Dark Shadows: New Audio Dramas from Big Finish

Golly!  David Warner.  I had no idea he was still working.  That is fabulous news!  And Alec Newman, too.

I don't know whether I will actually go ahead and get any of them, but it's very exciting that the discs are doing well enough where Big Finish both desire and have the means to hire actors of this calibre.

Lysette's participation will be a treat, too, for those who enjoyed her as Angelique.  (I am not among them, but I have always thought Lysette was a fine actress and had she been allowed to go on and portray "Lauralique," I think she would have knocked ALL our socks off!)

G.

I agree, Gothick. One of the things I was most disappointed about when the '91 series was canceled was that we didn't get to see Lysette Anthony as Laura.

It's too bad that back in the '90s no one thought to continue the '91 series as audio dramas with the '91 cast. DC was more interested in relaunching the series as feature films, plus I suppose audio dramas weren't that big back then. And not that I didn't enjoy the Innovation comics based on the '91 series (well, mostly), but having the actual cast act out the proposed second season's stories and possibly beyond would have been great. But alas...

David Warner- now that's impressive!  Just the other day Tom Jones was being shown on TCM.  And let's not forget his roles in Morgan! and Titanic!  I wonder if he's even heard of DS.......

David Warner I remember as a great Jack the Ripper in "Time After Time".

Me too.  Also The Omen, and many many other things.  He's one of my favorite actors.

David Warner- now that's impressive!

David had heard of DS -- he mentioned having seen some episodes when he working in the States in the 1980s. Really nice guy and a great actor... You'll get to hear him in the first teaser trailer for the new dramas, which should be live sometime next week.

I may have mentioned this before, but for me, Dark Shadows audio goes back to my earliest roots with the show. I have very vague memories of a few eps during the original run.  I saw a handful of episodes in syndication in '76,77. WLVI had it on a 11:00PM, much too late for me to watch regularly.  I generally got to see it on Friday nights, when I could see it at all. My main exposure then was through the Ross novels and the comics. When I was in college, some fans copied audio tapes for me. For years I had most of the series on audio tape, all of the first year of syndication, and most of the rest of the series, but with many gaps. It was still considerably more than half of the episodes, with some time periods virtually complete. When I first got access to a VCR, it was on a limited basis. The dorm had one to share among 300 or so people. It was in the office and a staffer would put your tape in the machine, if it was not in use. Your offering would then be broadcast throughout the dorm via the antenna system.  When I did get VHS tapes, I focused on episodes that were pivotal or visually exciting. Kathy Resch also sent me her 6 hour condensation of 1795. But aside from that, it was an audio medium for me. So for me having DS without the visuals is nothing new. In fact it can be refreshing. My imagination is not hampered by effects that go wrong.

On the Friends of Jerry Lacy page of Facebook, there's an update from JL about his experience now that the recording work for Kingdom of the Dead has been completed.  To see a photo of the 8 castmembers, its director, and also co-writer Eric Wallace, check out the Collinwood.net news page.

All right for the originals of course David particularly looks the best to me! ! I am partial though!  They are looking great!   And WOW!  Lysette Anthony hasn't aged at all.  She looks lovely with dark hair!

I've put up a few pics of David Selby and Lisa Richards in the studio recording DS: Blood Dance:

http://stephenmarkrainey.blogspot.com/2010/03/dark-shadows-blood-dance-recorded.html

DavidSelby.com also has photos from the recent recording sessions:

http://www.davidselby.com/photos/audiodramas/index.html

The first teaser trailer for Kingdom of the Dead is now online -- check it out!

http://www.bigfinish.com/21-Dark-Shadows-Kingdom-of-the-Dead-Part-I-Full-Cast

Hmm.....I wonder if the storyline is gonna be anything like a certain show I know with [spoiler]Angels.......[/spoiler]

The trailer sounds great!!

Wow, Jerry Lacy still has the mojo, doesn't he?  He evokes the true essence of Dark Shadows as we knew it way back when.  Fabulous.

G.

Louise Jameson has been announced for the July dramatic reading! She'll be playing Rosie Faye, a relative of Pansy Faye, and Leticia too?  I'm excited about this casting.  Louise was always part of a Gilligan's Island type dilemma. Some people lusted after Ginger and Marianne. For me it was Sarah Jane and Leela from Doctor Who. Sarah Jane was the nice proper lady and Leela was the savage exciting one.  It'll be nice to hear her in another role.  I'm sure she'll be wonderful.