Drummond, Lady Kitty Soames Hampshire, and Maggie Evans PT on Dark Shadows.-Early life:Scott was born Marlene Kringstad in Robbinsdale, Minnesota in 1943...
), who is the reincarnation of Josette. When Kitty puts on Josette’s wedding dress, she steps into Josette’s portrait and is transported back to 1795.
In 1970, Collinwood is destroyed. Julia travels back in time to 1840 using the Stairway into Time created by Quentin. She released Barnabas from his coffin, and eventually the Barnabas from 1970 was able to regain control of the counterpart’s body. Barnabas has Judah Zachary (Michael McGuire) to remove Angelique’s power. Angelique then creates an alliance with Barnabas and they destroy Judah.
During the 1841 parallel time, Catherine Harridge (Lara Parker
Lara Parker
Lara Parker is an American television, stage, and film actress best known for her role as Angelique on the cult ABC-TV serial Dark Shadows which aired from to...
) is to marry Morgan Collins (Keith Prentice
Keith Prentice
Keith Prentice was a Dayton, Ohio-born American TV, film and stage actor, whose most famous role was the part of Larry in both the original stage and film versions of The Boys in the Band. Prentice also appeared on the classic TV soap Dark Shadows during the series final months in 1971...
). Daphne Harridge (Kate Jackson
Kate Jackson
Kate Jackson is an American actress, director, and producer, perhaps best known for her role as Sabrina Duncan in the popular 1970s television series Charlie's Angels...
) suspects that Catherine is still in love with Bramwell Collins (Jonathan Frid
Jonathan Frid
John Herbert Frid is a theater, television, and film actor, best known for playing the role of vampire Barnabas Collins on the gothic television soap opera Dark Shadows.-Early Life:...
). When Bramwell returns to Collinwood, he is upset by the marriage and demands that he and Catherine be together.
Bramwell kidnaps Catherine and she professes her love to him, but still wants to marry Morgan. Morgan tells Catherine of the Collins family secret. During the wedding, Bramwell interrupts, and he and Morgan duel. Bramwell ends up wounded, but Daphne cares for him, and the two end up getting married themselves. Melanie Collins (Nancy Barrett
Nancy Barrett
Nancy Barrett, born , is an American actress. She is best known for her portrayal of "Carolyn Stoddard" in the popular 1960s Gothic soap opera Dark Shadows....
) was found in the woods with strange bite marks on her neck, which turn out to be from an animal rather than a vampire.
1965–1966 season
- 1. As the World TurnsAs the World TurnsAs the World Turns is an American television soap opera that aired on CBS from April 2, 1956 to September 17, 2010. Irna Phillips created As the World Turns as a sister show to her other soap opera Guiding Light...
(13.9) - 13. Dark Shadows (4.1)
- 16. Never Too YoungNever Too YoungNever Too Young is an American teen soap opera that aired on ABC from September 27, 1965 to June 24, 1966 and was the first soap opera geared towards a teen audience.-Synopsis:...
(3.9)
1966–1967 season
- 1. As the World Turns (12.7)
- 12. Dark Shadows (4.3)
- 13. A Flame in the WindA Flame in the WindA Flame in the Wind is a soap opera that aired on ABC Daytime from December 28, 1964 to December 16, 1966.-Synopsis:The show focused on the community of Haviland and it's citizens...
(4.0)
1967–1968 season
- 1. As the World Turns (13.6)
- 12. Dark Shadows (7.3)
- 13. One Life to LiveOne Life to LiveOne Life to Live is an American soap opera which debuted on July 15, 1968 and has been broadcast on the ABC television network. Created by Agnes Nixon, the series was the first daytime drama to primarily feature racially and socioeconomically diverse characters and consistently emphasize social...
(4.3)
1968–1969 season
- 1. As the World Turns (13.8)
- 11. Dark Shadows (8.4)
- 14. Hidden FacesHidden FacesHidden Faces is an American soap opera that aired on NBC from December 30, 1968 to June 27, 1969. The series was created by Irving Vendig, who also created the long-running Procter & Gamble serial The Edge of Night....
(3.3)
1969–1970 season
- 1. As the World Turns (13.6)
- 12. Dark Shadows (7.3)
- 19. The Best of EverythingThe Best of Everything (TV series)The Best of Everything is an American daytime soap opera which aired on ABC from March 30, 1970 to September 25, 1970. The series was a spin-off of the 1959 film of the same name.-Plot:...
(1.8)
1970–1971 season
- 1. As the World Turns (12.4)
- 16. Dark Shadows (5.3)
- 18. A World ApartA World Apart (TV series)A World Apart is an American daytime drama which ran from March 30, 1970 to June 25, 1971 on the ABC television network.-Overview:The initial stories were written by Katherine Phillips, adopted daughter of soap legend Irna Phillips...
(3.4)
1991 (NBCNBCThe National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
)
In 1991, a short-lived primetime remake was produced by MGM TelevisionMGM Television
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Television is an American television production/distribution launched in 1955 and a subsidiary of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, Inc....
and aired on NBC from January 13 to March 22. The revival was a lavish, big budget weekly serial combining gothic romance and stylistic horror. Although it was a huge hit at introduction (watched by almost 1 in 4 households according to official ratings during that time period), the onset of the Gulf War
Gulf War
The Persian Gulf War , commonly referred to as simply the Gulf War, was a war waged by a U.N.-authorized coalition force from 34 nations led by the United States, against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion and annexation of Kuwait.The war is also known under other names, such as the First Gulf...
caused NBC to continually preempt or reschedule the episodes resulting in declining ratings. It was canceled after the first season.
The final episode ended with a cliffhanger: Victoria Winters
Victoria Winters
Victoria Winters is a fictional character from the television Gothic soap opera Dark Shadows and its remakes of the same name. The role was originated by Alexandra Moltke on the ABC series from 1966–1968. After Moltke left to raise a family in 1968, actresses Betsy Durkin and Carolyn Groves briefly...
(Joanna Going
Joanna Going
Joanna C. Going is an American actress.-Early life and education:Born in Washington, D.C., she is the oldest of six children of Lorraine M...
) learning that Barnabas Collins
Barnabas Collins
Barnabas Collins is a fictional character, one of the feature characters in the ABC daytime serial Dark Shadows, which aired from 1966 to 1971. Originally played by Canadian actor Jonathan Frid, Barnabas Collins is a 200-year-old vampire who is in search of fresh blood and his lost love, Josette...
(Ben Cross
Ben Cross
Ben Cross is a British actor of the stage and screen, best known for his portrayal of the British Olympic athlete Harold Abrahams in the 1981 movie Chariots of Fire.-Early life:...
) was a 200-year old vampire. It has been reported that the opening episode for a proposed second season would have had Victoria collapsing, after seeing Barnabas, and losing her memory of his terrible secret.
It also starred veterans Jean Simmons
Jean Simmons
Jean Merilyn Simmons, OBE was an English actress. She appeared predominantly in motion pictures, beginning with films made in Great Britain during and after World War II – she was one of J...
as Elizabeth Collins Stoddard
Elizabeth Collins Stoddard
Elizabeth Collins Stoddard was a fictional character played by Joan Bennett on the cult television ABC-TV Gothic horror soap opera Dark Shadows from 1966-1971. Jean Simmons portrayed the character in the reival series in 1991, Blair Brown took over the role in the WB pilot and will be played by...
and Roy Thinnes
Roy Thinnes
Roy Thinnes is an American television and film actor best known for his portrayal of lonely hero David Vincent in the ABC 1967-68 television series The Invaders. He also played Alfred Wentworth in the pilot episode of Law & Order...
as Roger Collins, British character actress Lysette Anthony
Lysette Anthony
Lysette Anthony is an English film, television, and theatre actress.-Early life:Anthony was born Lysette Chodzko in Fulham, London, the only daughter of actors Michael Anthony, and Bernadette Milnes....
as Angelique Collins, Barbara Steele
Barbara Steele
Barbara Steele is an English film actress. She is best known for starring in Italian gothic horror films of the 1960s. Her breakthrough role came in Italian director Mario Bava's Black Sunday , now hailed as a classic.Steele starred in a string of horror films, including The Horrible Dr...
as Julia Hoffman
Julia Hoffman
Julia Hoffman is a fictional character played by Grayson Hall in the 1966 ABC soap opera Dark Shadows. A doctor in the fields of psychology and rare blood disorders and head of the Windcliff Sanitarium, she moved into Collinwood and discovered the vampire, Barnabas Collins...
, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Joseph Leonard Gordon-Levitt is an American actor whose career as both a child and adult has included television series and theatrical films....
as David Collins
David Collins (Dark Shadows)
David Collins was a fictional character, the son of Roger Collins, on the television serial Dark Shadows, played by David Henesy. In the 1990 made-for-television movie and 1991 revival series, David Collins was played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt. In the 2004 WB Pilot for Dark Shadows, he was played by...
.
2004 (The WB)
Plans for another revival series (or film) have been discussed off and on since the 1991 series' demise, including a TV miniseries to wrap up the plotlines of the canceled NBC series and a feature film, co-written by Dan Curtis and Barbara Steele, utilizing the 1991 cast. In 2004, a pilot for a new WB network Dark Shadows series starring Marley SheltonMarley Shelton
Marley Eve Shelton is an American film and television actress.Shelton began her acting career in her late teens, and appeared in several 1990s' television movies and shows. She made her film debut in the critically acclaimed drama Grand Canyon , and was cast in the films The Sandlot , Nixon , and...
as Victoria Winters
Victoria Winters
Victoria Winters is a fictional character from the television Gothic soap opera Dark Shadows and its remakes of the same name. The role was originated by Alexandra Moltke on the ABC series from 1966–1968. After Moltke left to raise a family in 1968, actresses Betsy Durkin and Carolyn Groves briefly...
and Alec Newman
Alec Newman
Alec Newman is a Scottish stage, television and film actor. He was born in Glasgow on 27 November 1974. Prior to joining the National Youth Theatre in London at age 17, he considered becoming a professional footballer...
as Barnabas Collins
Barnabas Collins
Barnabas Collins is a fictional character, one of the feature characters in the ABC daytime serial Dark Shadows, which aired from 1966 to 1971. Originally played by Canadian actor Jonathan Frid, Barnabas Collins is a 200-year-old vampire who is in search of fresh blood and his lost love, Josette...
was written and shot, but never picked up. The pilot has been screened at the Dark Shadows Festival conventions with Dan Curtis Productions' blessing, but has yet to surface elsewhere. This pilot was produced by Warner Bros. Television
Warner Bros. Television
Warner Bros. Television is the television production arm of Warner Bros. Entertainment, itself part of Time Warner. Alongside CBS Television Studios, it serves as a television production arm of The CW Television Network , though it also produces shows for other networks, such as Shameless on...
.
2012 (FilmDark Shadows (film)Dark Shadows is an upcoming supernatural drama film based on the 1966-1971 gothic soap opera of the same name. The film is directed by Tim Burton and stars Johnny Depp as the vampire Barnabas Collins. It is scheduled to be released on , 2012 in both conventional and IMAX theaters.-Synopsis:In 1752,...
)
Warner Bros.Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
is producing a film adaptation of the soap opera. Tim Burton
Tim Burton
Timothy William "Tim" Burton is an American film director, film producer, writer and artist. He is famous for dark, quirky-themed movies such as Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Ed Wood, Sleepy Hollow, Corpse Bride and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet...
is directing the film, and Johnny Depp
Johnny Depp
John Christopher "Johnny" Depp II is an American actor, producer and musician. He has won the Golden Globe Award and Screen Actors Guild award for Best Actor. Depp rose to prominence on the 1980s television series 21 Jump Street, becoming a teen idol...
stars as Barnabas Collins.
Home video
MPI Home VideoMPI Home Video
MPI Home Video is a home entertainment company that produces and distributes popular documentaries, films and television series on DVD & Blu-ray for the home video market. MPI Home Video is a subsidiary of MPI Media Group which was founded in 1976 by brothers Malik & Waleed Ali...
currently holds the home video rights to the series. All episodes were issued on VHS from 1989 through 1995. Episodes 210–1245 (Barnabas' arrival through to the end of the series) have been released on DVD in 26 Collections from 2002 through 2006. Episodes 1–209 were released in 2007 under the title of Dark Shadows: The Beginning.
Films
MGMMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. is an American media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of films and television programs. MGM was founded in 1924 when the entertainment entrepreneur Marcus Loew gained control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures Corporation and Louis B. Mayer...
released a feature film entitled House of Dark Shadows in 1970. Dan Curtis
Dan Curtis
Dan Curtis was an American director and producer of television and film, probably best known for his miniseries The Winds of War and War and Remembrance, his afternoon TV series Dark Shadows, and the made for TV movie, . Dark Shadows originally aired from 1966 to 1971 and has aired in syndication...
directed it, and Sam Hall
Sam Hall (writer)
Gordon Russell and Sam Hall were a pair of writers known for their work in daytime soap operas.-Dark Shadows:They are best known for their works on Dark Shadows and One Life to Live...
and Gordon Russell
Gordon Russell
Gordon Russell and Sam Hall were a pair of writers well known for their work in daytime soap operas.-Dark Shadows:They are best known for their works on Dark Shadows and One Life to Live...
wrote the screenplay. Many cast members from the soap opera reprised their roles. These included Jonathan Frid
Jonathan Frid
John Herbert Frid is a theater, television, and film actor, best known for playing the role of vampire Barnabas Collins on the gothic television soap opera Dark Shadows.-Early Life:...
, Grayson Hall
Grayson Hall
Grayson Hall was an American television, film and stage actress. She was widely regarded for her avant garde theatrical performances in the 1960s-80s. Hall was nominated in 1964 for an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award for the John Huston film The Night of the Iguana...
, Roger Davis
Roger Davis (television actor)
Jon Roger Davis is an American actor and entrepreneur. The sandy-haired Davis is best known for his boyish good looks, and lilting, Henry Fonda-like voice. He came to fame in such television series as Dark Shadows and Alias Smith and Jones...
, and Kathryn Leigh Scott
Kathryn Leigh Scott
Kathryn Leigh Scott is an American television and film actress who is best remembered for playing Maggie Evans, Josette DuPres Collins, Rachel Drummond, Lady Kitty Soames Hampshire, and Maggie Evans PT on Dark Shadows.-Early life:Scott was born Marlene Kringstad in Robbinsdale, Minnesota in 1943...
, among others. 1971 saw the release of Night of Dark Shadows, also directed by Dan Curtis. In addition, Curtis and Sam Hall wrote it. Actors included David Selby
David Selby
David Lynn Selby is an American character and stage actor. He has worked in movies, soap operas and television. The naturally black-headed Selby is best known for playing the roles of Quentin Collins on the ABC-TV serial, Dark Shadows , and as the evil and compassionate...
, Grayson Hall, Kate Jackson
Kate Jackson
Kate Jackson is an American actress, director, and producer, perhaps best known for her role as Sabrina Duncan in the popular 1970s television series Charlie's Angels...
, and Lara Parker
Lara Parker
Lara Parker is an American television, stage, and film actress best known for her role as Angelique on the cult ABC-TV serial Dark Shadows which aired from to...
, among others.
Books
There have been two series of Dark Shadows novels. The first, released during the show's original run, were all penned by romance writer Marilyn Ross, a pseudonym for author Dan Ross. The second consists of two novels by Lara ParkerLara Parker
Lara Parker is an American television, stage, and film actress best known for her role as Angelique on the cult ABC-TV serial Dark Shadows which aired from to...
, Angelique's Descent and The Salem Branch, and Dreams of the Dark by horror authors Elizabeth Massie
Elizabeth Massie
Elizabeth Massie is an American author.Elizabeth Massie is a two-time Bram Stoker Award-winning author of horror novels and short fiction. She won her awards for Sineater and Stephen. She has also written historical fiction for young adults....
and Stephen Mark Rainey
Stephen Mark Rainey
Stephen Mark Rainey is an author of novels, short stories, and various works of nonfiction. From 1987 to 1997, he edited Deathrealm, a magazine of horror and dark fantasy fiction, for which he won several awards for Best Editor.-Biography:...
.
There also have been several books about Dark Shadows, including The Dark Shadows Almanac and The Dark Shadows Companion.
Magazines
During its original run, Dark Shadows was featured in many magazines, including Afternoon TV, Daytime TV, Famous Monsters of FilmlandFamous Monsters of Filmland
Famous Monsters of Filmland is a genre-specific film magazine started in 1958 by publisher James Warren and editor Forrest J Ackerman.-Magazine history :...
, and Castle of Frankenstein
Castle of Frankenstein
Castle of Frankenstein was an American horror, science fiction and fantasy film magazine, distributed by Kable News and published in New Jersey from 1962 to 1975 by Calvin Thomas Beck's Gothic Castle Publishing Company. The first three issues were edited by Larry Ivie and Ken Beale. From 1963 and...
. In 2003, a two-part article entitled "Collecting Dark Shadows: Return to Collinwood," appeared in Autograph Collector magazine. It was the first major article to chronicle the show in years. In 2005, Scary Monsters magazine #55 devoted an entire issue to Dark Shadows. Included were full-length interviews with cast members Marie Wallace, David Selby, and Kathryn Leigh-Scott, as well as "Don't Open That Coffin! A Baby Boomer's Adventures in the Land of Dark Shadows!" Both the Autograph Collector and Scary Monsters articles were penned by freelance writer Rod Labbe, who once ran a fan club for Dennis Patrick (Jason McGuire, Paul Stoddard). Labbe also contributes to Fangoria magazine and will be doing a series of full-length interviews with surviving original cast members, leading up to the release of Burton's film. Labbe's interview with Jerry Lacy, who played the nefarious Reverend Trask, appeared in issue #296. His second, with Chris Pennock (Jebez Hawkes, aka "The Leviathan") will be in issue #304. He's already interviewed Kathryn Leigh Scott for Fangoria, and a more lengthy version of the interview can be found on her website.
Comics
Comic strip
A comic strip is a sequence of drawings arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions....
by illustrator Kenneth Bruce Bald
Ken Bald
Kenneth Bruce Bald is an American illustrator and comic book artist best known for the Judd Saxon, Dr. Kildare and Dark Shadows newspaper comic strips. Due to contractual obligations, he is credited as "K...
(credited as "K. Bruce" because of contractual obligations) to dozens of newspapers across the country.
Gold Key Comics
Gold Key Comics
Gold Key Comics was an imprint of Western Publishing created for comic books distributed to newsstands. Also known as Whitman Comics, Gold Key operated from 1962 to 1984.-History:...
released 35 issues of a regular Dark Shadows comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
, which ran for years after the cancellation of the series on ABC. 1969–1976; and in 1991, Innovation Publishing
Innovation Publishing
Innovation Publishing was an American comic book company based in Wheeling, West Virginia. It was co-founded by David Campiti in 1988 after writing a business proposal and raising US$400,000 to finance its launch...
released a short-lived comic book series based on the NBC-TV revival show. Hermes Press will release a multi-volume archive reprint series of the Gold Key series beginning in 2010.
Other media
There have also been two board games, a few coloring books, a jigsaw puzzle and a View-MasterView-Master
View-Master is a device for viewing seven 3-D images on a paper disk. Although the View-Master is now considered a children's toy, it was originally marketed as a way for viewers to enjoy stereograms of colorful and picturesque tourist attractions.-1939–66: stereoscopic sightseeing:In 1911,...
reel.
Audio drama
Based on a stage play performed at a Dark Shadows convention, Return to Collinwood is an audio drama written by Jamison Selby and Jim Pierson, and starring David Selby, Kathryn Leigh Scott, John Karlen, Nancy Barrett, Lara Parker, Roger Davis, Marie Wallace, Christopher Pennock, Donna Wandrey, James Storm, and Terry Crawford. The show is available on CD.Big Finish Productions
In 2006, Big Finish ProductionsBig Finish Productions
Big Finish Productions is a British company that produces books and audio plays based, primarily, on cult British science fiction properties...
continued the Dark Shadows saga with an original series of audio dramas, starring the original cast. The first season featured David Selby
David Selby
David Lynn Selby is an American character and stage actor. He has worked in movies, soap operas and television. The naturally black-headed Selby is best known for playing the roles of Quentin Collins on the ABC-TV serial, Dark Shadows , and as the evil and compassionate...
(Quentin Collins
Quentin Collins
Quentin Collins is the name of several characters featured in the 1966-1971 ABC cult TV Gothic horror-soap opera Dark Shadows. All variations of the character have been played by actor David Selby.-Quentin I:...
), Lara Parker
Lara Parker
Lara Parker is an American television, stage, and film actress best known for her role as Angelique on the cult ABC-TV serial Dark Shadows which aired from to...
(Angelique), Kathryn Leigh Scott
Kathryn Leigh Scott
Kathryn Leigh Scott is an American television and film actress who is best remembered for playing Maggie Evans, Josette DuPres Collins, Rachel Drummond, Lady Kitty Soames Hampshire, and Maggie Evans PT on Dark Shadows.-Early life:Scott was born Marlene Kringstad in Robbinsdale, Minnesota in 1943...
(Maggie Evans
Maggie Evans
Maggie Evans was a character most prominently played by Kathryn Leigh Scott on the 1960s ABC-TV gothic horror soap opera serial Dark Shadows and in the 1970 film House of Dark Shadows.-Early days:...
), and John Karlen
John Karlen
John Karlen is a character actor best known for playing Willie Loomis, Carl Collins, William H. Loomis, Desmond Collins, and Kendrick Young on the ABC serial Dark Shadows, in various episodes between 206 and 1245, which aired from 1966-1971. In 1971 Karlen starred as the male lead in "Daughters...
(Willie Loomis
Willie Loomis
Willie Loomis was a character on the ABC-TV gothic horror soap opera, Dark Shadows, which aired from 1966 until 1971. The character was first played by actor James Hall for a total of four episodes, who was subsequently replaced by John Karlen beginning with episode #206. Karlen continued to play...
). Robert Rodan
Robert Rodan
Robert Rodan is an American actor who played Adam on the TV soap opera Dark Shadows. In 2007, he guest starred in the Dark Shadows audio drama, The Rage Beneath.-External links:...
, who played Adam in the original series, also appears in the fourth story, playing a new character. A second series was released in 2010. In addition to the cast returning from Series One, Kingdom of the Dead
Dark Shadows: Kingdom of the Dead
Dark Shadows: Kingdom of the Dead is a Big Finish Productions audio drama based on the long-running American horror soap opera series Dark Shadows.- Plot :...
also featured Lysette Anthony
Lysette Anthony
Lysette Anthony is an English film, television, and theatre actress.-Early life:Anthony was born Lysette Chodzko in Fulham, London, the only daughter of actors Michael Anthony, and Bernadette Milnes....
, Alec Newman
Alec Newman
Alec Newman is a Scottish stage, television and film actor. He was born in Glasgow on 27 November 1974. Prior to joining the National Youth Theatre in London at age 17, he considered becoming a professional footballer...
, Lizzie Hopley
Lizzie Hopley
Lizzie Hopley is a British actor and writer.She appears in several audio plays based on the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who. Her first appearance was as the Eighth Doctor’s companion Gemma Griffin in Terror Firma. She also portrayed the sister of Davros in the I, Davros...
, Jerry Lacy
Jerry Lacy
Gerald LeRoy "Jerry" Lacy is an American soap opera actor best known for playing the roles of Tony Peterson, Reverend Trask, Reverend Gregory Trask, Mr. Trask, and Lamar Trask on the cult TV serial Dark Shadows...
, and David Warner
David Warner (actor)
David Warner is an English actor who is known for playing both romantic leads and sinister or villainous characters, both in film and animation...
.
| # | Title | Author | Released |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The House of Despair Dark Shadows: The House of Despair Dark Shadows: The House of Despair is a Big Finish Productions audio drama based on the long-running American horror soap opera series Dark Shadows.- Plot :... |
Stuart Manning | 2006 |
| 2 | The Book of Temptation Dark Shadows: The Book of Temptation Dark Shadows: The Book of Temptation is a Big Finish Productions audio drama based on the long-running American horror soap opera series Dark Shadows.- Plot :... |
Scott Handcock Scott Handcock Scott Handcock is an English writer, director and producer from Birmingham who has involved in a number of audio plays for Big Finish Productions, the audio production company perhaps best associated with the Doctor Who franchise.... |
2006 |
| 3 | The Christmas Presence Dark Shadows: The Christmas Presence Dark Shadows: The Christmas Presence is a Big Finish Productions audio drama based on the long-running American horror soap opera series Dark Shadows.- Plot :As Christmas draws near, Quentin Collins issues an arcane invitation into the unknown... |
Scott Handcock | 2007 |
| 4 | The Rage Beneath Dark Shadows: The Rage Beneath Dark Shadows: The Rage Beneath is a Big Finish Productions audio drama based on the long-running American horror soap opera series Dark Shadows.... |
Scott Alan Woodard | 2007 |
| 5 | Kingdom of the Dead Dark Shadows: Kingdom of the Dead Dark Shadows: Kingdom of the Dead is a Big Finish Productions audio drama based on the long-running American horror soap opera series Dark Shadows.- Plot :... |
Stuart Manning and Eric Wallace | July 2010 |
Dramatic readings
Big Finish has also released a number of dramatic readings (a series of plays, usually featuring two actors). The first of these, released in August 2007, are based on Lara Parker's original novel, Angelique's Descent.| # | Title | Author | Featuring | With | Released |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Angelique's Descent: Innocence Angelique's Descent Dark Shadows: Angelique's Descent is a Big Finish Productions abridged reading of Lara Parker's own novel, based on the long-running American horror soap opera series Dark Shadows.- Plot :... |
Lara Parker Lara Parker Lara Parker is an American television, stage, and film actress best known for her role as Angelique on the cult ABC-TV serial Dark Shadows which aired from to... |
Lara Parker Lara Parker Lara Parker is an American television, stage, and film actress best known for her role as Angelique on the cult ABC-TV serial Dark Shadows which aired from to... as Angelique |
Andrew Collins Andrew Collins (actor) Andrew Collins is a British actor, best known for playing recurring character Jarrett Maxwell in the CBS soap opera The Bold and the Beautiful as well as appearing on the first episode of Gilmore Girls.... as Barnabas Barnabas Collins Barnabas Collins is a fictional character, one of the feature characters in the ABC daytime serial Dark Shadows, which aired from 1966 to 1971. Originally played by Canadian actor Jonathan Frid, Barnabas Collins is a 200-year-old vampire who is in search of fresh blood and his lost love, Josette... |
August 2007 |
| 2 | Angelique's Descent: Betrayal Angelique's Descent Dark Shadows: Angelique's Descent is a Big Finish Productions abridged reading of Lara Parker's own novel, based on the long-running American horror soap opera series Dark Shadows.- Plot :... |
Lara Parker | Lara Parker as Angelique | Andrew Collins as Barnabas | August 2007 |
| 3 | Clothes of Sand Clothes of Sand Dark Shadows: Clothes of Sand is a Big Finish Productions original dramatic reading based on the long-running American horror soap opera series Dark Shadows.- Plot :From the Big Finish Website:... |
Stuart Manning | Kathryn Leigh Scott Kathryn Leigh Scott Kathryn Leigh Scott is an American television and film actress who is best remembered for playing Maggie Evans, Josette DuPres Collins, Rachel Drummond, Lady Kitty Soames Hampshire, and Maggie Evans PT on Dark Shadows.-Early life:Scott was born Marlene Kringstad in Robbinsdale, Minnesota in 1943... as Maggie Maggie Evans Maggie Evans was a character most prominently played by Kathryn Leigh Scott on the 1960s ABC-TV gothic horror soap opera serial Dark Shadows and in the 1970 film House of Dark Shadows.-Early days:... |
Alec Newman Alec Newman Alec Newman is a Scottish stage, television and film actor. He was born in Glasgow on 27 November 1974. Prior to joining the National Youth Theatre in London at age 17, he considered becoming a professional footballer... as The Sandman |
July 2008 |
| 4 | The Ghost Watcher The Ghost Watcher Dark Shadows: The Ghost Watcher is a Big Finish Productions original dramatic reading based on the long-running American horror soap opera series Dark Shadows.- Plot :... |
Stuart Manning | Kathryn Leigh Scott as Maggie | Alec Newman as Nathan Hawkins | July 2008 |
| 5 | The Skin Walkers The Skin Walkers Dark Shadows: The Skin Walkers is a Big Finish Productions original dramatic reading based on the long-running American horror soap opera series Dark Shadows.-External links:*... |
Scott Handcock Scott Handcock Scott Handcock is an English writer, director and producer from Birmingham who has involved in a number of audio plays for Big Finish Productions, the audio production company perhaps best associated with the Doctor Who franchise.... |
David Selby David Selby David Lynn Selby is an American character and stage actor. He has worked in movies, soap operas and television. The naturally black-headed Selby is best known for playing the roles of Quentin Collins on the ABC-TV serial, Dark Shadows , and as the evil and compassionate... as Quentin Quentin Collins Quentin Collins is the name of several characters featured in the 1966-1971 ABC cult TV Gothic horror-soap opera Dark Shadows. All variations of the character have been played by actor David Selby.-Quentin I:... |
Lara Parker as Angelique | November 2008 |
| 6 | The Path of Fate The Path of Fate Dark Shadows: The Path of Fate is a Big Finish Productions original dramatic reading based on the long-running American horror soap opera series Dark Shadows.- Plot :... |
Stephen Mark Rainey Stephen Mark Rainey Stephen Mark Rainey is an author of novels, short stories, and various works of nonfiction. From 1987 to 1997, he edited Deathrealm, a magazine of horror and dark fantasy fiction, for which he won several awards for Best Editor.-Biography:... |
Lara Parker as Angelique | David Selby as Quentin | November 2008 |
| 7 | The Wicked and the Dead The Wicked and the Dead Dark Shadows: The Wicked and the Dead is a Big Finish Productions original dramatic reading based on the long-running American horror soap opera series Dark Shadows.- Plot :... |
Eric Wallace | Jerry Lacy Jerry Lacy Gerald LeRoy "Jerry" Lacy is an American soap opera actor best known for playing the roles of Tony Peterson, Reverend Trask, Reverend Gregory Trask, Mr. Trask, and Lamar Trask on the cult TV serial Dark Shadows... as Gregory Trask |
John Karlen John Karlen John Karlen is a character actor best known for playing Willie Loomis, Carl Collins, William H. Loomis, Desmond Collins, and Kendrick Young on the ABC serial Dark Shadows, in various episodes between 206 and 1245, which aired from 1966-1971. In 1971 Karlen starred as the male lead in "Daughters... as Carl Collins |
January 2009 |
| 8 | Echoes of Insanity Echoes of Insanity Dark Shadows: Echoes of Insanity is a Big Finish Productions original dramatic reading based on the long-running American horror soap opera series Dark Shadows.- Plot :... |
D Lynn Smith | John Karlen as Willie Loomis Willie Loomis Willie Loomis was a character on the ABC-TV gothic horror soap opera, Dark Shadows, which aired from 1966 until 1971. The character was first played by actor James Hall for a total of four episodes, who was subsequently replaced by John Karlen beginning with episode #206. Karlen continued to play... |
Lara Parker as Angelique | July 2009 |
| 9 | Curse of the Pharaoh Curse of the Pharaoh Dark Shadows: Curse of the Pharaoh is a Big Finish Productions original dramatic reading based on the long-running American horror soap opera series Dark Shadows.- Plot :... |
Stephen Mark Rainey | Nancy Barrett Nancy Barrett Nancy Barrett, born , is an American actress. She is best known for her portrayal of "Carolyn Stoddard" in the popular 1960s Gothic soap opera Dark Shadows.... as Carolyn |
Marie Wallace Marie Wallace Marie Wallace is an American stage and television actress, best known for her performances in the cult Gothic soap opera Dark Shadows.-Early life and career:... as Gretchen Warwick |
September 2009 |
| 10 | Final Judgement Final Judgement (Dark Shadows) Dark Shadows: Final Judgement is a Big Finish Productions original dramatic reading based on the long-running American horror soap opera series Dark Shadows.-Cast:*Angelique Bouchard Collins - Lara Parker*Josette du Pres - Kathryn Leigh Scott... |
D Lynn Smith | Lara Parker as Angelique | Kathryn Leigh Scott as Josette Josette du Pres Josette du Pres was a character played primarily by Kathryn Leigh Scott during the 1795 flashback on the cult TV serial Dark Shadows.-Josette and Barnabas:... |
February 2010 |
| 11 | Blood Dance Blood Dance Dark Shadows: Blood Dance is a Big Finish Productions original dramatic reading based on the long-running American horror soap opera series Dark Shadows.-Trivia:... |
Stephen Mark Rainey | David Selby as Quentin | Lisa Richards as Chandres Tessier | April 2010 |
| 12 | London's Burning London's Burning (Dark Shadows) Dark Shadows: London's Burning is a Big Finish Productions original dramatic reading based on the long-running American horror soap opera series Dark Shadows.- Plot :... |
Joseph Lidster Joseph Lidster Joseph Lidster is an English television writer best known for his work on the Doctor Who spin-off series Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures.-Biography:His debut work was the audio play The Rapture for Big Finish Productions in 2002... |
David Selby as Quentin | Louise Jameson Louise Jameson Louise Jameson is an English actress, best known for playing Leela, the leather-clad barbarian warrior companion of the fourth Doctor in Doctor Who. Jameson has also appeared on Emmerdale , The Omega Factor Louise Jameson (born 20 April 1951 in Wanstead, London) is an English actress, best known... as Rosie Faye |
June 2010 |
| 13 | The Night Whispers The Night Whispers Dark Shadows: The Night Whispers is a 2010 Big Finish Productions original dramatic reading based on the long-running American horror soap opera series Dark Shadows.-Cast:*Barnabas Collins - Jonathan Frid*Willie Loomis - John Karlen... |
Stuart Manning | Jonathan Frid Jonathan Frid John Herbert Frid is a theater, television, and film actor, best known for playing the role of vampire Barnabas Collins on the gothic television soap opera Dark Shadows.-Early Life:... as Barnabas Collins Barnabas Collins Barnabas Collins is a fictional character, one of the feature characters in the ABC daytime serial Dark Shadows, which aired from 1966 to 1971. Originally played by Canadian actor Jonathan Frid, Barnabas Collins is a 200-year-old vampire who is in search of fresh blood and his lost love, Josette... |
John Karlen as Willie Loomis & Barbara Steele Barbara Steele Barbara Steele is an English film actress. She is best known for starring in Italian gothic horror films of the 1960s. Her breakthrough role came in Italian director Mario Bava's Black Sunday , now hailed as a classic.Steele starred in a string of horror films, including The Horrible Dr... as Celeste |
June 2010 |
| 14 | The Doll House The Doll House Dark Shadows: The Doll House is a 2010 Big Finish Productions original dramatic reading based on the long-running American horror soap opera series Dark Shadows.-External links:*... |
James Goss | Marie Wallace as Jenny | Terry Crawford as Beth Chavez | July 2010 |
| 15 | The Blind Painter The Blind Painter Dark Shadows: The Blind Painter is a 2011 Big Finish Productions original dramatic reading based on the long-running American horror soap opera series Dark Shadows.-Cast:*Charles Delaware Tate - Roger Davis*Eloise - Nicola Bryant-External links:... |
Jonathan Morris Jonathan Morris (author) Jonathan Morris was born in Taunton England in 1973. He is an author principally known for writing various kinds of Doctor Who spin-off material... |
Roger Davis Roger Davis Roger Davis may refer to:*Roger Davis , American actor*Roger Davis , American actor in television series Dark Shadows and Alias Smith and Jones... as Charles Delaware Tate |
Nicola Bryant Nicola Bryant -External links:** at shillpages.com/dw *... as Eloise |
May 2011 |
| 16 | The Death Mask | Mark Thomas Passmore | Jerry Lacy as Tony Peterson | Lara Parker as Cassandra Collins aka Angelique | May 2011 |
| 17 | The Creeping Fog | Simon Guerrier Simon Guerrier Simon Guerrier is a British science fiction author and dramatist, closely associated with the fictional universe of Doctor Who and its spinoffs... |
David Selby as Quentin Collins | Matthew Waterhouse Matthew Waterhouse Matthew Waterhouse is an English actor and writer best known for his role as Adric in the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who.-Early life:... as John Cunningham |
June 2011 |
| 18 | The Carrion Queen | Lizzie Hopley Lizzie Hopley Lizzie Hopley is a British actor and writer.She appears in several audio plays based on the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who. Her first appearance was as the Eighth Doctor’s companion Gemma Griffin in Terror Firma. She also portrayed the sister of Davros in the I, Davros... |
Jerry Lacy as Gregory Trask | Lara Parker as Angelique | July 2011 |
| 19 | The Poisoned Soul | James Goss | Nancy Barrett as Charity Trask | Roy Thinnes Roy Thinnes Roy Thinnes is an American television and film actor best known for his portrayal of lonely hero David Vincent in the ABC 1967-68 television series The Invaders. He also played Alfred Wentworth in the pilot episode of Law & Order... as Patrick Llewellyn |
July 2011 |
| 20 | The Lost Girl The Lost Girl The Lost Girl is a novel by D. H. Lawrence, first published in 1920. It was awarded the 1920 James Tait Black Memorial Prize in the fiction category.Lawrence started to write 200 pages of it in 1913 and abandoned it before he finished it in 1920.... |
D Lynn Smith | Kathryn Leigh Scott as Josette | Rebecca Staab Rebecca Staab Rebecca Ann Staab is an American actress and former beauty queen who has competed in the Miss USA pageant.- Biography :Staab was born in Hays, Kansas and grew up in Ralston, Nebraska. She graduated in 1979 from Ralston Senior High School... as Emily |
July 2011 |
| 21 | The Crimson Pearl | James Goss & Joseph Lidster | Various | August 2011 |
Legacy
Dark Shadows pioneered the concept of a soap opera with a supernatural theme. An occultOccult
The word occult comes from the Latin word occultus , referring to "knowledge of the hidden". In the medical sense it is used to refer to a structure or process that is hidden, e.g...
-styled Canadian-made serial Strange Paradise
Strange Paradise
Strange Paradise is a Canadian occult / supernatural soap opera of 195 episodes, initially launched in syndication in the United States on September 8, 1969, and later broadcast on CBC Television from October 20, 1969 to July 22, 1970...
soon followed, which was broadcast on CBC Television
CBC Television
CBC Television is a Canadian television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster.Although the CBC is supported by public funding, the television network supplements this funding with commercial advertising revenue, in contrast to CBC Radio which are...
and in the United States in syndication from October 20, 1969 to July 22, 1970. (U.S. airdates varied; 195 half-hour episodes were produced.) In later years the prime-time satire Soap
Soap (TV series)
Soap is an American sitcom that originally ran on ABC from 1977 to 1981.The show was created as a parody of daytime soap operas, presented as a weekly half-hour prime time comedy. Similar to a soap opera, the show's story was presented in a serial format and included melodramatic plot elements such...
would introduce an Exorcist
The Exorcist (film)
The Exorcist is a 1973 American horror film directed by William Friedkin, adapted from the 1971 novel of the same name by William Peter Blatty and based on the exorcism case of Robbie Mannheim, dealing with the demonic possession of a young girl and her mother’s desperate attempts to win back her...
-inspired storyline. In 1986, "Dark Mansions," a made-for-TV movie intended to be a pilot for a weekly supernatural serial, was produced by Aaron Spelling. Days of Our Lives
Days of our Lives
Days of our Lives is a long running daytime soap opera broadcast on the NBC television network. It is one of the longest-running scripted television programs in the world, airing nearly every weekday in the United States since November 8, 1965. It has since been syndicated to many countries around...
featured a plot in which its leading female character, Marlena Evans
Marlena Evans
Dr. Marlena Evans Black is a long-running fictional character on the NBC daytime drama, Days of our Lives, a long running serial about working life in the fictional town of Salem. She was played by actress Deidre Hall since 1976, with a few minor breaks in between from 1987 to March 1991 and...
(Deidre Hall
Deidre Hall
Deidre Ann Hall is a dramatic American actress best known for her portrayal of Dr. Marlena Evans on NBC's daytime drama Days of our Lives, which she played for over 29 years, and is to return to the role this summer. The character is considered an icon to the soap, and has been experienced some of...
), was possessed by Satan
Satan
Satan , "the opposer", is the title of various entities, both human and divine, who challenge the faith of humans in the Hebrew Bible...
. Coming full circle, the soap operas Port Charles
Port Charles
Port Charles was a daytime soap opera which aired on ABC from June 2, 1997 to October 3, 2003. It is a spin-off of the serial General Hospital, which has been running since 1963 and takes place in the fictional city of Port Charles, New York...
and Passions
Passions
Passions is an American television soap opera which aired on NBC from July 5, 1999 to September 7, 2007 and on The 101 Network from September 17, 2007 to August 7, 2008....
emerged in the 1990s, both largely driven by supernatural-based plots involving vampires, witches, and werewolves. The popular Joss Whedon
Joss Whedon
Joseph Hill "Joss" Whedon is an American screenwriter, executive producer, director, comic book writer, occasional composer and actor, founder of Mutant Enemy Productions and co-creator of Bellwether Pictures...
series Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel
Angel (TV series)
Angel is an American television series, a spin-off of the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The series was created by Buffys creator, Joss Whedon, in collaboration with David Greenwalt, and first aired on October 5, 1999...
, with their continuing serial plotlines, could be described as treading a path first laid by Dark Shadows. The popular gay and lesbian here! network has produced its own supernatural soap operas Dante's Cove
Dante's Cove
Dante's Cove is an American LGBT-oriented supernatural soap opera. The series airs on here!, an American gay-oriented network, and on Gay.com....
and The Lair
The Lair
The Lair is an American gay-themed vampire television series produced by here! in 2007. The first season, consisting of six episodes, wrapped production in January of that year. The first two episodes premiered on June 1, 2007. Season 2, consisting of 9 episodes debuted on September 5, 2008...
which both contain witchcraft and vampire storylines. Dark Shadows is also widely credited with introducing the concept of the "compassionate vampire", the mostly "good" vampire tortured by his affliction and looking for a cure. This concept has continued to be used in many vampire television series and films.
Further reading
- Borzellieri, Frank. "The Physics of Dark Shadows". Cultural Studies Press, 2008. ISBN 978-0-9815407-0-2
- Clute, John and Grant, John. The Encyclopedia of Fantasy. St. Martin's Press, 1999. p 823. ISBN 0-312-19869-8
- Hamrick, Craig. Barnabas & Company: The Cast of the TV Classic Dark Shadows. iUniverse, 2003. ISBN 0-595-29029-9
- Jones, Stephen. The Essential Monster Movie Guide: A Century of Creature Features on Film, TV and Video. Watson-Guptill, 2000. p. 99. ISBN 0-8230-7936-8
- Krensky, Stephen. Vampires. Lerner Publications, 2007. p. 48. ISBN 0-8225-5891-2
- Mansour, David. From Abba to Zoom: A Pop Culture Encyclopedia Of The Late 20th Century. Andrews McMeel Publishing, 2005. p. 109. ISBN 0-7407-5118-2
- McNally, Raymond T. and Florescu, Radu R. In Search of Dracula: The History of Dracula and Vampires. Houghton Mifflin Books, 1994. p. 270. ISBN 0-395-65783-0
- Mitchell, Charles P. The Complete H. P. Lovecraft Filmography. Greenwood Press, 2001. p 220. ISBN 0-313-31641-4
- Riccardo, Martin V. Vampires Unearthed: The Complete Multi-media Vampire and Dracula Bibliography. Garland Publishing, Incorporated, 1983. p. 19. ISBN 0-8240-9128-0
- Schemering, Christopher. The Soap Opera Encyclopedia. Ballantine Books, 1985. p. 61. ISBN 0-345-32459-5
- Senn, Bryan and Johnson, John. Fantastic Cinema Subject Guide: A Topical Index to 2500 Horror, Science Fiction, and Fantasy Films. McFarland & Co, 1992. p. 551. ISBN 0-89950-681-X
- South, Malcolm. Mythical and Fabulous Creatures: A Source Book and Research Guide. Greenwood Press, 1987. p. 260. ISBN 0-313-24338-7
- Sullivan, Jack. The Penguin Encyclopedia of Horror and the Supernatural. Viking, 1986. p. 422. ISBN 0-670-80902-0
- Terrance, Vincent. The Complete Encyclopedia of Television Programs, 1947–1979. A. S. Barnes & Company, 1979.
- Worland, Rick. The Horror Film: An Introduction. Blackwell Publishing, 2006. p. 93. ISBN 1-4051-3902-1