Thanks for sharing these, Doctor and K-9! I am just listening to Ron's talk again, with better headphones, so I can hear more.
He confirms twice that Vicki was intended to be revealed as Elizabeth's illegitimate daughter. So, this genuinely does seem to have been part of the original plan for the show.
He also says that he knew Jonathan Frid as a friend before the latter ever started on the show (he calls him "John," which was apparently how Frid was known to his friends), and they discussed the character of Barnabas when Frid was cast. Dan really wanted Barnabas to be "pure evil," but all the writers argued that that would not be sustainable in a serial format. Frid suggested writing it so that he had opportunities to SUGGEST evil through expression and delivery, and Ron gives credit to him for that suggestion.
Ron mentions running into Dan after hoDS came out and Dan told him, "I FINALLY got to do Barnabas the way I wanted in the movie!"
This is fascinating to hear because Ron Sproat offers so much more nuance and detail than I'm used to hearing from people who were interviewed subsequently about the show. Perhaps because in 1983, it was relatively recent, and Ron mentions having watched some of the old episodes when they were being syndicated out again.
G.