Has Kate Jackson ever been interviewed on the DVDs?

Yes she has. The DS Wikia says she was on Volumes 22 & 23.

As Michael commented, the marketing angle for DS was always sub-par, at least as far as I am concerned.  The best products in terms of design and flair were the gum cards.

The gum cards were cool, but my favorite piece of DS memorabilia is the Majestic 1795 Barnabas action figure. I'm not counting the actual DVDs of course. If you are only talking about stuff that came out while the show was still on, then the cards are probably my favorite, especially the green set.

We have the audio dramas, and I know the 50th anniversary edition is on the way, but I feel the audios have been on the downturn story-wise. The actors are great, but the writing and direction is off-base, in my opinion. I don't mean this to be disrespecful to anyone, but it's just my honest critique, so I hope nobody takes offense....I miss having hardcore fan creators like Darren Gross and Stephen Mark Rainey involved. Stuart Manning, I think, had a better grasp on the feel of DS than does Joseph Lidster.

First of all you are entitled to your opinion. I've often been amazed at how angry people become with various fandoms when people express opinions about projects. They are often attacked and ridiculed.

I've been relistening to the entire Big Finish canon in chronological rather than release order. I have a lot of the same observations you had at first, Penny. I am enjoying the series more a second time around in what I think is the proper order. I've made a few mistakes, but all in all, a great sense of continuity develops. Granted I'm only in the 1950s now; I've not gotten to the Bloodlust or 1973 arcc.

I also did not realize then how close the series was to cancellation. I loved the output created by Stuart and Gross, but it was not selling well. It took me a while to warm up to the new characters the first time around. We'll see if my attitude changes this time. But I'm mindful that we went from the brink of cancellation to a multiple year renewal before and after Bloodlust.

All, I can suggest, Penny, is give the series another listen in chronological order and see how it holds up. I was pleasantly surprised.

I respect your opinions and posts here and also admire your creative efforts. You are an asset to this community.

Yes, I would recommend watching the first week or so and then either watching the Fridays up through about 45 (where Costello joined) and then watching from then on to ep 65, at least. That's the end of the first arc.

Gerard, it really picks up after Robert Costello takes over.

Check Youtube PatrickM. At one time it was all on there. I don't know if that's still the case.

But parts of the story and the editing drive me crazy. A certain Barnabas/Angelique scene is totally over the top and unnecessary.

KMR summarizes my feelings about this movie almost exactly. I gave it a thumbs up. I pre-ordered the DVD/Blu-ray combo. I have never been so conflicted over a movie. If you hooked me up to some machine that registered likes and dislikes you'd see extreme reactions to various scenes. I had to go thumbs up because I pre-ordered the movie and went to see it multiple times. I even made an excuse to spend a day in a town 150 miles away to see the movie on an IMAX screen. We did not drive all that way just to see it. We go at least once a year to Corpus.  We made a full day with other fun activities, but I've never done that for any other movie. When I first saw the movie I hated that scene KMR mentioned most of all. Looking back though the thing I really loathe is the fact that they got a central part of Barnabas' character wrong. Frid said over and over again the essence of Barnabas is the guy with a hangup. He's an addict and has the awful secret. There's not much that tie together all the myriad DS "universes." Prior to this, all the movies, books, comics, and other remakes shared several things in common.  They all took centered around Collinwood, Elizabeth Collins Stoddard was the matriarch, there was an Angelique (for my purposes, I'm assuming that HODS and NODS are the same universe), and they all have Barnabas. In all his incarnations, he's hiding a secret. Burton/Depp throw this out the window with him blabbing about being a vampire to anyone who will listen.

Does anyone know what impact, if any, the Hermes Press reprint volumes have had on the value of the comics? I loved rereading them in pristine form. The colors are so bright and the pages are much more durable. I already have a complete set of the comics, but I'm not sure I'd acquire them if I did not. The reprints are so much more attractive and convenient. Still, part of me, the collector in me, is glad I have the original 1st editions.