Starring Nancy Barrett, Andrew Collins, Stephanie Ellyne and Matthew Waterhouse

Written by Rob Morris, Ian Atkins, Ian Farrington and Penelope Faith

Directed by Andrew Collins, David Darlington and Jim Pierson

In which the supernatural affects four very different individuals in very different ways…

Let’s face it – petty crook/ne’er-do-well Harry Johnson will never win any “favourite Dark Shadows character” polls, but Rob Morris’s “Last Orders at the Blue Whale” does a fantastic job of fleshing out the reasons behind Harry’s abrupt departure from the show in 1969. Morris depicts the characters with pinpoint accuracy – Roger Collins acting “prim” and condescending, while Carolyn exudes empathy in spite of herself – and Matthew Waterhouse throws himself into the fray with gusto, being the only narrator to attempt noticeably different voices for the characters. I know I’ve said this several times in the past, but anyone still judging Waterhouse’s acting ability by his Doctor Who days as bumptious companion Adric is really doing the man a disservice.

Ian Atkins’ “The Scarlet Bride” approaches Dark Shadows from an opposite perspective – that of the victim. A young woman named Agnes should be looking forward to her imminent nuptials; instead, she’s plagued by nightmares of a gaunt man staring at her through her bedroom window and scratching away at the caulking, desperate to gain entry… The story’s first person perspective – maintained via Agnes’s letters to her mother – along with Andrew Collins’ breathless narration, combine to create palpable atmosphere and tension as events lope to their inevitable conclusion once a certain two characters appear on the scene.

Dark Shadows has had an unfortunate history with telephone calls – thank you, ghost of Quentin Collins! – and Ian Farrington’s “On The Line” continues this ominous tradition as Carolyn Stoddard receives an impossible call during her days at Salem University. To go into any further detail will spoil the twists and turns, but rest assured that this is a tour de force for Nancy Barrett, who is clearly having a blast performing the story.

Phantom Melodies concludes on something of a flat note (for me, at any rate) with Penelope Faith’s “In A Broken Dream”. In this shaggy dog tale, Amy Jennings takes a break from Collinsport when Roger and Elizabeth invite her to stay at their salon in Paris. However, when Amy arrives at the appropriate apartment, her hosts are nowhere to be found! There’s no denying that Faith and Stephanie Ellyne create definite frissons as Amy encounters a brusque, unhelpful concierge and the oddly beguiling Didier, a man to whom she is inexorably drawn and yet cannot bring herself to trust. Whether this tale’s resolution is sharply clever twist or an annoying cop-out is something I still haven’t decided upon yet…

Verdict: With its winning combination of veteran talent and new blood, Phantom Melodies will strike many of the right chords for Dark Shadows fans. 8/10

John S. Hall