RIP Roy Dotrice

Roy Dotrice, a veteran actor of stage and screen who achieved a new level of late-life fame through his collaborations with George R.R. Martin, has passed away at the age of 94.

Dotrice was born in Guernsey, one of the British Channel Islands, in 1923. When the Germans invaded in 1940, he escaped in a rowboat to the south coast of Britain. Aged just 16, he entered the Royal Air Force as an AA gunner before being assigned as a gunner on board aircraft. He was imprisoned for three years in a German prisoner of war camp. Released at the end of the war he started acting almost immediately, appearing a play later in 1945 called Back Home about ex-POWs reintegrating into civilian life.

Dotrice cultivated an extensive stage career in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s. He began appearing on television and in film in the early 1960s, but his heart remained with the stage: his one-man performance of Brief Lives, starting in 1967, eventually wracked up 1,782 performances and earned him his first Guinness World Record.

During the 1980s he gained renewed fame in the United States, first through appearing in Amadeus in 1984 in a celebrated supporting role playing the title character's father. He was then cast as Father, the mentor and leader of an underground community in New York City, in the urban fantasy series Beauty and the Beast. During his three-year stint on the show, he met and befriended George R.R. Martin, who worked on the show as a producer and writer.

After Beauty and the Beast was cancelled, Martin began working on a fantasy novel series, A Song of Ice and Fire. When the first book, A Game of Thrones, was published in 1996, he personally requested that Dotrice perform the audio book version. Dotrice agreed, voicing 224 distinct characters in the novel, earning him his second Guinness World Record. Dotrice returned to voice the audio books for each successive novel in the series; A Storm of Swords saw him break his own record for the largest number of distinct characters voiced. Dotrice was unavailable (due to ill health) to voice A Feast for Crows in 2005, but returned by popular demand. In 2014 he voiced the audio book version of The World of Ice and Fire.

Dotrice continued to appear in television and on film, including a recurring role on Picket Fences. He also wracked up other genre credits, playing Frederick Lantze in the Season 2 finale of Babylon 5, Wesley Wyndham-Pryce's overbearing father on Angel and Zeus on Hercules: The Legendary Journeys.

Despite advanced age, he continued to act on stage and on screen. In 2011 he was cast in the role of Grand Maester Pycelle on HBO's Game of Thrones, the TV adaptation of Martin's Song of Ice and Fire novels. Ill health forced him to pull out of the role at the last minute; his friend and occasional colleague Julian Glover agreed to take the role over partially as a favour to Dotrice. Recovered, Dotrice did appear in the series as Pyromancer Hallyne in two episodes of Season 2.

A tremendously gifted and talented actor, with a career spanning a remarkable eight decades, he will be missed.

A History of Epic Fantasy - Part 23

If epic fantasy is known for its visual splendour, it is also known (as the Dothraki may say) that this visual splendour comes at a high cost. For this reason, the grandiose vistas, monstrous creatures and awe-inspiring magic associated with fantasy have been limited to film and novels. Television, it was generally believed, did not have the financial resources needed to bring epic, secondary world fantasy to the screen. Which of course is not to say that it did not occasionally try anyway.

Saiyūki (Monkey)

Strictly speaking, the Japanese TV series Saiyūki (1978-80) - or Monkey as it is immortally better known in English-speaking regions - isn't really epic fantasy. It's a fast-and-loose adaptation of the classic 16th Century Chinese novel Journey to the West by Wu Cheng'en, depicting the journey by the Buddhist monk Tripitaka from China to India to search for sacred religious texts. Saiyūki throws in a whole ton of fantasy ideas as well, some original and some drawn from other aspects of Asian mythology. For reasons too convoluted for a brief summary, the TV series depicts Tripitaka being joined by an irrepressible monkey spirit and two fellow exiles from Heaven, who hope they can win redemption and be allowed to return home (in the case of the latter two; Monkey's motivations are more random and whimsical). The episodes depict the course of the heroes' lengthy journey, during which time they learn many moral lessons derived from Buddhist and Taoist philosophy and come to respect Tripitaka's position of peace and tranquillity (although oddly not to the point that the insane number of kung fu battles per episode lessens to any degree).

The show shows both the problems and benefits of adapting fantasy for the television. On the one hand, the lengthy run time allows for more adventures, more story and more character development. On the other, with the best will in the world, the budget falls way short of the ambition presented. The TV episodes fall back on massive punch-ups to resolve their action because anything else is unaffordable. Even Monkey's signature trip of flying around on a cloud is carefully rationed out for financial purposes. However, these drawbacks are not detrimental to the overall enjoyment of the TV series, and in fact add to its surreal whimsy. It remains popular and a cult classic to this day, especially amongst students of the more herbal inclinations.

Dungeons and Dragons

It took much longer than expected to break through to film, but Dungeons and Dragons got a TV series off the ground much earlier. Airing from 1983 to 1985, this was an animated series which depicted six kids drawn from our world into a fantasy one, where they are forced to adopt new roles (ranger, cavalier, thief, acrobat, magician, barbarian and, er, unicorn) and work for the capricious Dungeon Master. They are opposed by Venger, an evil sorcerer who inexplicably desires their magical weapons (despite them being a bit rubbish). In an entertaining twist, both Venger and the kids are opposed by the chaotic multi-headed dragon Tiamat, who occasionally shows up to destroy things for no real reason (hence chaos). The series was fairly standard cartoon fare, with a nice line in humour, but it did show early signs of developing an on-going story arc. The kids were attempting to return home to Earth but on several occasions when they came close, realised they had to remain in the fantasy world lest Venger follow them. The final episode would have actually resolved the storyline but was sadly never made.

Robin of Sherwood

Again, not an epic fantasy per se, the ITV series Robin of Sherwood (1984-86) nevertheless embraced some of the conventions of the genre. The series opened as a straight retelling of the Robin Hood myth, but the writers introduced elements of paganism and legend by bringing in Herne the Hunter as an important character. In the final episode of the second season Robin - unthinkably - dies (after actor Michael Praed hit it big in America) and the third season sees him replaced by a new character, Robert, who feels inadequate to the task thrust upon him. The show dwelt on myth, faith and the idea of magic as an unearthly, spiritual force beyond mortal understanding. It also had a great line in action adventure and humour, and is notable for helping further the careers of Ray Winstone and Clive Mantle. Certainly in the UK, this remains the definitive small screen version of the legend.

Beauty and the Beast

Beauty and the Beast (1987-90) certainly isn't an epic fantasy but it was arguably one of the first shows which found a way of getting fantasy and fantastical ideas on screen: by retrofitting them into a contemporary setting. Hence, the legend is transposed to contemporary New York City and sees lawyer Catherine (Linda Hamilton) falling in love with the bestial Vincent (Ron Perlman), who lives with a community of forgotten and lost people in the sewers under the city. The series was hugely successful, with ratings that demolished everything in sight, up until the decision was taken to kill off Catherine at the start of the third season when Hamilton wanted to leave the show. Although artistically bold, the idea went down like a lead balloon with both devoted fans and the general audience, ratings plummeted and the show was cancelled at the end of the season.

Working as a writer, script editor and then producer on the show was one George R.R. Martin, whose reputation for murdering characters has led to the decision to kill Catherine being laid at his door (erroneously, as showrunner Ron Koslow and the other producers had the final word), hence the slogan, "The Terminator couldn't kill Linda Hamilton but GRRM did."

Babylon 5

Okay, so this is quite blatantly a space opera, set in the 23rd Century on a massive space station that serves as a sort of interstellar United Nations (and is about as useful at stopping the outbreak of military conflicts). But J. Michael Straczynski drew on a lot of SFF influences to fuel his epic TV series, including numerous fantasy ones. In fact, a brief meme which enjoyed popularity when the show was on-air was that Babylon 5 (1993-98) was simply Lord of the Rings with the serial numbers filed off. Even Straczynski might have to admit his tips of the hat to Tolkien got a little too brazen at times.

To whit: a major, late-developing character is called Lorien; one of the major characters apparently plummets to his death in a chasm at a place called Z'ha'dum (not Khazad-dum) only to return in a somewhat transformed state later on; a secretive organisation of soldiers is formed known as the Rangers; Gandalf's saying, "Do note meddle in the affairs of wizards, for they are subtle and quick to anger" is employed by a group of techno-sorcerers (led by a man named Elric); and the principle antagonists in the series are often referred to as "Shadows".

More substantially, the series also engages with the idea of "Chosen Ones" and, unusually, goes into some detail on the idea about who actually does the choosing of such people in the first place. The cost in lives of the military action the heroes brings about is dwelt upon at length and, due to the main storyline wrapping up a full season before the show itself does, the series also gets to dwell upon the aftermath and consequences of the "grand adventure" our heroes have been on, showing that life goes on and there are no happy endings forever more.

Hercules: The Legendary Journeys & Xena: Warrior Princess

Hollywood had had numerous flirtations with Greek myths and legends, but it was its decision to make a new, comedy-drama series based on the life of Hercules in the mid-1990s that would prove to be the most successful take on television. The original series of Hercules: The Legendary Journeys ran from 1995 to 1999 (preceded by a series of TV movies in 1994), begin the career of Kevin Sorbo and hit an enjoyable middle ground between cheesy action and knowing meta-humour. The normal budgetary restrictions which blighted fantasy TV were partially overcome by filming in New Zealand, where the easily-accessible-but-spectacular scenery and a favourable exchange rate gave the producers a lot of bang for not a huge amount of buck (an argument that would later help nab Peter Jackson's homeland the job of standing in for Middle-earth).

Even more successful was its spin-off series. Xena: Warrior Princess (1995-2001) followed the adventures of a villain seeking redemption, played with aplomb by Lucy Lawless. It eclipsed its parent show both in ratings and critical acclaim, and remains a highly watchable slice of hokum.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer & Angel

As far as supernatural fantasy on television goes, the gold standard remains Joss Whedon's epic series Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997-2003) and its spin-off Angel (1999-2004). Both shows are on the surface simple horror-comedies about various heroes fighting evil monsters, but both play with their sources and inspirations in offbeat and original ways. Both shows also draw much more on epic fantasy traditions than other shows in contemporary settings. Both have extensive backstories and mythologies which come to the fore. Both shows also delve into prophecies and how to subvert them, feature much more overt uses of magic than is normal in such shows and have long-running, complex story arcs featuring extensive and sometimes sublime character development. Both also delve into the mythology of the "Chosen One" trope, constantly re-examining the idea of what it means to be the one prophesied to save the world and if it can be done alone or if allies are needed.

Gormenghast

The BBC had always done well with its lavish costume dramas, but in 1999 it brought its skills to bear on Mervyn Peak's unfilmable trilogy. The BBC adapted the first two books in the series into a mini-series, bringing together a colossal amount of talent (including Christopher Lee and Jonathan Rhys-Meyers in his breakout role) and a relatively huge budget. The lavish drama can't hope to directly adapt Peake's dense literature, so instead comes at it from a surreal and humourous angle, which only serves to emphasise the horror of Steerpike's conspiracy. The result is weird, offbeat and bizarre, but also highly watchable and entertaining. This was also arguably the first TV series to show that the vistas and epic scale of fantasy was achievable - if only fleetingly - on television.

 
Avatar: The Last Airbender & The Legend of Korra

For original, created-for-the-screen epic fantasy stories, the strongest work on television remains the animated series Avatar: The Last Airbender (2005-08) and its sequel series, The Legend of Korra (2010-12). Set in a world where magic is based around the four elements of fire, earth, air and water, the series depicts the battle faced by the Avatar, the only person who can master all four elements, against the villainous Fire Lord, who wants to conquer the world. In the process the Avatar, in this incarnation a twelve-year-old boy named Aang, gains a number of allies from all four nations, must help redeem the Fire Lord's brutal son and forge an alliance between disparate factions.

The series is not only hugely successful at all of this, it tells a relatively compact, complete story in 61 half-hour episodes. It also avoids the cliches of western epic fantasy, instead drawing on elements from Chinese, Indian, Japanese and Inuit cultures (among others). It has a meticulously-designed and well-developed magic system, and whilst primarily aimed at children it does not shy away from asking hard moral questions. The show is also noted for its quotable dialogue, characters who change and develop as the series continues and its excellent art style, which fuses American animation with Japanese anime traditions.

The sequel series set several decades later, The Legend of Korra, is less focused on one overall storyline. Instead it develops a number of self-contained story arcs spanning each season, although the development of the character of Korra as the new Avatar is an ongoing element. This series is impressive for moving both time and technology on, bringing steampunk elements into play and mixing up technology and magic in interesting ways. These two shows remain the high watermark for original fantasy on television, so far. Just please ignore the terrible live-action movie.

Discworld

Adapting Terry Pratchett's comic fantasy novels to the screen was always going to be challenging, with a lack of a consistent recurring cast and some challenging budgetary issues. Simply depicting Death - an eight-foot-tall skeleton capable of winning the viewer's sympathy - is a big enough challenge by itself, let alone the Librarian (an orangutan with above-human intelligence) and the various demonic forces from the Dungeon Dimensions seeking to break through. Animation seemed a reasonable way forward, and Cosgrove Hall made TV movies based on Soul Music and Wyrd Sisters in 1997 which were modestly successful. However, the medium made viewers believe they were for children, who in turn didn't get all the adult-oriented humour.

Sky then made a reasonable series of attempts to bring the books to the screen by adapting Hogfather (2006), The Colour of Magic (2008), The Light Fantastic (2008) and Going Postal (2010). These were reasonable adaptations, despite missing some of the subtler elements of Pratchett's humour, but failed to lead - so far - to an ongoing TV series.

Legend of the Seeker

As the first modern epic fantasy book series to be adapted to the small screen, Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth sequence was a bit of a left-field choice for producer Sam Raimi. The books wear the trappings of fantasy but are actually a thinly-veiled piece of political grandstanding expounding - at quite staggering length - on the virtues of Objectivism. The idea that this could be brought faithfully to the screen seemed fanciful, and so it proved.

Legend of the Seeker (2008-10), as the TV version was somewhat inexplicably renamed, certainly isn't unwatchable, but it is a pale echo of the same production team's earlier shows, Hercules and Xena, lacking their lighthearted fun but also their ability to become dramatically intense when needed. However, the series also chooses to pretty much ignore all of the Objectivist themes from the books as well, which merely served to alienate fans of the novels. Overall, Legend of the Seeker fell between several stools and ended up being merely okay.

Merlin

The BBC TV series Merlin (2008-12) may be notable as the most successful attempt yet at bringing the Arthurian legend to the small screen, despite a very rough and patchy first couple of seasons. The show's conceit is that Merlin and Arthur are contemporaries, with Merlin serving (reluctantly) as the boorish Arthur's squire and having to keep his magical skills secret. Later episodes darken things considerably as they start drawing on the actual mythology. The show also becomes much more ambitious and epic in scale, with some impressive depictions of large battles and magic. However, the key to the show's success is the core cast's chemistry and the compelling performance of Colin Morgan as the titular character.

Game of Thrones

The HBO adaptation of George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire is, of course, the show which broke fantasy on the small screen as never before. Producers David Benioff and Dan Weiss, both burned by experiences working on Hollywood movies (the former seeing scripts constantly rewritten badly and the latter stuck in development hell on the Halo film), teamed up with HBO to bring Martin's clearly unfilmable books to the small screen. Helped by quality source material, a monstrous - for TV - budget and the best cast of any TV show for a decade, the first few seasons of Game of Thrones (2011-18, probably) were spectacular critical and commercial successes, giving HBO its biggest hit of all time. The more problematic fifth season suggests that the road is getting rockier as the TV show overtakes and moves away from Martin's novels, but there is no denying that Game of Thrones has changed the conversation about fantasy on the small screen even more dramatically than Lord of the Rings did for fantasy on the big one.

And the future

The massive success of Game of Thrones has of course inspired/monetarily influenced many other studios into getting their hands on hot fantasy properties, as well as developing their own. First out of the gate is The Shannara Chronicles, based on Terry Brooks's second novel, The Elfstones of Shannara. This will debut in January 2016 on MTV. Also in active development is American Gods for Starz (based on Neil Gaiman's novel), The City Watch (based on Pratchett's Discworld novels about the Ankh-Morpork police force) and The Kingkiller Chronicle (based on Patrick Rothfuss's work). Most tantalising of all is the recent news that Sony TV, the same studio behind Breaking Bad, has held meetings on the possibility of a Wheel of Time TV series. With a recent legal deadlock over the film rights showing early signs of thawing, that would be an interesting move.

However, what television lacks so far is an original, live-action epic fantasy TV show of its own, a story made for TV with its limitations and strengths in mind which is a big success. Until it really gets that right, the medium's contributions to the genre will remain limited to furthering the success of books by introducing new fans to them.


For visual depictions of fantasy, film and TV are all very well, but are ultimately experiences limited to passive enjoyment. For a more compelling experience, being able to take control of characters and tell your own fantasy story is a far more inspiring idea and one that, in the late 1970s, technology allowed to become possible.

A reboot of BEAUTY AND THE BEAST is in the works

American network The CW is developing a reboot of the late 1980s CBS fantasy drama series Beauty and the Beast (itself a retelling of the traditional story, moving the action to contemporary New York City).


The show, which ran for 3 seasons and 56 episodes in 1987-90, starred Ron Perlman, Linda Hamilton and Roy Dotrice. It was created and run by Ron Koslow, but its highest-profile creative force was (and remains) George R.R. Martin, who worked on the show as writer, script editor and eventually a producer. The show started out with ratings of 20 million, but ratings and critical acclaim collapsed in the third season after Linda Hamilton's character was brutally and unexpectedly killed off, leading to cancellation.

The announcement comes just a week after ABC announced its own 'reimagining' of the original story.

The Arc of Truth: Part 2

Part 1.

Back in the United States, the early 1980s saw a change in the attitude of TV networks towards serialised television. This had been heralded by the arrival in 1978 of the glossy prime-time drama Dallas on CBS. Although technically a recurring series (divided into seasons of approximately 25 episodes per year), Dallas employed storytelling techniques more commonly encountered in much cheaper soap operas, with complex character relationships and long-running storylines spanning many episodes. Dallas was so successful that ABC launched its own derivation, Dynasty, in 1981. Both shows went on to tremendous success.


Also in 1981, the storytelling techniques of these shows were applied to the genre of the cop show. Steve Bocho and Michael Kozoll, Hill Street Blues differed from previous cop shows in that it did not focus on a 'crime of the week' format with the investigation and resolution of a criminal act being neatly packaged in 45 minutes. Hill Street instead had a number of different storylines unfolding across its seasons, with some stories self-contained in a single episode, other plots taking several episodes to come to fruition and some larger plots unfolding across and between seasons. The series also heavily focused on more realistic issues and stories with less interest in the cliches of genre television, and significantly less emphasis on 'good guys' and 'bad guys'. Hill Street proved enormously influential, with many shows picking on its storytelling devices. Bocho's own subsequent project, LA Law, took many of Hill Street's storytelling ideas and applied them to the court drama genre with great success, whilst St. Elsewhere applied a similar story arc structure to a hospital drama format (culminating in the infamously surreal final episode of the series).

In 1982, although with far more limited popular success, Jim Abrahams, David Zucker and Jerry Zucker developed Police Squad!, a comedy series starring Leslie Nielsen as cop Frank Drebin (and, famously, Rex Hamilton as Abraham Lincoln). The series was designed to deliberately target the cliches of cop show television and indeed seemed to delight in annoying the syndication channels by including a reference in every episode to every previous criminal case Drebin had investigated (so at the end of the sixth episode he name-checks all five previous criminals arrested in the five previous episodes). However, it is fair to say that it was probably Hill Street Blues that had a bigger impact on the rise of the arc show that followed.


Still, whilst shows like Hill Street were a big success, the more traditional episodic model still remained the norm, although recurring storyline elements were now slightly more common. Whilst the hugely successful Miami Vice was a big hit with its mostly episodic structure, some subplots (such as romances or the progress of a lead character's divorce) did unfold over multiple weeks.

In 1987 Star Trek: The Next Generation commenced airing in first-run syndication. With the show being sold immediately into syndication, there was even greater pressure than normal not to include ongoing story elements, but nevertheless some crept into the show. The pilot episode established romantic tension between Commander Riker and Counsellor Troi, and between Captain Picard and Dr. Crusher, and the hint of a suggestion (later thankfully forgotten) that Picard was actually the father of Crusher's son Wesley. Other early character points established included Lt. Worf's difficulties with being the first and only Klingon in Starfleet, Lt. Yar's difficult and painful upbringing causing problems with her attitude and Data's wish to become human. For the most part these elements were kept firmly in the background and brought forward only when needed for a particular episode, although Picard's slowly growing acceptance of Wesley Crusher competence and the latter's development into a full crewmember did qualify as a story arc of sorts.


A more ambitious arc was set in motion halfway through Season 1. With the new 'main' enemy, the Ferengi, not working out as planned, the writers decided to introduce a considerably more dangerous threat, an insectoid alien race who would incorporate a hive-like intelligence and ferocious appetite for consuming technology. These aliens would be established late in Season 1 as a growing threat that would also reintroduce the Romulans to the Star Trek universe after a lengthy absence. The original plan was for Season 1 to end with these new insectoid aliens launching a failed attack on Starfleet HQ, followed up by the Romulans and Federation coming to the brink of war due to the alien machinations, with the aliens being 'outed' in the Season 2 opener and the Federation and Romulans joining forces to defeat them once and for all. However, the prohibitive cost of the planned alien effects and then a writer's strike between Seasons 1 and 2 that led to the crippling of most of the second season effectively ruined these plans. The first episode became an unrelated stand-alone called Conspiracy, the second (The Neutral Zone) relegated the alien threat to a remote and vague rumbling of problems on the horizon and the third was dropped altogether, replaced by The Child, an old script for the abandoned Star Trek: Phase II project from the 1970s which introduced Guinan, a new and highly enigmatic regular character played by Whoopi Goldberg.

However, this 'pipe-laying' for an abandoned storyline nevertheless proved to be beneficial later on in Season 2. With the aliens behind the attack on the Neutral Zone colonies still unknown and Guinan's background still a mystery, the writers re-introduced the alien threat in a different (and cheaper) guise, as a race of cybernetically-enhanced humanoids called the Borg. Guinan's race was revealed to have been almost destroyed by them. With the Borg now aware of the Federation's existence, it was made clear that they would now be coming to destroy and assimilate the Federation, and periodic references were made throughout Season 3 to the Federation preparing new weapons and defensive measures. These were put to the test at the end of Season 3 when the Borg invaded the Federation in full force, annihilating a Starfleet battle group in the Federation's greatest military defeat in its history and assimilating Picard.

18 June 1990. The day The Next Generation finally stepped out from its predecessor's shadow.

Star Trek: The Next Generation had successfully transitioned from a purely episodic show into one that, whilst still mostly consisting of stand-alone episodes, was no longer afraid to reference previous episodes and employ real character development. It's story arcs were still unplanned, but the writers were able to use the wealth of history and backstory to generate new storylines that gave rise to the feeling of a much more connected whole. The benefits to this form of long-form storytelling was made clear in the Season 3 cliffhanger ending, The Best of Both Worlds, still widely regarded as the finest episode of Star Trek in its history. The use of a cliffhanger ending to a whole season, with the audience left reeling and anxiously discussing the show and waiting for its return over a whole summer, was a major success and quickly became something The Next Generation and its spin-offs (and later their rivals) used every year.

The Next Generation's embrace of this story-telling technique also allowed writers to pen episodes that weren't necessarily fully resolved at the end, with elements left open to set up future 'sequel' episodes. An early fan of this technique was a young staff writer named Ronald D. Moore, whose fourth episode, Sins of the Father, saw Lt. Worf dishonoured in the eyes of the Klingon Empire and forced to bear the shame for a crime apparently committed by his father. Worf discovered that the crime was actually committed by another Klingon noble family, the Duras, but this fact emerging would tear the Empire apart in civil war, so he accepted the dishonour for the sake of peace. This was obviously an unsatisfactory arrangement, and in the Season 4 episode Reunion Worf became a blood-enemy of the Duras family, leading to his alliance with their rival for the Chancellorship of the Empire, Gowron, and to the outbreak of full-scale civil war, in which Worf finally regained his honour and name. Moore orchestrated most of this storyline, writing Sins of the Father, Reunion and the Redemption two-parter, forming a single coherent piece of drama and character development that unfolded over two years (and, four years later, would later be revisited in Deep Space Nine).

A scene from Twin Peaks unusually not dripping in deep symbolism and visual clues to the show's central mysteries. Also, note a surprising lack of cherry pie in this shot.

Star Trek: The Next Generation proved to be a vanguard of a new wave of arc-based shows that finally began moving the format to the norm in the early 1990s. Twin Peaks, developed by David Lynch, was a massive success, with the gradually unfolding mystery of who killed Laura Palmer enthralling millions of viewers each week across the world. The symbolism and surreal imagery of the show was debated in numerous magazine letters pages and on very early Internet message boards. The show also built up a notable 'mythology' of creatures, characters, entities and recurring storyline elements. The benefits of Twin Peaks' 'myth-arc', with its fiercely loyal, obsessive fanbase, became clear. However, a weakness of arc-based storytelling also became clear. The casual viewers, although fascinated by the Laura Palmer mystery, were less intrigued by the secondary storylines. Once the Laura Palmer mystery was resolved early in Season 2, audience figures plummeted and the show was cancelled, leaving the hardcore fans frustrated with the ending (that saw the main character apparently trapped in some weird other dimension).

Whilst Twin Peaks' fate proved one possible headache caused by arc-based storytelling, another was demonstrated by the CBS show Beauty and the Beast, which ran from 1987 to 1990. In an updated version of the fairytale, Linda Hamilton played a district attorney named Catherine who discovered the 'world below', a group of people ostracized from society living a secretive life in tunnels below New York, whilst Ron Perlman played Vincent, a large disfigured man who became Catherine's protector. The first season comprised stand-alone episodes with the development of Catherine and Vincent's relationship as an ongoing story element. This element came more to the fore in Season 2, as did the arrival of recurring villains. Beauty and the Beast's key weakness was exposed, however, at the start of Season 3 when Linda Hamilton elected to leave the show. Catherine's violent murder and Vincent's quest for bloody vengeance proved a development more than the show could sustain, with a drop in audience numbers and cancellation swiftly following. Interestingly, one scriptwriter and producer on the show who was credited/blamed for the shocking death of a key character was a guy named George R.R. Martin, whose frustrations with the creative limitations of television led to him starting to write a novel a few months after the show's axing, a novel in which the key character is also unexpectedly and abruptly killed halfway through...

"So, is our show going to have a happy ending?"
"George R.R. Martin is one of our writers. What do you think?"
"Oh yeah."

Despite the relative failures of Beauty and the Beast and Twin Peaks, arc-based storytelling became more and more popular. NYPD Blue, a successor of sorts to Hill Street Blues, began airing in 1993 and also featured a reuse of the earlier show's use of short, medium and long-running storylines. Another cop show airing on NBC, Homicide: Life on the Street (based on a book written by a Baltimore reporter named David Simon), also featured similar storytelling devices in its attempt to depict crime and police work in a much more realistic manner than previously attempted.

1993 also proved to be the year that the story arc in science fiction television really kicked into overdrive with the arrival of The X-Files, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and apparently the first TV show, SF or otherwise, which had its story arc developed and pre-planned in full beforehand. This show was called Babylon 5, and we'll pick up on that next time.