The Month of Victoria's Arrival

[Cousin_Barnabas]

I never realized until Depp Shadows that Victoria had been arriving at Collinwood in October ever since the original series. 

In Depp Shadows, Willie explains that it is October, and that is why there are pumpkins.
In the WB pilot, the night Victoria arrives is Halloween.  (Thanks to MB for the script!)
In the 1991 series, the pilot script references the month as October.  (Again, thank you, MB, for the script!)
And, finally, in the original DS novelization, the author references October as the month Victoria arrives in Collinsport. 

Is this mentioned anywhere in Shadows on the Wall or the original script for the pilot?  Marilyn Ross could simply have made it up, but with every project since referencing October, it would seem to have greater precedent than just the novels. 

[Gothick]

Interesting.  I don't recall the time of year, or the month, ever being mentioned, but that would explain why Vicki runs around in a trench coat all the time in what I had always thought was late June/early July.

G.

[Midnite]

In Shadows on the Wall, Vicki arrives (by bus!) on a stormy October night.

[Gerard]

Since the series was suppose to be aligned with current dates, Victoria arrived in late June (the 27th, to be exact).

Gerard

[Cousin_Barnabas]

In Shadows on the Wall, Vicki arrives (by bus!) on a stormy October night.

Thanks for the info, Midnite!  I guess the precedent was indeed set at the very beginning of the series. 

Since the series was suppose to be aligned with current dates, Victoria arrived in late June (the 27th, to be exact).

What in the series indicates this, though? 

[Gerard]

There are quite a few episodes that reference dates through various methods, such as newspapers, etc., having the date coincide with the one on which the episode initially aired.

Gerard

[Cousin_Barnabas]

There are quite a few episodes that reference dates through various methods, such as newspapers, etc., having the date coincide with the one on which the episode initially aired.

I shall have to look for this.

But even if the dates of the newspapers are current to the airdates, it doesn't explain for all of the time lost due to several episodes taking place over the course of a single day.  I think the story of Victoria's arrival takes place over only a couple dozen days, but in reality is many months in terms of airdates.  On my next viewing, I will have to look and see if any of the Art Wallace episodes indicate a calendar month. 

Interesting.  I don't recall the time of year, or the month, ever being mentioned, but that would explain why Vicki runs around in a trench coat all the time in what I had always thought was late June/early July.

This is my thinking exactly!  haha

[michael c]

the book 'dark shadows. the first year' does a breakdown of each show "day" during the first year...

given the snail's pace it moved during that period it wasn't a lot of "days". the "night" of Victoria's arrival in Collinsport lasted a week. her first full, action packed "day" lasted a staggering sixteen episodes. the entire bleeder valve/car crash incident occurs on that one "day" even though it was actually three full weeks of episodes. that mystery was solved on "day three".

all in all only 52 "days" passed until a certain "cousin from England" shows up at the front door.

[michael c]

in other words Vicki's first 24 hours at Collinwood occupied over a month's worth of episodes. 

[Cousin_Barnabas]

Very interesting, Michael.  I shall have to take a look at this book when I have the chance! 

[Gothick]

She arrived 49 years ago on June 27, 1966, and nothing has ever been the same since.

Happy Anniversary DS!

G.

[Gerard]

Having episodes coincide with air dates, when some episodes cover just one day, has always been a problem with all soaps.  They deal with it by ignoring it.  On an episode of The Golden Girls, Blanche makes reference to the daily comic-strip soap-opera Apartment 3-G.  Dorothy states she hadn't read it since 1961.  Blanche replies:  "Well let me get you caught up with today's strip.  It's later that same day..."

Gerard

[Uncle Roger]

Soap time is usually vastly  different than real time. It's not uncommon for a kid to be aged from a toddler to high school/college age in a handful of episodes. Conversely, I recall some poor woman. (on Days of Our Lives, I think) who was pregnant for about 18 months.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Vicki runs around in a trench coat all the time in what I had always thought was late June/early July.

Though as I've sometimes said, when it comes to the weather in New England, especially at the coast, there are times when I'd never question someone wearing a trench coat in late June/early July. And one of those times is today because it's an overcast 64 degrees outside! (And it's only 66 inside my house - so I'd never question a fire in the fireplace, either!  )

[Gothick]

It's a chilly grey day here too. I should have been spending the day watching Dark Shadows, but instead, stupidly, I have been cleaning the living room and getting rid of stuff.

I keep having to put the blankets on my bed away, then get them out again... New England weather!

G.