Highlander: The Series
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Highlander | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Genre | Action-Drama-Sci-Fi |
| Creator(s) | Davis-Panzer Productions |
| Starring | Adrian Paul Alexandra Vandernoot Stan Kirsch Amanda Wyss Jim Byrnes Philip Akin Michel Modo Lisa Howard Elizabeth Gracen Peter Wingfield |
| Country of origin |  Canada France |
| No. of episodes | 119 (Episodes list) |
| Production | |
| Running time | 48 minutes per episode |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | Syndicated / TF1, later Métropole 6 |
| Original run | October 3, 1992 – May 16, 1998 |
| Links | |
| IMDb profile | |
| TV.com summary | |
Highlander: The Series is an English language fantasy/sci-fi television series featuring Duncan MacLeod (Adrian Paul), of the Scottish Clan MacLeod, as the Highlander of the title. An offshoot of the Highlander movies, Highlander: The Series centered on the life of Duncan, who is a clansman to the main character from the movies, Connor MacLeod (Christopher Lambert). Christopher Lambert made a single appearance in the first episode to ensure continuity, but his character was barely mentioned in the rest of the series. The series was a Canada/France co-production that was filmed in both countries. The primary Canadian location was Vancouver, British Columbia. The series became a very popular cult television show, with a strong following even years after production ceased in 1998.
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[edit] History
The pilot episode established Duncan as a simple man living quietly with his girlfriend Tessa Noël (played by Alexandra Vandernoot). He was the proprietor of an antique shop. The pilot introduced Richie Ryan (Stan Kirsch) as a thief who entered Duncan's shop and witnessed the confrontation between Duncan, evil Immortal Slan Quince (Richard Moll) and Duncan's fellow clansman Connor MacLeod, the hero from the movies.
It was established that Duncan had lived over 400 years, and that there were many such Immortals in the world. Connor had come to Duncan to ask him to return to The Game and help good win over evil, where "The Game" is the term used by the Immortals to describe their hunting of one another, seeking Quickenings by beheading their opponents. Duncan had hidden from other Immortals for some time, removing himself from The Game. Hunted by Quince, Duncan had no choice but face him and by the end of the first episode, Slan had been defeated and Duncan was clearly caught up in the Game again.
The series often had villain of the week moments, but mostly the storylines revolved around Duncan MacLeod and his relationship with mortals and other Immortals. Relationship was one of the common themes in the series, especially Duncan MacLeod's relationship towards his friends, family, lovers and foes.(see Duncan MacLeod's relationships). As the series progressed, there were some changes in concept and normal growth in the characters and their relationships. Several recurring Immortal characters such as Amanda and Methos became regular guests on the show and the Watchers like Joe Dawson were introduced in season 2.
In the finale episode of season 5, Richie Ryan was killed in "Archangel" and the supernatural demon Ahriman was introduced into the storyline. This show began a sharp decline in the series' popularity.
[edit] Characters
To view the list of the most important characters of the series, see Characters of Highlander Series.
[edit] Fictional universe
Highlander: The Series had its own internally consistent fictional universe that differed in significant ways from those of the various movies.
[edit] Immortals
The origin of the Immortals is unknown, but some episodes of the show display that an immortal's wounds are healed by a brief flash of energy resembling a miniature quickening which may indicate that they are composed at least in part of energy. Many immortals are foundlings. They age normally until their first deaths (which are always violent), at which time they 'resurrect' for the first time. Afterward, they do not age and can only be killed by beheading. All Immortals are also sterile. Although most immortals are depicted as foundlings, the most notable immortals who have siblings and biological families are Methos and Danny Cimoli.
Immortals have normal susceptibility to the things that are fatal to mortal humans and will 'die' from them, only to resurrect shortly thereafter. Immortals sense the presence of nearby Immortals in a phenomenon called The Buzz.
When an Immortal is beheaded, there is a powerful energy release from their body called Quickening. This energy is signified by tearing winds and electrical arcs and is destructive to electrical and mechanical items. This energy is absorbed by the Immortal closest to the body. When no Immortal is nearby, the Quickening dissipates. It is said to contain the power, wisdom and experience of the beheaded Immortal. In a Quickening, although the basic personality of the Immortal normally remains at the fore, the personality of the other beheaded Immortal can be imprinted in their personality. This could be for good or ill.
Immortals are engaged in an ongoing struggle they call The Game. The ultimate goal is to kill all other Immortals until only one remains. This Immortal will then receive The Prize: the power, knowledge and experiences of all other Immortals, and some say the ability to become mortal.[1] The only firm rule in the Game is that there can be no fighting on holy ground (see Immortal (Highlander)).
[edit] Potency of individual immortals
A number such as 1,104 (Duncan's supposed "stat" in the Watcher's database) is problematic. Such raw numbers would not reflect the true amount of an Immortal's power. The Kurgan, for example, was a greatly feared figure. We might presume that he had a great many Quickenings at the time of his defeat of Ramirez, at which point he would have become even more powerful. Connor, therefore, at his defeat of the Kurgan would have become exceptionally powerful, despite his relative youth and few victories. By the same token, Duncan defeated many powerful enemies, Kalas, Kronos, Xavier St. Cloud, and Grayson; all of whom would numerically count as one victory but actually indicate a great deal of power. It is therefore not so simple to say 1,104, since it does not indicate the aggregate amount of Quickenings contained in a single Immortal.
[edit] Kimmie/Immie
"Kimmie" is a term used by fans used to describe all evil Immortals, most of which had names that started with "K" or sounded like it. (e.g; Kalas, Kronos, Slan Quince, Caleb Cole, Kuyler, Kenny, Xavier St. Cloud, etc). "Immie" is a term used to describe all good immortals. There is also a term called "Fimmie" used to describe female Immortals, but it didn't catch on very well.
[edit] The Gathering
According to Duncan's introductory voiceover, the series is set during the time of The Gathering. However, as ever more Immortals were introduced as the series continued, the concept of the Gathering started to not fit well with the format of the series and was quietly dropped as a theme.
[edit] Watchers and Hunters
The Watchers are a secret society that covertly observes the lives of the Immortals without revealing themselves. Each Immortal is assigned a Watcher whose sole job is to monitor and record their activities. The Hunters, on the other hand, are an offshoot of the Watchers with the stated goal of killing all Immortals.
[edit] Location
Although Immortals are scattered around the world, the locations in the series are most notably located in Seacouver, Washington and in Paris, France. Flashbacks during the series often brought the show to a variety of locations, however. The series often switched locations from Seacouver to Paris at the midway point of each season, with the exception of season six. While in Paris, Duncan lived on a barge located on the Seine river. In Seacouver, Duncan firstly lived in his antiques store and then in an apartment above his martial arts dojo.
[edit] Narration
Each episode began with an opening montage of scenes from Duncan's life, over which was a narration giving a brief overview of the series' theme. The first few episodes of the first season were narrated by Duncan himself:
| “ | 'I'm Duncan MacLeod, born four hundred years ago in the Highlands of Scotland. I am Immortal and I am not alone. For centuries we've waited for the time of the Gathering, when the stroke of a sword and a fall of a head will release the power of the Quickening. In the end, there can be only one.' | ” |
This narration was slightly changed in the show's seventh episode, "Mountain Men" (again by Duncan):
| “ | 'I was born four hundred years ago in the Highlands of Scotland. I am immortal and I am not alone. Now is the time of the Gathering, when the stroke of a sword will release the power of the Quickening. In the end, there can be only one.' | ” |
The narration changed again in the second season when Watcher Joe Dawson was introduced (narrative by Joe):
| “ | 'He is immortal, born in the Highlands of Scotland four hundred years ago. He is not alone. There are others like him, some good, some evil. For centuries he has battled the forces of Darkness, with Holy Ground his only refuge. He cannot die, unless you take his head and with it, his power. In the end there can be only one. He is Duncan MacLeod, the Highlander.' | ” |
The narration changed again at the beginning of the fourth season and remained until the end of the series' run (narrative by Joe):
| “ | 'He is Duncan MacLeod, the Highlander. Born in 1592 in the Highlands of Scotland and he is still alive. He is immortal. For four hundred years he's been a warrior. A lover. a wanderer; constantly facing other Immortals in combat to the death. The winner takes his enemy's head and with it, his power. I'm a Watcher, part of the secret society of men and women who observe and record, but never interfere. We know the truth about Immortals. In the end there can be only one. May it be Duncan MacLeod, The Highlander.' | ” |
Contrast this with the opening narration by Ramírez (Sean Connery) at the beginning of the movie:
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- "From the dawn of time we came, moving silently down through the centuries. Living many secret lives, struggling to reach the time of the gathering, when the few who remain will battle to the last. No one has ever known we were among you.....until now."
[edit] Episodes
[edit] Spin-Offs
[edit] Movies
The story later continued in the Highlander: Endgame movie. A new movie is planned for 2007, called Highlander: The Source. The movie will feature Adrian Paul as Duncan MacLeod, Peter Wingfield as Methos and Jim Byrnes as Joe Dawson.
The rights to the Highlander franchise fell back to Davis-Panzer Productions several years after Highlander: Endgame; when this happened Peter Davis approached Adrian Paul to star and executive produce the fifth movie. Adrian Paul had for some time wanted to come back and improve upon the fourth film which he admits was not put together as well as it could have been.
[edit] The Raven Series
Plans for a spin-off series led to a group of sixth-season episodes focusing on five new female Immortals (called Fimmies by fandom) in the original Highlander series. The candidates were introduced; such as Alex Raven (played by Dara Tomanovich), Katherine (played by Claudia Christian), Kyra (played by Alice Evans), Katya (played by Justina Vail), and Reagan Cole (played by Sandra Hess). Ironically, none of the new characters introduced in the spin-off episodes proved satisfactory, and the spin-off went to Elizabeth Gracen as the popular character Amanda. For a variety of reasons, including the changing market for syndicated drama and generally weak ratings, the spin-off only lasted one season. See Highlander: The Raven.
[edit] The Methos Chronicles
The 2001 The Methos Chronicles was an animated Internet Flash-series based on Methos, a character drawn from the television series. Peter Wingfield was the voice actor for the main character of the short series, which lasted only one eight-episode season. There was some plan to develop a live-action series in the early 2000s, and Peter Wingfield was willing to participate. However, since then there hasn't been any significant news, as many of the series' fans are quite fond of Methos.
[edit] Books and Comics
Books
- Highlander: The Element of Fire, by Jason Henderson — The chronicles of Duncan's training days with Connor MacLeod; the friendship between the two Highlanders through the centuries. A bloodthirsty and immortal pirate Khordas vows to kill the Highlander, making up for a fearsome enemy that haunts them for hundreds of years.
- Highlander: Scimitar, by Ashley McConnell - When Joe Dawson receives an ancient sword, it triggers Duncan's remembrance of his involvement in the Arab Revolt in 1916.
- Highlander: Scotland the Brave, by Jennifer Roberson - Annie Devlin returns to draw Duncan into a new quest to win independence for Scotland. He is reluctant, given his history with failed attempts to free his homeland, including his culpability in the fate of the Stone of Scone.
- Highlander: Measure of a Man by Nancy Holder - In Venice, Italy 1655, Duncan meets legendary manipulator - and, apparently, Immortal - Niccolò Machiavelli. Duncan only narrowly escaped Machiavelli's machinations once; he may not be so lucky when the Prince of Lies resurfaces in 20th Century North America.
- Highlander: The Path by Rebecca Neason - In 1781 Duncan meets a different kind of Immortal - the Dalai Lama. Soon the Highlander embarks on the path to enlightenment and peace. But that peace may be short-lived when the Immortal Nasiradeen invades Tibet.
- Highlander: Zealot by Donna Lettow - Duncan MacLeod was there when Avram Mordecai fought the enemies of his Jewish people in World War II, as he has for two thousand years. Now he finds himself trapped between his honor and his loyalties when he protects a Palestinian diplomat from his old friend.
- Highlander: Shadow of Obsession by Rebecca Neason - Once Darius was a man of war, laying siege to Rome. Centuries later, as a man of God, Darius touched the life of Duncan MacLeod. Now a spurned lover from Darius' warrior days returns for revenge against all he called friend.
- Highlander: The Captive Soul by Josepha Sherman - Three millennia past, Methos aided the Ancient Egyptian pharaohs when the Hyksos invaded. He reluctantly becomes a spy inside the Hyksos royal house, when he meets the Immortal - and thoroughly insane - Prince Khyan. Methos misses his chance to take the madman's head, a mistake that returns to haunt him as the Oldest Immortal in New York when Khyan returns to find his sword, killing all in his path.
- Highlander: White Silence by Ginjer Buchanan - MacLeod, Hugh Fitzcairn and his young apprentice get trapped in the frozen Yukon. There they face their deaths... over and over and over again.
- Highlander: An Evening at Joe's - An anthology written by the cast and crew of Highlander: The Series.
Comics: Starting October 2006, comic stores will see the arrival of the first issue of a Highlander comic book based on the Highlander movies and TV series. Following the TV series's continuity, the first comic arc, written by Brandon Jerwa and Michael Avon Oeming, follows Connor MacLeod after defeating The Kurgan.
[edit] Trivia
- The series shared the film's theme song, Queen's "Princes Of The Universe". In addition the song "Who Wants to Live Forever", featured prominently in the movie, was used in the series. Also, the song "Don't Lose Your Head" could be heard in the "Free Fall" episode, guest starring rock star Joan Jett.
- The episode "Avenging Angel" features a swordfight between Immortals that appears to be on holy ground — however, the site is actually a Knights Templar museum displaying religious artifacts from the Crusades. The Knights Templar were excommunicated from the Roman Catholic Church, and thus a loophole from the "holy ground" concept emerges. The confusion arises because footage from this fight is seen in the opening credits of later episodes as the narrator speaks of holy ground.
- "Comes a Horseman," "Revelation 6:8," "Band of Brothers," and "Homeland" are held by many fans to be perhaps the best episodes of the series.[citation needed]
- Singers who have appeared as guest/regular characters:
- Roger Daltrey (Hugh Fitzcairn) - lead singer of The Who
- Roland Gift (Xavier St. Cloud) - lead singer of the Fine Young Cannibals
- Dee Dee Bridgewater (Carolyn in "The Beast Below") - jazz singer
- Martin Kemp (Alfred Cahill in "Avenging Angel") - Spandau Ballet
- Sheena Easton (Annie Devlin in "An Eye For an Eye")
- Joan Jett (Felicia Martins in "Free Fall")
- Vanity (Rebecca Lord in "Revenge is Sweet") - singer (from group Vanity 6).
- Marcus Testory (Caspian in "Revelation 6:8") - lead singer of M.E.L.T.. The song featured during the Quickening in "The Modern Prometheus" was composed and performed by Testory and his band.
- Sandra Bernhard (Carolyn Marsh in "Dramatic License")
- The character "Duncan MacLeod" was ranked #11 in TV Guide's list of the "25 Greatest Sci-Fi Legends" (1 August 2004 issue).
- Werner Stocker (Darius) was unable to shoot the last episode of the first season "The Hunters," due to cancer. That episode, which opened with his character's murder, edited together existing footage from earlier episodes for the first scenes. Stocker died by the time the episode was aired on TV. Although his character had been always planned to die, his role in that episode was originally to be much larger.
- Jim Byrnes, who plays Joe Dawson, also contributed many songs to the show's soundtrack. Some of these can frequently be heard as background music during scenes in Joe's bar.
- Early in the second season, Alexandra Vandernoot told the producers she didn't want to be on the show anymore — which lead the writers to kill her character off in "The Darkness."
- The pilot episode, "The Gathering," was originally intended as the third "Highlander" sequel, a TV-movie with a two-hour running time. Eventually, the budget was too low, and Christopher Lambert didn't agree to star until late in production, so the idea was scrapped and the episode teleplay was rewritten down to an hour.
- "Archangel" was to be a cliffhanger setting up Season 6. After Duncan kills Richie, he retreats to a monastery for one year. Season 6 picks up after that year, and Ahriman has taken control over most of the world. There is a rebellion. Joe and Methos find Duncan in the monastery, and talk him into getting back into the fight. Season 6 was to concern that struggle. Apparently, Adrian Paul wanted less involvement in Highlander so he could pursue his movie career. Thus, a new, more-truncated ending to the series was designed.
- According to series swordmaster Bob Anderson, the sparking effects when swords clashed were generated by hooking one sword up to the positive terminal of a 12-volt battery, and the other sword up to the negative lead. In some cases, when this was unfeasible, special effects were added in post-production.
- The number of immortals in the series is implied to be substantially larger than the Immortals in the movies. In Highlander: Endgame, Duncan is said to have beheaded around 176 Immortals (whilst in the series, it seems more due to his renewed activity in the 1990s). Connor MacLeod scored around 260 Quickenings, and their rival, Jacob Kell, an astounding 666 Quickenings. It is also implied that Methos probably has the largest numbers of Quickenings, due to his old age, but is perhaps not necessarily the strongest.
- If you add up the number of Quickenings Duncan has experienced, the number of Connor's, and Jacob Kell's, which Duncan received from beheading both men, the number reaches 1,104.
- The episode "Band of Brothers" shows the battlefield of Waterloo covered with snow, despite the fact that the battle happened on June 18, 1815, in the warmest time of year.
[edit] References
- The Nitpicker's Guide to Highlander
- Highlander Page for Beginners
- The shows and movies summed up
- Highlander comics preview
- Unofficial Highlander WWW and Mailing list Archive Site
[edit] External links
- Highlander at the Internet Movie Database
- Highlander II: The Quickening at the Internet Movie Database
- Highlander: The Final Dimension at the Internet Movie Database
- Highlander: Endgame at the Internet Movie Database
- Highlander: The Source at the Internet Movie Database
- Highlander: The Raven at the Internet Movie Database
- Highlander: The Raven at TV.com
- Parisian and Scottish locations at:
http://www.phys.ualberta.ca/~jdejong/personal/hl/highland.html
Categories: Articles with unsourced statements since February 2007 | All articles with unsourced statements | Canadian science fiction television series | First-run syndicated television programs | Highlander television series | Television series by CBS Paramount Television | Vancouver television series | Highlander universe
