The June 30th Episodes (Spoilers!)

[Mysterious Benefactor]

What I found most interesting while watching the June 30th episodes was the shear breath and complexity of Nancy Barrett's talent. In ep #4 we see a fairly innocent young Carolyn. (Innocent? Yes. Not the word one normally associates with Carolyn - but in this episode she could easily be channelling that icon of adolescent female innocence: Giget. ). In ep #786 we see the repressed Charity Trask (and her flight of fancy dream about Quentin). And in ep #1047 we see the world-weary and trodden upon Carolyn Loomis. It immediately struck me how very different each of those three women were due in no small part to Barrett's ability to portray them as very distinct individuals - an ability that, sadly, some of her fellow DS actors seemed incapable of bringing to their roles (can you say Roger Davis?  ).

And a bit of interesting trivia: in ep #265 Sam reveals that when she was a child Maggie had a doll named Cassandra and she always became upset whenever he and her mother would call the doll "Sandy." All I could think after hearing that is how upset the '68 Cassandra might have become if anyone had even dared to call her "Sandy". And who knows what terrible fate might have befallen them if they had? 

[AndreDuPres]

I must agree about Nancy Barrett--I *love* that dream sequence Charity has; is it me, or do the dream sequences get much better as time passes?  1897, Leviathans, and 1840 all had fantastic, spooky dreams.  I was watching episode #265 today while eating lunch--this one's always been one of my favourites:  Grayson Hall's first episode (I think...?) with accompanying over-the-top but immensely enjoyable acting, Maggie's shrill, crazed demeanour ("take the key and lock...her...UP!"), those laughable tree branches being waved across the back window in Joe's car, etc.  I, too, immediately think of the black-bewigged Cassandra of 1968 when Sam mentions Maggie's doll.

[AndreDuPres]

Oh, I forgot to mention that I really enjoy the chemistry between Julia and Dave Woodard--he's (well, the one played by Robert Gerringer, I think) one of my favourite "early series" characters.

[michael c]

nancy is a treasure(although she infuriated me throughout the adam storyline).i liked her alot at the very end of 1795 when millicent lost her mind.

whenever i see nancy in the 1970/71 episodes i'm struck by how different she looked than she did during the first half of the show's run.she has much darker hair and it looks like she removed her eyebrows.

[PennyDreadful]

 Nancy Barrett is a fantastic actress.  The ability to inhabit different roles and believably become totally different and distinct people is what acting is all about.  Nancy is great at doing this.  Thayer David was a master of the art as well.

  I'm really enjoying these year by year comparisons MB. 

~Penny Dreadful~         

[victoriawinters]

I agree that Nancy Barrett and Thayer David bring us distictive characters throughout the run of the show.  While not as intense, Louis Edmonds and Joan Bennett are also excellent character actors. I particularly enjoy Judith Collins.

[Barnabas'sBride]

I have to agree that Nancy Barrett is an excellent actress. She comes off so natural, and her ability to slip into different personas never ceases to amaze me when I watch the different time periods on the show. She has become a favorite of mine over time.

She does look very different in the later episodes of DS. 

[Gothick]

Agree in spades about Nancy Barrett's fantastic talent and range, but I have to share the THRILL I get with the first sight of Dr. Julia Hoffman!  I'll never forget the excitement when I got to see this episode for the very first time in an early syndication run for DS on Philadelphia's channel 48 in 1976. I'd missed all these the first time around since I didn't start watching till 1968.

I didn't realize that Grayson's first show fell so close to the series' first anniversary.  That's pretty groovy!

Going back to Nancy, her performance as Carolyn Loomis in PT '70 was so exquisitely layered and nuanced, I often think it's my favorite of all her roles on the series.  The same goes for Thayer David's seedy Tim Stokes.  Brilliant!

G.