Grant Douglas/Quentin Collins

[MagnusTrask]

I basically had that impression, but thanks for laying it all out that clearly, Gothick.  Strange that he didn't notice that the show did perfectly well without him.

[DarkLady]

Aha, MT, but maybe he did and didn't like it.

I read somewhere that he would come in with some story like "The Turn of the Screw" or "Rebecca" or whatever and tell the writers to use it. That must have driven them nuts.

In the years when I worked in offices, we always did our best stuff when the bosses were away or had decided to treat us with benign neglect--for a while. Inevitably they noticed us again and things just went south from there.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

This is why many fans are of the opinion that DS was often successful in spite of DC. There are several instances where the writers or producer Robert Costello did things while DC was away that DC was not happy about - one chief thing being not making Barnabas an all-out evil villain by also giving him a sympathetic side. If Barnabas had not had that sympathetic side, would he even be remembered today? Probably not, or perhaps simply as a footnote.

But we digress from the topic of this thread... 

[The Doctor and K9]

what drove me absolutely insane was after 1970PT everyone suddenly acted like Quentin was an ordinary member of the family who had always been around. it was very sloppy writing/continuity. 

I always thought that as well Michael! He didn't even have a portrait (that the family knew about) as credentials. All he had as "proof" of his pedigree was his "resemblance" to the ghost no one should have been remembering!

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Though they could have remembered the photos of Quentin from the various family albums and seen his resemblance to them...

[michael c]

where the real sloppiness and lack of continuity was was in the family's treatment of the character...

after 1897, during the "Grant Douglas" period, he was a total stranger, the children were afraid of him, and he was associated with the ghost that had haunted the house the previous year...

then the storyline shifted to 1970 parallel time.

when the story returned to "the present" everyone acted like he was an ordinary, everyday member of the family who had always been around. Roger was absent so he sat around sipping sherry and bickering with Liz like he was her brother. when David was taking pictures during the "Gerard" haunting Quentin told him he'd been asking to borrow his camera for "a year". a year??? a year earlier Quentin was a ghost haunting the place. no one was borrowing his camera. 

they just glued the sideburns on, dumped him in his old Victorian room with that stupid gramophone ( to keep the "brand" consistent ) , and hoped no one would question the lapse in continuity. 

[michael c]

in any other time period Quentin could fully occupy the story. he was usually the "master of the manor"...


but in "the present" he was never really given a compelling raison d'etre. he was just sort of "there". he always stuck out like a sore thumb.

[Uncle Roger]

The character became so popular that it was a given that they were going to hold him. But when they brought Quentin into the present, they clearly had no idea what to do with him. After he regains his memory and Amanda Harris is disposed of, Quentin functions more as a plot device than a character.

The [spoiler]Daphne fixation in 1970 [/spoiler]might have played out better if that had been Roger instead of Quentin. The 1897 Quentin was shown to be well versed in the occult and should not have been so easily ensnared.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Well, unfortunately, continuity was never DS' strong suit and many things were wiped under the rug between time shifts. One of the more glaring was how David was terrified of Barnabas before Vicki was swept into the past - but despite the fact that time was suspended at present day Collinwood while Vicki was in 1795/96, when Vicki returns and time resumes at the exact point it was suspended, as 1968 unfolds there's no hint whatsoever that David fears Barnabas. At least with the shift to 1970PT, RT time continued at Collinwood, so while the audience saw the events unfolding in 1970PT, there was an unseen opportunity in RT for Quentin to ingratiate himself with the family.

[michael c]

The character became so popular that it was a given that they were going to hold him. But when they brought Quentin into the present, they clearly had no idea what to do with him. After he regains his memory and Amanda Harris is disposed of, Quentin functions more as a plot device than a character.

The [spoiler]Daphne fixation in 1970 [/spoiler]might have played out better if that had been Roger instead of Quentin. The 1897 Quentin was shown to be well versed in the occult and should not have been so easily ensnared.

he was always sort of a "plot device". of all the regular characters Quentin was the least fully fleshed out. I never really understood what any of his motivations were other than to help Barnabas "fight monsters". other than that he didn't have much of a personality.

to me existed on the "Scooby Doo" end of the series' spectrum.


and all of the various "Quentins" were technically supposed to be different people. but the fact that they all looked and talked and acted exactly the same drove me crazy.

[MagnusTrask]

Well, Q is more "in" with the family after PT because of events we missed in RT during PT.  I think he had a very strong personality during Leviathans at least.  Otherwise I agree with what everyone's saying.

[michael c]

in the other time periods they could write him a narrative purpose. in "the present" he was sort of useless.

[DarkLady]

I like 1840 Quentin the best, I think.

[Uncle Roger]

One of the things that gave Barnabas such poignancy was his yearning for Josette. Once Beth and Amanda are killed off, Quentin never really mentions them again. It likely would have been the same with Daphne.(I know that Sam Hall's tv guide article used this as a plot point but it never really rang true to me.)

Though I do wonder if Quentin intended to merely question Carolyn about the present day family when he met her at the antique shop or if he was genuinely interested in making their acquaintance. Prior to the amnesia, Quentin should have retained his memories of Barnabas and Julia being from 1969. Yet it is not them that he chooses to make contact with.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Prior to the amnesia, Quentin should have retained his memories of Barnabas and Julia being from 1969. Yet it is not them that he chooses to make contact with.

Considering how Barnabas more so than Julia (though she was still in on things) managed to screw up so much in 1897, would you want to contact either of them?