Forever Knight is a Canadian television series about Nick Knight, an 800-year-old vampire working as a police detective in modern-day Toronto, Ontario. Wracked with guilt for centuries of killing others, he seeks redemption by working as a homicide detective on the night shift while struggling to find a way to become human again. The series premiered on May 5, 1992, and concluded with the third-season finale on May 17, 1996.
Plot
Nick Knight is a Toronto police detective who works the with his partner. Unbeknownst to most of his colleagues, Nick is actually Nicholas, an 800-year-old vampire (his human
surname was reference to his status as a literal knight in medieval
France). Remorseful over centuries spent as a vampiric cold-hearted killer, Nicholas serves the public good as a police officer. He often uses his special abilities to bring criminals to justice. Whenever he works on his cases, Nicholas remembers similar situations from previous lifetimes which appear as flashbacks in the episodes. Nick explains his need to work on the night shift by claiming to have a skin disorder,
photodermatitis, which requires him to stay out of sunlight. Refusing to feed from humans, he survives by drinking bottled animal blood, something that most vampires find repulsive. The only human who knows his true nature is his friend Natalie Lambert, a
medical examiner who does not like when he uses his special powers as she believes it increases his need for blood.
Nick's ultimate dream is to find a way to become human once again, but his quest for redemption is complicated by the arrival of fellow vampires Lucien LaCroix and Janette DuCharme. Lucien was a general in the early Roman Empire who was turned into a vampire by his daughter Divia as Mount Vesuvius erupted in AD 79. Lucien made Nick a vampire in 1228. Lucien had already made Janette a vampire. They were Nick's companions for many centuries until he left them, seeking redemption and a way to reclaim his lost humanity. Janette runs a night club, while LaCroix works as a late-night talk radio host. Although Janette is scornful yet tolerant of Nicholas's new lifestyle, LaCroix actively attempts to seduce his protégé back to a more violent life.
During the series, Nick had two partners. For the first two seasons, it is Don Schanke. At the beginning of the third season, Detective Schanke dies in an airplane explosion caused by a bomber, and Nick is assigned a new partner, Tracy Vetter, a rookie detective who receives the assignment due to her father's high-ranking position in the police force. Tracy finds herself increasingly attracted to Javier Vachon, another vampire who had been a conquistador centuries earlier. Nick and Vachon know about each other, and Tracy knows about Vachon being a vampire, but she does not know Nick is also a vampire.
Although Nick continues to protect the "innocent" civilians, he faces circumstances that risk the exposure of the vampire community who, up until this time, were unknown to other humans. He is faced with the choice to either relocate or attempt to recapture his humanity through a method that puts Natalie's life in the balance. At that point, LaCroix appears and indicates the time to leave is near and he must either bring Natalie over or leave her to die. Nicholas decides that neither option is acceptable and hands LaCroix a wooden stake. We do not see what LaCroix does, but we hear him say, "Damn you, Nicholas," in stress and frustration, and the scene cuts out to the building where Nick lives and a shot of the sun rising. The ending is left to the viewers' interpretation, but the implication is that Nick dies with LaCroix's help, hoping to join Natalie in an afterlife.
Cast
-
Geraint Wyn Davies as Detective Nick Knight
-
Nigel Bennett as Lucien LaCroix
-
Deborah Duchêne as Janette DuCharme
-
Catherine Disher as Natalie Lambert
-
John Kapelos as Detective Donald Schanke (seasons 1 & 2)
-
Gary Farmer as Captain Joe Stonetree (season 1)
-
Natsuko Ohama as Captain Amanda Cohen (season 2)
-
Ben Bass as Javier Vachon (season 3)
-
Lisa Ryder as Detective Tracy Vetter (season 3)
-
Blu Mankuma as Captain Joe Reese (season 3)
-
Greg Kramer as Screed (season 3)
Production
Development
The series originated as a 1989
CBS television movie,
Nick Knight, with
Rick Springfield playing the title character.
In 1992, CBS began broadcasting the series as part of its
Crimetime After Primetime lineup, with a new name and with Geraint Wyn Davies now playing Nick Knight (using a pilot that had been re-shot with Davies).
Vampires in the Forever Knight universe
Vampires in society
Though not the first sympathetic vampire detective in fiction (
Hannibal King, a vampire private detective who similarly refused to indulge his blood lust, preceded him in the pages of
Marvel Comics'
Tomb of Dracula by some years),
Forever Knight helped popularize the concept. As such, it is seen as a direct precursor to other vampire detective/investigator shows such as
Angel and
Blood Ties.
In common with other vampire literature of the 1990s, when AIDS was a common societal anxiety, vampirism in Forever Knight is partly approached as a disease to be overcome.
Vampire powers
Nick Knight, as well as several other vampire characters, demonstrates a number of superhuman abilities. As a vampire, Nick has not aged throughout nearly 800 years of existence. In most cases, he is invulnerable to harm from gun shots, blunt force trauma, or blade. Vampires in the
Forever Knight universe display the powers of super strength and speed, enhanced senses, flight, and a degree of
hypnotism/
Brainwashing. However, Nick's hypnotism does not always work, especially if the victim has physical evidence that opposes what Nick would have him or her believe. Vampires in the
Forever Knight universe are not reanimated corpses; their hearts beat a few times every ten minutes, as is stated in one episode. None of the vampires turn into such things as bats, wolves, mist, or fog.
Two episodes reveal that vampirism in the Forever Knight universe is to some degree a psychosomatic condition. Although vampires suffer the standard aversion to garlic and combust in the presence of holy objects or sunlight, vampires that have forgotten what they are, due to suffering a physical or mental trauma, are completely unaffected by these things.
Episodes
The series aired on
CBS from May 5, 1992, to March 2, 1993, in first-run syndication from September 12, 1994, to July 24, 1995, and on
USA Network from September 11, 1995, to May 13, 1996, running for three seasons and a total of 70 episodes. Reruns were also seen in syndication during the mid-to-late 90s.
Sky UK in the United Kingdom broadcast it during 1995 on Sky One at 11pm, marking the only time it was shown in the UK, as it has never been rerun.[List of programmes broadcast by Sky One]
Home media
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has released the entire series on DVD in Region 1 (US only) in 3 volume sets. Madman Entertainment released the entire series in Region 4 (Australia), in the same format.
|
| Season One |
| Set Details | Notes |
-
22 Episodes
-
5-Disc Set (North America) / 6-Disc Set (Germany)
-
1035 minutes
-
1.33:1 Aspect Ratio
-
Subtitles: varies by region
-
English (Dolby Digital 2 0 Surround)
| colspan="2" style="text-align:left; width:400px;" |
-
The German release is in two parts, each containing 3 discs.
|
| Release Dates |
| North America | Germany | United Kingdom | Australia |
| 21 October 2003 | 19 February 2010 | | 1 July 2015 |
|
| Season Two |
| Set Details | Notes |
-
26 Episodes
-
6-Disc Set
-
1148 minutes
-
1.33:1 Aspect Ratio
-
Subtitles: English
-
English (Dolby Digital 2 0 Surround)
| colspan="2" style="text-align:left; width:400px;" |
-
The German release is in two parts, each containing 3 discs.
-
Commentaries
-
"Killer Instinct" by James D. Parriott and Geraint Wyn Davies
-
"Curiouser & Curiouser" by Nigel Bennett
-
"A More Permanent Hell" by Nigel Bennett
-
"Blood Money" by James D. Parriott and Geraint Wyn Davies
|
| Release Dates |
| North America | Germany | United Kingdom | Australia |
| 4 January 2005 | 27 May 2011 | | 2 September 2015 |
|
| Season Three |
| Set Details | Notes |
-
22 Episodes
-
5-Disc Set
-
969 minutes
-
1.33:1 Aspect Ratio
-
Subtitles: English, Spanish and French
-
English (Dolby Digital 2 0 Surround)
| colspan="2" style="text-align:left; width:400px;" |
-
Music videos:
-
Black Rose
-
The Hunger
-
Touch the Night
|
| Release Dates |
| North America | Germany | United Kingdom | Australia |
| 3 October 2006 | | | 14 October 2015 |
In other media
Novels
There have been three novels written based on the series:
Soundtracks
There have been two soundtrack CDs released that contain selections from the score. The first was released on 25 July 1996 and the second was released on 11 May 1999
Reception
Awards
Forever Knight was nominated for 13
Gemini Awards, and won once in 1996. It was also nominated for a Golden Reel Award in 1992, but did not win. It was ranked #23 on TV Guide's Top Cult Shows Ever in 2004,
[May 30 – June 5, 2004 issue of TV Guide.] but was taken off the list in 2007.
|
|
| 1992 | Golden Reel Award | Best Sound Editing - Television Episodic - Effects & Foley
| |
| 1993 | Gemini Award | Best Sound in a Dramatic Program or Series
| |
| Best Photography in a Dramatic Program or Series
| |
| Best Performance by an Actor in a Continuing Leading Dramatic Role
| |
| Best Performance by a Supporting Actor
| |
| Best Direction in a Dramatic Program or Mini-Series
| |
| 1994 | Gemini Award | Best Photography in a Dramatic Program or Series
| |
| Best Performance by an Actress in a Continuing Leading Dramatic Role
| |
Best Dramatic Series
-
James D. Parriott
-
Lionel E. Siegel
-
Nicholas J. Gray
-
Jon Slan
-
Richard Borchiver
| |
| 1996 | Gemini Award | Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Dramatic Program or Mini-Series
| |
| Best Performance by an Actress in a Continuing Leading Dramatic Role
| |
| Best Performance by an Actor in a Continuing Leading Dramatic Role
| |
| Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Dramatic Series
| |
| 1997 | Gemini Award | Best Original Music Score for a Dramatic Series
| |
Best Dramatic Series
-
Jon Slan
-
Richard Borchiver
-
James D. Parriott
| |
See also
-
Vampire film
-
Angel, an American TV series, also about a vampire seeking redemption after being cursed with a conscience.
-
List of vampire television series
External links
