A
new audio drama by Scott Handcock
Released September 2006
Featuring Quentin Collins, Angelique, Willie
Loomis and Maggie Evans
Friends or Foes? Charlotte Howell, ghosts
from the past
Listen out for... The widows' wail
Recorded: May 2006
“We
think there’s some kind of force occupying that book!”
“We’ve
just has the introductory story,” observes writer
Scott Handcock, “and we’ve got a Christmas special
and finale coming in November, so The Book of Temptation
was really our only opportunity to produce something a little
quieter and more intimate before the chaos of the final
tale changes everything we’ve come to know and love…
and I mean everything!”
Shush!
That’s another story for another time… But how
then does The Book of Temptation build
upon the developments of the first CD, also released in
September? “Well, because The House of Despair
was a very masculine story,” notes Scott,
“we wanted to counter that by making the second tale
a lot more feminine. Maggie Evans isn’t exactly on
great terms with the Collins family at this point, and so
we needed a story that would force her to confront the horrors
of Collinwood and, of course, reunite her with the Collins
family… and Angelique.”
So
what does Maggie herself make of her blossoming relationship
with Quentin and the Collins clan? “I was a little
surprised when I first saw a bit of edginess in one of the
lines - and then some outright hostility,” confesses
actress Kathryn Leigh Scott, “but it’s been
interesting to incorporate that aspect into the character.”
And
how does Maggie react to her first encounter with the newly-resurrected
Angelique? “There’s a chemistry between them
that prevents them from being friends,” explains Kathryn.
“She’s worried about Angelique having a hold
over Quentin and changing his personality than anything
else, which has a direct effect on Maggie and her own relationship
with him.”
“Maggie
represents everything that Angelique is not,” adds
actress Lara Parker. “She’s sweet, she’s
honest, she’s caring… and Angelique can never
really forgive her for that! She’s never really able
to conquer her jealousy, her irritation and her resentment.
So Maggie’s always desperately trying to deal with
that in her own sweet way.” So Angelique hasn’t
mellowed over the years? “No!” laughs Lara.
“She’ll always be a little smarter than everyone
else, and so she’s just a little impatient with their
sentimentality! And because she’s supernatural, that
world doesn’t threaten her the way it does everyone
else."
“There’s
certainly a level of arrogance to Angelique," agrees
Scott, “which is probably pretty well-founded, actually.
I mean, she always understands what’s going on at
any given moment, and she’ll manipulate the situation
and people caught up in it accordingly. But sometimes –
just sometimes – she’ll come across something
she simply can’t ignore… something like Daphne
Ashbrook!”
“I
first worked with [Dark Shadows creator]
Dan Curtis on a show called Intruders,” says
actress Daphne Ashbrook, who makes a special guest appearance
in this second CD. “It was all about UFO abductees
who get impregnated and give birth to alien babies! It was
really rather horrific, but then I like scary stuff!"
So,
having worked with Big Finish for their Doctor Who
range back in 2004, how has Daphne enjoyed taking part in
the Dark Shadows saga? “I really
love acting on audio,” she squeals. “It’s
always so much fun to not have to worry about hair and make-up,
to just walk in and pop off some acting right off the cuff!”
And
how does the tight recording schedule affect her approach?
“I love the pace that Gary [Russell, director] works
at,” she grins. “It’s a little nerve-wracking,
but that I like, and it’s always fun to work with
a bunch of great actors!” She looks around the green
room and settles into a beaming smile. ‘I’m
just having a fabulous time!’
The
Book of Temptation features Daphne as the peculiar
Charlotte Howell, a mysterious phantom whose history is
inextricably linked to that of the Collins family. “I’m
a woman trapped in a book,” Daphne reveals nonchalantly.
“Charlotte’s a cool character looking for a
way out, and I think I might have found it in the form of
Maggie!” A villain in the making? “Is she good?
Is she bad? I don’t know!” Daphne teases. “We’ll
have to wait and listen!”
Speaking
of listening, how are the cast adjusting to Dark
Shadows in a new medium? “These stories are
more macabre than the original Dark Shadows
was,” notes Kathryn. “There’s more horror,
and I think for audio that’s a lot of fun to do. You
can do things with just sounds and voices without having
to worry about the wardrobe or special effects or anything.”
Lara
agrees: “Audio asks the listener to create the entire
scene in their head, and so it’s really the audience
who are creating the drama, just by listening to these voices.
The audience has to participate very, very strongly in audio
drama, and that’s excellent for Dark Shadows.”
Having
written two full-length novels based on the original show
– Angelique’s Descent and The Salem
Branch – Lara is herself no stranger to the worlds
of Dark Shadows fiction. Has her work in
the field of prose provided her with any additional insight
into the making of the audio series? “Writing
the novels has given me an added appreciation for these
scripts,’ she admits. “They’re really
very subtle and well written. They’re not blatant,
in-your-face stories, and that subtlety works for audio
drama because the audience is always trying to figure out
what’s happening.” And have they been easy to
work with from an actor’s viewpoint? “They have
a really lovely flow,” Lara says approvingly. “Lines
are easy to actually articulate, and I think they’re
very nicely written. I’m enjoying the stories very
much."
And
if Big Finish were to produce another series of these audio
dramas, would Lara ever consider contributing a script?
“Oh, I’d love to write some, yes!” she
exclaims. “I mean, after The Salem Branch,
I’m sort of worn out from novel writing, but I would
love to write some of these.” She grins broadly as
she toys with the idea. “That would be bliss!”
To read about the third CD, The Christmas Presence, click here.
With thanks
to Lara Parker, Kathryn Leigh Scott, Daphne Ashbrook, Scott
Handcock and all at Big Finish Productions
The
Book of Temptation is available now. To read more about the range of CDs,
and to order online, click
here.
Back
