I agree in thinking that the original Laura story of early '67 was a major highlight--perhaps THE highlight--of all DS. It was incredibly well crafted, and beautifully mounted. The one jarring note for me is the character of Dr. Guthrie; I find him far less engaging or dynamic than Professor Stokes, or, for that matter, Dr. Woodard as portrayed by Robert Gerringer. After his initial week or so of episodes, he gets to be a bit more charismatic, but when he first shows up on the scene, the tension of the tale which has held taut up till that point suddenly falls slack, to my taste at any rate.
I do enjoy Laura's return in 1897. When I originally watched, I had missed everything in 1967 (and the first half of 1968), so my formative impressions of Laura were from his 1897 manifestation. I enjoyed how the writers wove in the Egyptian occult elements into the tale on that go-round. It gave what happened a different flavor from the original narrative of 1967. In a similar way, I thought the introduction of Angelique and their story together gave the character of the vampire Barnabas a very different tone and a much more explicitly tragic emphasis once everyone got back to 1968.
G.
