Review: The Tony and Cassandra Mysteries, Series One

By JUSTIN PARTRIDGE

Dark Shadows gets its own Nick and Nora Charles in the debut series of The Tony and Cassandra Mysteries from Big Finish. Anchored by the dazzling rapport of ex-lawyer, turned supernatural P.I. Tony Peterson (Jerry Lacy) and Maine’s head witch in charge Cassandra Collins (Lara Parker), this first series really charms, creeps out, and delights in equal measure across four macabre whodunits. Better still, this series is a wonderful jumping on point for those interested in both Dark Shadows and the stellar audio dramas of Big Finish. Perfect for a breezy Halloween binge listen, the first series of The Tony and Cassandra Mysteries starts this new spin-off series off on a real high note.

Available from Big Finish.

Standing somewhat apart from main continuity, this first series really works hard to be both accessible and entertaining. Lucky for us, it succeeds at both. Though each mystery can be enjoyed on their own, this first series nails a sort of a loose serialization that rewards listeners taking in the whole box set. Battling fallen angels, cunning deal making daemons, time loops, and sometimes each other, Tony and Cassandra find themselves back in each other’s lives, forming a partnership that grows from tenuous allies to a supernatural investigation team to rival John Constantine and Zatanna. The scripts from Philip Meeks, Zara Symes, Alan Flanagan, and Aaron Lamont, stand as wonderfully spooky, gimmicky mysteries that hook listeners early, but the writing staff always makes sure to make good use of their best tools; Jerry Lacy and Lara Parker.

From the first entry, “The Mystery of Crucifix Heights”, the pair, supported by Julia Duffy’s plucky and long suffering Rita Channing, Tony’s secretary, really seem to relish the character’s new found status quo, under the direction of  David Darlington, Darren Gross, and Joseph Lidster, this series’ directorial staff. Fans of the estranged couple will delight to know that the actors haven’t lost one bit of their spunky, hilarious banter as they bicker and charm across the stories. Even better both actors really build on the established canon interactions of the characters and grow it into something new, but familiar. The Tony and Cassandra of this series are not the same people who met in Collinsport all those years ago and this debut series is all the better for it. One of the great joys of these new “extended universe” works is seeing how the characters have evolved beyond the show and The Tony and Cassandra Mysteries is a great example of how fun that evolution can be, both for the audience and the original cast members.

And the stories themselves are real belters! Like I said, they are loosely connected by the first series’ semi-serialized structure, but each one really nails a specific kind of dread and horrific fun. Philip Meeks’ opening entry is a classic “Party in a Posh Mansion” mystery in which Tony is enlisted to keep watch over an auction of occult items where the bidders suddenly start dropping like flies. The next, “The Mystery of La Danse Macabre” by Zara Symes, finds our gruesome twosome looking into a haunted playhouse, complete with a falling chandelier straight from Phantom. The series one finale, “The Mystery of Karmina Sonata” by Aaron Lamont, is a gory send up of the “Dame in Distress” type of noir these spinner rack whodunits birthed and tees up the show nicely for the incoming second and third series.


But it is the season’s third story, “The Mystery of Flight 493” by Alan Flanagan, that makes this debut series really special. Equal parts crucial point in Tony and Cassandra’s new working relationship and a wickedly clever horror take on the “time loop” story structure, this yarn really sells both the dynamic of its leads and the spooky, surprisingly psychological threats they will be facing. Hearing the show’s opening music bumper over and over across the tracks of this tale can get a bit grating, but for my money, this story is where this first series really finds its footing, sending it into a finale episode that really ties the room together, man.

If you were looking for a user friendly way into this franchise or even a playful side story starring one of the show’s great ships (don’t @ me), then look no further than The Tony and Cassandra Mysteries Series One. Anchored by the indomitable charm and skill of Lara Parker and Jerry Lacy, this twistedly fun side trip into the crossroads of crime and the supernatural is well worth taking. Just don’t make any deals. We all know how deals at the crossroads turn out and if you aren’t careful, you’ll find yourself as another case file in the “Unusual Investigations” of Tony Peterson and Cassandra Collins.

Justin Partridge has always loved monsters and he thinks that explains a lot about him. When he isn’t over analyzing comics at Newsarama or ranting about Tom Clancy over at Rogues Portal, he is building Call of Cthulhu games, spreading the good word of Anti-Life, or rewatching Garth Marenghi's Darkplace for the dozenth time. He can be reached at the gasping Lovecraftian void that is Twitter @j_partridgeIII or via e-mail at [email protected] Odds are he will want to talk about Hellblazer.  

DARK SHADOWS: THE FAVORITE FIVE

Last month, The Collinsport Historical Society asked you to name your five favorite DARK SHADOWS audio dramas from Big Finish. Every day this week we'll be revealing the results.

#5 BEYOND THE GRAVE
 

The first entry in THE FAVORITE FIVE is also the most recent release to make the list. The experimental “Beyond the Grave” was released in October, 2013. Unlike prior episodes in the DARK SHADOWS series, it was designed to function as a sort of “found footage” movie, telling the story of a fictional British television show investigating the ghostly goings-on at Collinsport.

Aaron Lamont, the episode’s writer, said “Beyond the Grave” was epistolary in nature from the very beginning. He pitched the idea as “DARK SHADOWS does DEATH OF A PRESIDENT,” referring to the 2006 fictional documentary about the “assassination” of Pres. George W. Bush and its aftermath. Producer Joseph Lidster had something a bit spookier in mind, though.

“Joe said ‘I want you to do GHOSTWATCH.’ Which is what I really wanted to do,” Lamont said.  “Maggie was the key - here's a woman who's been through hell, and she's still standing and still fighting.”

GHOSTWATCH was a television movie that first aired in the UK on Halloween, 1992. If you’ve listened to “Beyond the Grave,” the plot of GHOSTWATCH will sound familiar: The film followed BBC reporters conducting a live, on-air investigation of a haunted house.

GHOSTWATCH was just a jumping-off point for a much more personal tale, though. Lamont said his original proposal for “Beyond the Grave” was to take the one person in Collinsport with the least credibility and prove she was actually the sanest.

Kathryn Leigh Scott

“And, when I first heard Kathryn Leigh Scott deliver the line, 'I won't be mad for you,' I punched the air,” Lamont said. “She got it. And of course at the end, where Maggie has actually been driven insane, she was utterly devastating.”

“Aaron is a fantastic writer who really knows his stuff,” said Lidster. “It had elements of “The Crimson Pearl” in that we got actors who were already appearing in other stories that year to have cameo roles in it - either as the same characters or as someone new. So one minute Evelyn Adams is playing a terrifying ghost on a ship, the next she’s phoning a TV show to scream that her husband is coming after her with a knife.”

“Beyond the Grave” was the capstone in a yearlong event that loosely tied the previous stories into a single narrative. While it wasn’t necessary to listen to previous episodes to understand the latest releases, listeners who stayed with the series throughout 2013 had a richer experience than casual audiences.

“I love how we managed to set it all up in the earlier stories and how it managed to continue the serial elements and character arcs from throughout the series,” Lidster said. “But, mostly I love that it works perfectly as a standalone drama. And it’s just simply terrifying!”

Lamont said the atmosphere in the studio was “unbearably tense” during the record session.

“It was actually terrifying,” he said. “After one scene, everybody shuddered.  And I just sat in the control booth with Joe and (producer David Darlington) grinning from ear to ear. We did something really special with that batch of audios.”

"(It was) simply one of the creepiest stories I have ever heard on audio, tying together so many elements from that season's range," said CHS reader Joe Hart, who named "Beyond the Grave" as his favorite episode. "It's probably the scariest DARK SHADOWS story ever."