Quentin Collins

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David Selby as Quentin Collins

Quentin Collins is the name of several characters featured in the 1967-1971 ABC soap opera television series Dark Shadows. All variations of the character have been played by actor David Selby.

1 Quentin I
2 Quentin II
3 Parallel Time
4 Night of Dark Shadows
5 Dark Shadows audio drama
6 BIG FINISH
7 Powers & abilities
8 Trivia
9 External links
10 See also
11 Episodes
12 References

[edit] Quentin I

The first Quentin Collins is actually the second one shown in the TV series. This version of Quentin was first introduced in episode #1109 in a storyline commonly referred to as the "1840 flashback".

In the 1840 storyline, Quentin Collins was one of two brothers living at the gothic mansion known as Collinwood in the fictional town of Collinsport, Maine. The favorite son of his mentally troubled father Daniel Collins, Quentin stood to inherit the entire family fortune. This position brought him into frequent conflict with his scheming brother, Gabriel (Christopher Pennock). Quentin was married to a woman named Samantha Drew, with whom he had a son named Tad.

While Tad was still a young boy, his father spent a great deal of time at sea. During this time, Quentin became close friends with a fellow seaman named Gerard Stiles (James Storm). While the two developed a deep friendship, Gerard secretly longed to be with Quentin's wife. At some point in 1839, Quentin had an affair with a woman named Joanna Mills. His wife Samantha eventually discovered the affair and secretly murdered Joanna, making it look as if she had taken her own life.^[1]

At one point, Quentin was committed to managing his family's business enterprises, but eventually forsook his professional pursuits in favor of studying the occult. Quentin also fancied himself an amateur inventor and used his knowledge of the occult to develop a device that he called his "Stairway Through Time". He persistently labored to build his staircase in a cellar room at Collinwood. It was Quentin's belief, that ascending the staircase could open a dimensional portal through which individuals could view and even interact with the future. What Quentin never realized however, was that his staircase also created a divergent parallel reality (This functioned as the genesis for several storylines which took place in parallel dimensions). Quentin's devotion towards his work gave Gerard the means by which to manipulate and ultimately betray him.

In early 1840, Quentin, Tad, and Gerard Stiles had been off at sea for several months. Gerard comes back to Collinwood with the news that Quentin Collins and her son Tad had been lost at sea.

When Samantha thought that her husband and son was dead, she began spending more and more time with Gerard. Over time they fell in love, and he asked her to marry. On the day they got married, Quentin returned. He was shocked to discover that his wife had thought him dead, and had married his best friend.

While his wife decided whom she wanted, either him or Gerard; Quentin began having an affair with his son's governess, Daphne Harridge (Kate Jackson), the sister of Quentin's former lover, Joanna Mills.

Gerard meanwhile had fallen prey to the spirit of a disembodied warlock named Judah Zachery. Judah wanted revenge against the entire Collins family for sentencing him to death for Witchcraft in the late 1600s. Judah's spirit took possession of Gerard Stiles and used him as a secret weapon against the Collins family. ^[2] Working alongside a disreputable clergyman named Reverend Lamar Trask, Gerard convinced the local authorities that Quentin was a Satanist and that he had used his knowledge of the dark arts to murder a young woman named Lorna Bell, as well as his own brother-in-law, Randall Drew. Quentin was arrested on charges of Witchcraft, and taken to jail. ^[3] When his ailing father, Daniel, heard the news concerning Quentin's arrest, he changed his will leaving the entire Collins family fortune to Gerard Stiles.

Quentin was convicted of Witchcraft and sentenced to death by beheading. However, with the aid of his cousin Desmond and his "distant" cousin Barnabas, Quentin escaped being beheaded. At the last minute, Gerard was shot, at the same moment the head of Judah Zachery burned up in front of the judge in the case. With it's destruction, Gerard was free from the possession, and confessed that Quentin was innocent, admitting that Judah was responsible for all the deaths. After asking for forgiveness, Gerard died in Quentin's arms. Quentin having been cleared of all charges, eloped with Daphne Harridge. The two left Collinsport forever to make a new life for themselves.^[4]

[edit] Quentin II

The second Quentin Collins was actually the first one featured in the series, and is arguably the more popular of the two versions among fans, owing primarily to the fact that he is a werewolf. He was born in 1870, and had three siblings, two brothers, the eldest Edward, the youngest Carl, and older sister Judith Collins. He had loved two children like his own, but were his niece and nephew, via his brother Edward named Jamison and Nora. This version of Quentin was the great-nephew of the first Quentin Collins and whose lineage includes several supporting characters peppered throughout the series, including his grand-children Amy and Chris Jennings.

In December of 1968, Quentin originally appeared as an angry malevolent spirit haunting the playroom in the West Wing of Collinwood (along with the ghost of his lover Beth Chavez). ^[5] Quentin and Beth's spirits befriended the children David Collins and his friend, Amy Jennings. David was the reincarnation of Jamison Collins, whom Quentin loved like his own child in life, and wanted to spend eternity with. Amy Jennings was his grand-daughter. Eventually, they took possession of both children and used them to serve their own interests.

In an effort to save his family, the former vampire known as Barnabas Collins, used the cosmological principles of the I Ching to send his spirit backwards through time to the year 1897 (Unfortunately for Barnabas, this meant becoming a vampire once again as such was his physical state during that time period). This series of episodes is commonly referred to as the "1897 flashback". ^[6]

In 1897, Quentin had earned himself a reputation of being the black sheep of the family – due largely in part to his marriage and subsequent abuse of a girl named Jenny. Quentin's affair with his brother Edward's wife Laura, and his running off to Egypt with Laura resulted in Jenny Collins going insane. While Quentin was away, Jenny had two babies, a boy and a girl. Along with Beth Chavez, Quentin's brother Edward and sister Judith conspired to keep Jenny hidden from the rest of the family by imprisoning her inside of the tower room at Collinwood. Edward and Judith wanted to keep any knowledge of the babies from their father Quentin and the rest of the world. To that end they gave Jenny's children to Ms. Filmore in Collinsport, whom would raise the children as her own. Amy, Chris, and Tom Jennings are descendant from the female child (Lenore Filmore) of Jenny & Quentin.

When Quentin returned from Egypt in the spring of 1897, his wife was nowhere to be found. He turned his attention to his grand-mother Edith Collins, whom was ill and near death. Quentin hoped that she would leave the Collins wealth and control of Collinwood to him. In an attempt to make that hope a reality, Quentin had Jamison Collins steal the will from the lining of Edith Collins coffin.^[7] The will left everything to Edith's favorite, Edward. Quentin was only guaranteed a room at Collinwood for the rest of his life, but given no money. So Quentin gone so far as having his occultist friend and family lawyer Evan Hanley get Sandor Racosi to make a fake will.^[8]

Quentin was being haunted by the ghost of Edith. And thought that Barnabas Collins was ploting against him. Being suspicious of his mysterious cousin from England, and believing he would try to interfer in his plans. Quentin and his warlock friend Evan Hanley done a Black magic ritual asking for help to defeat their enemies. Using the innocence of his young nephew Jamison as a focal point, they manage to summon a powerful spirit. The ritual resurrected from Hell, the powerful Witch Angelique. But due to her own interests in Barnabas, Angelique wouldn't help.^[9]

Barnabas Collins stole the fake will, and had Sandor now under his vampiric control to change it, leaving everything to Judith Collins.^[10]

Angelique warns Barnabas about Quentin being out to destroy him. Quentin has Jamison steal Barnabas’ cane which he then uses in a ritual to cause Barnabas great pain. Had Barnabas been mortal, the ritual would have killed him. But being a Vampire, Barnabas survives.^[11]

Soon after, Quentin's insane wife Jenny escaped from the tower room and stabbed Quentin to death.^[12] Quentin possesses the body of Jamison.^[13] Barnabas not wanting to fail at his mission to save the future Collins Family from Quentin's Ghost, asked Angelique to restore Quentin to life. However, Angelique was jealous of Barnabas latest love interest Rachel Drummond. So, she turned Quentin into a Zombie, and had him try to take Rachel back to the grave with him.^[14]

Due to Jamison's strange behavior of acting like Quentin, Edward Collins decides to send Jamison and Nora to the Worthington Hall Boarding School operated by Reverend Gregory Trask.^[15] Barnabas tried to ressurect Quentin, but the ritual failed because Quentin wouldn't leave Jamison's body. Yet, Barnabas was able to save Rachel. Then the recently arriving Reverend Gregory Trask's prayer was apparently answered when Quentin was restored to life, and Jamison was no longer possessed by Quentin. Although Angelique was apparently the one that actually used her powers to do it for her own reasons.^[16]

After returning from the dead, Quentin had increased paranoia about Jenny trying to kill him again. It was at this time that Magda and Sandor Racosi discovered that Jenny was still alive. It turns out that she was Magda's sister, a gypsy that had run away from home and married Quentin. None of the Collins Family had known that she was a gypsy. So it was a shock to Judith, Edward, and the rest of the family.

Magda threatened to curse Quentin if he done anything more to hurt her sister. Quentin, however was more worried about Jenny hurting him or his beloved Beth Chavez. When Jenny catches Quentin and Beth kissing, she attacks with a knife, in self defense he kills Jenny. With the help of his brother Edward, in order to protect the Collins name, Jenny's death is covered up as an accidental fall down the stairs.

Magda finds a button from Quentin's suit in Jenny's hand. And can easily tell that Jenny didn't die from a fall, but was strangled. So she makes plans to curse Quentin. Keeping it a secret as to what the curse will be. Quentin believing that he is already cursed, and thinking he's haunted by the ghost of Jenny, goes to Magda and tries to get her to lift the curse. He got $10,000 from his sister Judith, signing away his right to live at Collinwood. Magda and Sandor took the money, and said the curse was lifted, having a drink to the agreement. Then Magda throws the money back at him, and informs Quentin that the drink he just had contained the curse.

Quentin soon discovered that he had inherited a curse that transformed him into a Werewolf whenever the moon was full. He had no memory of what he done as a Werewolf. The transformation itself was painful and unbearable for Quentin. And he was tormented by the blood of innocent victims he found on him the morning after. Barnabas, sympathetic to Quentin's plight, tried to help him overcome the curse, but to no avail. He did however succeed in altering Quentin’s destiny, preventing the creation of the future timeline where Quentin’s spirit plagued Collinwood.

Quentin was hopeless, and had contemplated suicide as the only way out. But Magda, having discovered that she had not only cursed Quentin, but also her sister Jenny's children for all eternity, decided to try and help find a cure for Quentin. Magda had heard of a magical hand possessed by a gypsy tribe controlled by King Johnny Romano. Magda gone off to find the mystical hand, and stole it. She returned to Collinwood in hopes of lifting the Werewolf curse from Quentin and his first born male descendants. However the hands power's where uncontrollable, and done as it pleased.

Then, the powerful warlock Count Petofi, and his servant Aristede arrived in Collinsport, looking for his all powerful hand. After causing much trouble for the Collins family via possessing them with other people, and possessing Edward's son, Jamison Collins with his own spirit. Barnabas and Quentin was pressured into giving his hand back, or risk the boy Jamison Collins dying, and with him the entire future of the Collins family. So they gave Petofi back his hand.

Reverend Gregory Trask had become supsicious of Quentin, and his strange behavior. He discovered Quentin with chains in his room, and Quentin confessed that he was the Werewolf, and wanted to be killed. Trask, wanting to make sure Quentin was the Werewolf, took him to a cell in the basement, and waited for the moon. Yet, Quentin didn't change that night. Upon arriving back at his room, he met Count Petofi, whom showed Quentin his portrait, and that it had changed into the Werewolf instead of him. Petofi said he would expect the debt of curing Quentin to be paid at some point in the future.

Not only did the portrait cure Quentin of lycanthropy, but he was also rendered immortal due to the efforts of the artist Charles Delaware Tate, whoms powers were a gift of Count Petofi. In a pastiche of Oscar Wilde's, The Picture of Dorian Gray, at the request of Count Petofi, Tate painted a portrait of Quentin Collins. So long as the portrait remained intact, Quentin would remain forever young, and the portrait would change into the Werewolf instead of Quentin himself.

Quentin soon discovered that the price Count Petofi expected to be paid, was his now immortal body. Count Petofi wanted to escaped the gypsies, whom wanted his powerful hand for themself. Petofi used his powers to bodyswap with Quentin, and using Barnabas Collins method of time travel, the I Ching wands, to travel 70 years into the future. In Quentin's body he would be forever young, and free from any threat from his gypsy enemies. However, something gone wrong with Petofi's spell, the power's returned to the hand in his old body. Quentin used the powers of the hand to reverse the bodyswap. Before Petofi could do the bodyswap again, Quentin left Collinsport. Petofi apparently died in a fire at Tate's studio before he could possess Barnabas Collins body, whom he realised also existed in the future.

Quentin was still alive and wandering the streets of Collinsport by the year 1969. An amnesiac calling himself Grant Douglas, he reunited with Barnabas Collins and soon regained his true memories. He worked closely alongside Barnabas and his trusted companion Dr. Julia Hoffman (Grayson Hall), and aided them against the likes of the witch Angelique and the Cult of the Leviathans.

During this time, Quentin discovered that his lycanthropy had passed along his family line affecting his descendent Chris Jennings (Chris' twin brother Tom ironically enough became a vampire).

[edit] Parallel Time

Both Quentin I and Quentin II had counterparts that appeared during the various Parallel Time story-arcs. Quentin I appeared in the 1841 Parallel Time arc, which began with episode 1186 and continued until the final episode of the series. Played once again by David Selby, there was very little to distinguish this version of Quentin from his mainstay 1840 counterpart. Quentin's first actual appearance in Parallel Time was in episode 1200. He appeared in a total of 14 Parallel Time episodes.

Quentin II appeared in another Parallel Time reality (of the same continuity), but this time in the year 1970. Here Quentin became the pawn of the witch Angelique, who used him as a means of striking out against his wife, Maggie Collins (Kathryn Leigh Scott). ^[17]

[edit] Night of Dark Shadows

In 1971, MGM released the movie Night of Dark Shadows, a sequel to the 1970 film House of Dark Shadows. Although both films presumably share continuity with one another, they exist independently of the television series. Once again, David Selby resumed the role of Quentin Collins as well as that of his character’s ancestor, Charles Collins. In Night of Dark Shadows, Quentin Collins is an artist who inherits Collinwood after the passing of the last remaining family member, Elizabeth Collins Stoddard.

Along with his wife Daphne (Kate Jackson), Quentin becomes the victim of Angelique – a witch who died over a century ago. Angelique's spirit operates in tandem with that of her 19th century lover, Charles Collins and slowly subverts Quentin's will. Before long, Quentin's soul is consumed by the evil of Charles Collins and he begins stalking his wife and friends.

[edit] Dark Shadows audio drama

Based on a stage play performed at a Dark Shadows convention, Return to Collinwood is an audio drama written by David Selby's son, Jamison Selby and Jim Pierson centered around Quentin Collins return to Collinwood. It starred most of the original cast, including David Selby (Quentin Collins), Kathryn Leigh Scott (Maggie Evans), John Karlen (Willie Loomis), Nancy Barrett (Carolyn), Lara Parker (Angelique), and many more. And provided a satisfying conclusion to the Dark Shadows saga and to Quentin Collins story.

In 2006, Big Finish Productions continued the 'Dark Shadows' saga with an original series of audio dramas, starring most of the original cast, with the addition of David Selby's son Jamison, and other talented voice actors. Like Return to Collinwood, Quentin Collins is the central character, and the first season dealt with Quentin's return to Collinwood, and his attempts to re-establish the Collins family.

The first season comprises four discs, featuring David Selby (Quentin Collins), Lara Parker (Angelique), Kathryn Leigh Scott (Maggie Evans) , John Karlen (Willie Loomis), & Andrew Collins (Barnabas Collins). More information and online ordering can be found at www.darkshadowsreborn.com.

[edit] BIG FINISH

Season 1

[edit] Powers & abilities

Knowledge of witchcraft and sorcery, adept at summoning and cursing.
As a Ghost, had vast paranormal powers including, Teleportation, Mind Control, Possession of children, and the usual haunting abilities associated with a Poltergeist.
Werewolf physiology gave the potential to transform into a berserk, lupine creature with enhanced strength, speed, and sense of smell. But a side effect of the cursed portrait resulted in it changing into the Werewolf on the three nights of the full moon instead of Quentin.
Eternal youth, due to cursed portrait of him, painted in 1897.
Cursed portrait also made him virtually unkillable. Any illness, injury, or fatal wound was healed without scaring by the portrait. However, it didn't protect him from magical attacks such as love spells. Nor did it prevent memory loss due too head trauma.

[edit] Trivia

Quentin Collins II was a recurring character in the Dark Shadows novels written by Marilyn Ross and published by Paperback Library in the 1960s-70s. He shared the title spotlight (along with Barnabas Collins) in seventeen Ross novels. ^[18]

Quentin was also a regularly featured character in the Dark Shadows comic book series published by Gold Key Comics from 1969 until 1976. Quentin frequently worked alongside Barnabas in an effort to find a cure for the disease that turned him into a werewolf.

Quentin Collins II had a nephew named Jamison. Actor David Selby has a son named Jamison. ^[19]

Quentin Collins shares the same first name with another fictional immortal, Quentin MacLeod. MacLeod was a character featured on Highlander: The Animated Series.

[edit] External links

[edit] See also

List of Collins family members

[edit] Episodes

Quentin Collins appeared in the following episodes of Dark Shadows

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[edit] References

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