does this house have some significance in the DS world? i don't recognize it. was it in one of the movies?

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.

whatever tentative outlines there might or might not have been for "revealing" that Vicki was Elizabeth's daughter (and her parentage in general) the reality is that, at the time, DC and the writers lost interest in the plot completely.

even if Alexandra had not left when she did i doubt they'd have ever actually bothered to go back and resolve this. when exactly would this have been shoehorned in?

shortly after the character/actress was written out the story went back to 1897. and remained there for nearly a year. after that it yoyoed back and forth in time, including a series of "parallel worlds", on a near constant basis for the remainder of the run. "normal" things pretty much stopped happening.

in terms of this particular plot point it is the fans that have kept it alive all these years. assorted and sundry "resolutions" thrown around since the series' cancellation largely to satisfy us.

but the sad reality is the writers at the time simply didn't care. solving this particular mystery would have taken screen time away from monsters and time travel.

i'm 3 episodes in...

it's certainly well done and entertaining. but the "Frankenstein" branding seems a bit tacked on. the Mary Shelly character shoehorned in to add "name value".

it's not supernatural (at least as of yet). it's more a straightforward pre-Victorian police procedural with a ghoulish edge. but the Frankenstein imprimatur isn't really elemental to the overall plot.

i can only speak for myself but i really have no interest in "cruises" (nor the funds) or those odd half day mini events out at Lyndhurst. and as for the "Friends of 1991" events there seems to be a black cloud over them as they are rife with cancellations and last minute no shows every time they try to hold one. in addition they are confusing as they generally attach more OS names to them than 91 participants. i can never make heads nor tails of the lineup.

the preference of the fandom seems to be the traditional hotel bound 2-3 day festival. a big well stocked dealers room. film and video oddities ( "The House" was well received at the last one). the typical cast/crew panels and Q&A sessions. and so forth. stabs at "newness" seem to fall short.

that said of course with a rapidly aging cast (and fan base) how much longer how much longer that's even possible remains to be seen.

indeed on one of the FB pages recently KLS herself was telling US to get on Jim about the festival. as if we had more influence on him than her, Parker, Selby and the other fest stalwarts. 

it was stock dialogue on DS (like "you MUST"). everyone said it. unfortunately Vicki's been saddled with it in the fandom like an albatross.

another soap cliche frequently employed was one character in a scene repeating what the other character had just said in the form of a question:

Barnabas: "i'm here to see you, Vicki".

Vicki: "see me?"

it's still used constantly to this day.

finally someone realistic on price...

i recall a few years ago one rather misguided seller trying to unload his/her "mint" VHS DS collection at ten dollars a tape. even then it was crazy for such antiquated technology. and VHS breaks down over time. who know what the condition of 15 year old "mint" tapes are at this point.

i unloaded mine about ten years ago for a dollar a tape and was glad to get it.

no two minute phone call this year?


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