Gerard, I love your story.  Beautiful concept.

Thinking about the character of Vicki I sort of feel that the character never really existed in the DS Universe after 1968. In both the 1991 and 2004 Shadows iterations, she's the actual reincarnation of Josette (this is certainly heavily implied in the scene MB is showing us now from 2004).  In the Burton/Depp film, Vicki truly doesn't exist; the name is only an alias.

There was something very special about the character of Vicki during the first year of the series.  I'm very grateful that we now have the episodes from that period to enjoy and contemplate the true beginnings of our beloved story.

G.

There's a DS wiki that might have a topic about the Innovation Comics for the 1991 series.  They might offer synopses there.  I didn't read every issue but I vaguely recall a panel where Liz was reflecting that Vicki was really her own daughter.

Despite all that's been said, I feel the need to repeat that in the original 1960s series, the idea that Liz was Vicki's daughter was most likely a red herring (as we used to say).  I personally prefer thinking of Vicki as being the child of Liz because of the chemistry onscreen between the two and some of the dialogue that the scripts gave them. Also, Vicki was much more solicitous of Liz during the first two years than Liz's own acknowledged daughter, Carolyn.

There are various theories of who Vicki's parents were but the most likely are that she was Paul's child by another woman (I personally suspect Betty Hanscombe, but another fan firmly ruled that out; can't recall why).  There's no doubt that Alex posed for the portrait of Betty displayed in some 1966 episodes.  Amusingly, the portrait shows up later on in a 1967 or '68 episode in Sam's studio.

G.

There's a link on YT for this episode (Grayson's Route 66 show), but it's on a channel called Shout Factory TV and an adult check request comes up (for reasons that baffle me):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16NRNgrlAZY

I guess if you're set up for Adult Check, you can log in and watch it.

Don't know if it might be on Hulu or other venues.  The title is, "Follow the white dove with the broken wing."

G.

In today's shot from the movie, is that Naomi's portrait weeping tears of blood behind BarnaDepp?  That's actually pretty cool.

G.

Lara has a blog now.  If you take a look and scroll down, I think the second entry onscreen provides the script for a skit she did with KLS and Marie at the June 2014 Festival:

http://laraparkersite.blogspot.com/

Best,

G.

Really looking forward to the photo!  I was wondering if any images of the Josette boudoir set were available.

Given what you already found for the Old House, I'm not sure what to expect.  Versailles goes to the Taj Mahal?

G.

Regarding Millicent,

[spoiler]She wasn't really mad so much as hysterical as a result of various events, including Nathan playing the old "gaslight" game with her.  She went totally bonkers as a result of an unfortunate encounter with Dear Cousin Barnabas... AFTER the latter's death.  Of course, no one had told Millicent he had died--they had fed her the lie about his emigration to England.  So... given her delicate mental state, not all that surprising that the meeting cost her her sanity.[/spoiler]

Clarice got some juicy scenes as Abigail.  My favorite was the last one.  Clarice played that so brilliantly, as did JF.  They were both completely ON, and really fiery in that.

David Ford played Josette's father, Andre du Pres, a sugar magnate rather than an aristocrat. They never explained if the Countess's title was through marriage or if she inherited a title somehow or other, even though Andre wasn't supposed to be a noble.  It was a little confusing, but only if you bothered to think about it. lol.  Sometimes on DS, I just sit back and let the fur fly.

G.