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| ← 631 → | |
|---|---|
| Number |
624 |
| Timeline | |
| Narrator | |
| Writer | |
| Director | |
| Broadcast |
November 25, 1968 |
| Recorded |
November 18, 1968 |
| Video | |
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| We have 29 images of Dark Shadows 631 | |
Nicholas removes the stake from Tom and sends him to kill Victoria.
Synopsis
Teaser
- Under a turbulent sky, Collinwood sleeps. None within its great walls can know the terror this night will bring. Not far away in a house by the sea there is another who sleeps, the sleep of the living dead. In a moment this condemned soul will be unleashed by a man who is waging a desperate battle against time.
Nicholas removes the stake from Tom Jennings and proclaims himself as Tom's new master. Tom enters Victoria's bedroom through the window and advances on her, fangs bared...
Act I
Victoria screams and passes out. Barnabas arrives just in time to save her. Chris Jennings arrives at Nicholas Blair's house, Nicholas is obviously surprised, but manages to control himself. Chris starts asking about Tom's death and tells Nicholas he believes Tom was murdered. Nicholas sees Tom outside the window and is preoccupied, but manages to tell Chris that he knows nothing. Chris looks to the window in time to see something, but it leaves before he can see it is his brother. Nicholas escorts Chris to the door and offers his hand, which Chris does not shake. Victoria wakes up and tells Barnabas what she thought she saw, and Barnabas confirms that it was, indeed, Tom Jennings, who has become a vampire. Victoria surmises that since Tom worked for Nicholas, it must have been he who made Tom a vampire, and sent him to kill her because of what she knows, and because she tried to stop him from marrying Maggie Evans. Barnabas promises that he will deal with Nicholas and both she and Maggie will be safe.
Act II
Harry arrives at Nicholas' house having watched Eve's corpse being buried. There is a knock on the door and Nicholas sends Harry to the cellar to retrieve a shovel while he answers the door. It is Barnabas who tells Nicholas he sent Tom to harm Victoria. Nicholas denies it. Barnabas demands that Victoria remain unharmed, or he will not carry on with the experiment. Nicholas acquiesces and guarantees Victoria's safety. Barnabas also demands that Nicholas leave Maggie alone and destroy Tom. Nicholas reluctantly agrees. Barnabas leaves and Harry returns from the cellar. Nicholas decides to dig up Eve first, then deal with Tom.
Act III
Harry Johnson balks at grave robbing, but Nicholas persuades him. As they leave, Barnabas watches from the woods, with Tom following him closely. Nicholas and Harry arrive at the graveyard and Nicholas orders Harry to start digging. Back at the house, Barnabas goes back inside Nicholas' and starts to head to the cellar, unaware that Tom is behind him. At the graveyard Nicholas has Harry open the coffin to confirm it is Eve, then tells him they are going to carry it to the Old House. In the cellar, Barnabas finds Tom's coffin then heads upstairs. In the drawing room he is attacked by Tom, Barnabas grabs two candlesticks and uses them as a makeshift cross to hold Tom at bay. Tom begs for his life as the sun is starting to rise. Tom continues to scream as he fades and disappears.
Memorable quotes
- Nicholas: (to Harry) This is the last request I shall ever make of you. After tonight, you will never see me again.
- ...
- Barnabas (holding crossed candlesticks up to Tom Jennings (see above)): I know what you're going through, and feel sorry for you.
- Tom: Then don't do this to me.
Dramatis personae
- ← Jonathan Frid as Barnabas Collins →
- ← Humbert Allen Astredo as Nicholas Blair →
- ← Don Briscoe as Tom Jennings
- Don Briscoe as Chris Jennings →
- ← Betsy Durkin as Victoria Winters →
- ← Craig Slocum as Harry Johnson →
Background information and notes
Production
- This episode was recorded out of broadcast sequence. The previous episode to be recorded was 632.
- As with the previous episode, an announcement states that Betsy Durkin is now playing the part of Victoria Winters. She is uncredited in the end credits.
- Don Briscoe receives double credits as both Tom and Chris Jennings. Previously people have only received single credits for playing two roles.
- The Dark Shadows Almanac: Millennium Edition contains a summary of the preliminary script for an unproduced version of this episode, parts of which were instead used in the version of 627 as broadcast. The original scheduled writer was Ron Sproat:
- Cast: Jeff, Eve, Angelique, Adam, Sheriff
- Sets: Jeff's room, Angelique's Crypt
- Voiceover: The night covers Collinsport in a darkness of seeming peace. But beneath that cover of darkness, the night has brought terror. One who would escape this terror returns for what he believes will be the last time to his room in a small boarding house... He does not know that the only true escape, death, waits to make him her prisoner. Nor does he know that before this horrifying night will end, the elements themselves will clash... And the fire of the greatest evil of all will flare.
- Jeff panics, but decides to report Eve's murder to the sheriff. (A similar scene appears in 627, Victoria is also present.)
- Angelique continues to turn Adam against Nicholas. (Omitted.)
- The sheriff arrives and suspects Jeff murdered Eve and decides to detain him. (Omitted.)
- Angelique summons her master, with the intention of getting him to get rid of Nicholas, flames burst forth from her coffin. (A similar scene appears in 627.)
Story
- INTERNAL MONOLOGUE: Barnabas: I was right.
Bloopers and continuity errors
- After Barnabas leaves Nicholas' house by the sea after securing Victoria and Maggie's safety and the promised destruction of Tom, Humbert Allen Astredo refers to Harry as "Bobby", or "Robby".
- A crewman can be seen putting a lantern down in the graveyard as Nicholas and Harry arrive.
- Tom's shirt has a hole in it, and appears dark and wet, from where Nicholas removed the stake, but by the end of the episode the shirt has no hole and is clean.
- Barnabas looks out the window at Nicholas' house by the sea which has the exact same view as the Old House.
Gallery (29)
