"The Quentin Story," 1990

[Gothick]

For fans of the 1991 series,

One of Matt Hall's recent auctions included a treatment for a "Quentin story" by Sam Hall. Only the first page of the three-and-a-half page document was scanned here, and it reads more like a plot outline from the original 1840 storyline than a proposed treatment for the second season of the revival. But Matt dates it to the period in 1990 when he and Sam were both working on the new series.

https://msbhall.wordpress.com/2023/06/08/the-original-art-wallace-bible-for-pre-barnabas-pre-laura-the-phoenix-pre-sam-and-grayson-dark-shadows-and-a-weird-little-1990-document-by-sam-hall-about-quentin-just-for-the-hell-of-it/

G.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

That Quentin story is quite interesting, particularly because, as you say, it reads more like a plot outline from the original 1840 storyline. However, in her '91 Series Concondance Kathy Resch shared some of the show's writers' projections for a Season 2, and if I'm remembering correctly, they were absolutely nothing like that. But then Matt Hall himself says that he did a treatment proposal for Quentin's story, so apparently there were all sorts of ideas floating around. And, well, it comes as no surprise that DC rejected Matt Hall's ideas because he preferred to go with what he knew, in other words, an existing story DC could recycle.

Thanks so much for the link, Gothick! 

[PennyDreadful]

Thanks for posting that, Gothick. Interesting. I wonder if Matt is mistaken about the date because it definitely reads like an outline for that segment of 1840. Quentin I, Samantha, Gerard, Gabriel, etc. were not planned for the '91 series, as far as I'm aware. Quentin Collins II (as portrayed by Adrian Paul) was planned, but I'm sure that would've been a re-do of the Quentin's ghost story, and eventually 1897. Maybe Sam was just tryping up summaries of ALL the storylines in 1990 as potential fodder for the Curtis recycling program.

[Gerard]

I think it would've been interesting for the proposed '91 Quentin version to maybe do the initial haunting storyline, but move the era of the time-travel plot 20 years, from the late 1890's to the 1920's.  That way, Jamison could remain Roger and Elizabeth's father as well. 

Gerard

[KMR]

Thanks for posting that, Gothick. Interesting. I wonder if Matt is mistaken about the date because it definitely reads like an outline for that segment of 1840. Quentin I, Samantha, Gerard, Gabriel, etc. were not planned for the '91 series, as far as I'm aware. Quentin Collins II (as portrayed by Adrian Paul) was planned, but I'm sure that would've been a re-do of the Quentin's ghost story, and eventually 1897. Maybe Sam was just tryping up summaries of ALL the storylines in 1990 as potential fodder for the Curtis recycling program.

Penny: Reading Matthew's blog post, it sounds like your last sentence is a very likely scenario. It was very interesting to read that Matthew had tried melding the Barnabas storyline with the Demeter episode from Dracula! I'm not sure how well that much "opening up" of the storytelling would have fit in with the claustrophobic world of DS.

[McTrooper]

The 91 series was so laser focused on Barnabas and Victoria that it’s hard to imagine it branching out even though their were hints of Laura, a mystery about Rodger’s paintings, and a plan to have Angelique in the mix following Victoria’s return. 

If a '91 Quentin story was done I’d have skipped the haunting and just introduced him as a mysterious new cousin.  But Dan having had success with period drama miniseries would’ve done the trip back in time.