Dark Shadows: New Audio Dramas from Big Finish

[B.Collins]

as you have noticed my last post here was awhile back. so i didn't know these have already been released. he he

[Sara Monster]

Head's up, the 4-part Kingdom of the Dead download is now available:
http://www.bigfinish.com/20-Dark-Shadows-Kingdom-of-the-Dead-Box-Set-Full-Cast-Download

Or you can just buy the first part:

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

[The Doctor and K9]

I've listened to Kingdom of the Dead twice and love it!  I was planning to listen once while on vacation in Newport. It was great to walk around cliffwalk, and Ruggles Avenue.  I was going to wait and listen to it again with my daughter, on the drive back to Texas. but plans fell through one day.  A friend I was planning to spend the day with had been called in to work, and of course my family were all working, so I decided to walk along part of Ocean Drive and listened to it again.

Some pleasant surprises included [spoiler]finding out that David had been brought back into the fold.[/spoiler] David Warner was fantastic as Seraph, chilling, yet mulit-dimensional and human.  [spoiler]Trask was also more complex; menacing and yet at times pitiable. I HATE cliffhangers, but as this one goes, it's not too bad. The main story ended and things seemed wrapped up. Then we get the revelation that David and Carolyn are entranced by the hand of Count Petofi. It's more in the tradition of Lost in Space than the typical season cliffhanger that leaves a long running story unresolved. the next series will be out next year. [/spoiler] I wholeheartedly recommend this to any DS fan.

[Sara Monster]

Listened to all of it today, quite enjoyed it. I would really recommend getting all 4 parts because with the way the cliffhangers are set up, you really aren't gonna wanna wait 30 days to get the next one.

My favorite line:
"We will be guided by the light of the ALMIGHTY."
"That's a flashlight!"

Some thoughts:
[spoiler]
So, I'm guessing the appearance of 'Jessica' at the end is their way of connecting these audio dramas with 'Return to Collinwood'.

Julia's still alive!   No one was talking about her, I assumed the worse.[/spoiler]
Spoiler for "Night Whispers":

[spoiler]And we see that Barnabas is cured in 'The Night Whispers' (which seems to take place much later, if these audio dramas are all suppose to take place in the same universe), so I'm assuming he does eventually find Julia. [/spoiler]

[quentincollins]

My take on Night Whispers was that some time after the original series Barnabas was cured, then he was recursed by Angelique in the new audio series. I think I read that the intention was that Night Whispers takes place before season 1 of the audios. There's an offical Facebook group for the DS audios, and somewhere on that site there's a timeline for al the audios, what year they take place in.
For what it's worth the new audios are intended to be a prequel to Return to Collinwood, and Julia is mentioned in that one, I won't say any more so I won't spoil anything, but that brief mention has a detail sure to make any Julia fan smile
I hope Frid does another audio, maybe next time with Lara Parker.

[quentincollins]

I checked and the timeline doesn't mention NW yet.
Anybody have any info on when the next dramatic readings will come out after Doll's House, and when the third season of full cast audios will be? After the long long LONG wait for season two I hope we don't have to wait long for more DS audios, they are so good I hope we can get a new one every month! Their Doctor Who line puts out several cds every month so it is possible.

[Taeylor Collins]

Finally got Blood Dance, London's Burning and the The Night Whispers! I loved hearing Barbara Steele but she wasn't in it enough!  It was good though.  Barnabas sounds so old and weary.  I liked hearing about Julia etc.  I have to say that Blood Dance and London's Burning were my two favorites out of those.  I hope to score the new continuing drama's when finances allow! Keep the good work up BF!  Mark did a fantastic job with Blood Dance. So freaking' good!

[Sara Monster]

I think I read that the intention was that Night Whispers takes place before season 1 of the audios.

I was starting to believe that too, but after finally coming across that facebook section:

http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=48155129132&topic=15224

It appears it's suppose to be set 10 years later!

Some interesting pieces of info on that timeline too, [spoiler]I see Barnabas DOES gain back his old body before the events of 'The Night Whispers', so alcourse he sounds like Frid again![/spoiler]

[Stuart]

www.collinwood.net is running a competition to tie in with the latest Big Finish Dark Shadows release, The Doll House, which stars Marie Wallace and Terry Crawford. Answer a simple question to be in with a chance of winning an original script from the production, signed by both actresses. For more information, visit www.collinwood.net and click on the news section.

[michael c]

i haven't been following these since the first one but marie wallace's new cd is getting great reviews so i might check these out again.

do they function as stand alone stories or are they part of a serialized format? like the television program do they need to be listened to sequentially for them to make sense?

marie says her new story can be listened to on it's own terms but what about the series as a whole?

[Lydia]

mscbryk, I've listened to several of them and enjoyed them, even though I feel strongly that they've taken the Dark Shadows story in a direction that I don't accept.  The stories I've listened to can be taken on their own terms, although they fit into the overriding story that has been created.

My favorite by far is Clothes of Sand, with Kathryn Leigh Scott.  I thought it was my favorite simply because it was a good story that took place principally before the end of the series.  Now that I think about it, however, it's also because, since it used heavily some already established plotlines of the main series, there was more time within the format to tell the story.  I don't really believe the story, but it was a good one anyway, and it made some connections that I hadn't thought about before.

[The Doctor and K9]

I've listened to all of them. The audio dramas should be listened to in order. House of Despair sets up the new series and leads to a season cliffhanger in The Rage Beneath. This is resolved in the mini-series Kingdom of the Dead. The dramatic readings can be heard in random order. Most of them fill in gaps left in the original series. Most of the ones with Selby deal with the period after he left Collinwood in 1897 for example.  Some take place after the series ended.  I'm told by fans in England that they are able to follow these in spite of the fact that a number of them have not seen the show.  I'm a huge fan of both ranges.

[Mark Rainey]

The dramatic readings that I wrote are definitely meant to be stand-alone projects, at least as far as continuity with the audio series goes; of course, it certainly helps to have more than a passing familiarity with the original TV series, particularly for Curse of the Pharaoh, which fills in some blanks left by the Leviathans storyline. Blood Dance really does stand alone, as far as continuity with either, as it takes place in the 1920s and doesn't directly tie in to any of the DS storylines, apart from the characters' backgrounds.

[michael c]

i'm sorry is there a difference within this series of cds between a "audiodrama" and a "dramatic reading"?

i was under the impression they were all being marketed under the audiodrama heading.

[The Doctor and K9]

There are two ranges of products. One are full-cast audio plays. Essentially, they are like old time radio plays.  The dramatic readings usually only have 2 readers, sometimes three. One actor reads most of the story and is aided by the second voice. The writers try to craft the story so that it fits the format by only having 2 main characters. Many of them are very close to being full audio dramas. For example, The Path of Fate has 4 characters, two played by Lara Parker and two by David Selby. Through skillful use of voice and technology, it sounds almost as if 4 actors were employed. Path of Fate is by far my favorite of all the dramatic readings. Kathryn Leigh Scott did an excellent portrayal of Julia in Clothes of Sand. I prefer the full cast stories on the whole. My daughter finds them a bit confusing. She tends towards the dramatic readings which have more description.  I always eagerly anticipate any release in either range.