by Stephanie Allard
This weekend a population of 51,201 will be coming to the Cameo cinema. One can only imagine the aroma of damn fine coffee and cherry pie that will be lingering in the air. Perhaps a few seats being occupied by a log or two, and if you listen carefully, the faint sound of that instantly recognisable smooth jazz as people enter the cinema. That’s right, It’s been twenty five years since we heard from the small, isolated American town of Twin Peaks, a town utterly separated & unique from the real world. Last year, it was announced that co-creators Mark Frost and David Lynch are teaming up to once again bring their talent for complex story telling back to our screens in 2017, with a whole new 18 episode season. As a result, the Cameo cinema have teamed up with the Twin Peaks UK Festival to screen every episode back to back of the original two series’, starting this Saturday morning and ending early evening the following day. So, for those Twin Peaks virgins who will be venturing into the unknown, here is a little taste of what to expect from this not so peaceful little town…
It started with a body. The body of murdered homecoming queen and apparent community saint Laura Palmer. This event is the beginning of the undoing of the town. Dark secrets are revealed and the once respected community is exposed as a population drenched in crime, sordid lifestyles and violence. It is exposed by the peculiar yet brilliant newcomer, FBI agent Dale Cooper and the Twin Peaks sheriff department, headed by typical good guy Sheriff Harry Truman. This narrative and the surrounding stories are injected with elements of the supernatural, melodrama and at times glimpses of horror as it delves deeper into the lives of those living in Twin Peaks.
The shows chances of being a hit were said to be slim by many at the time of its release, due to it being so undeniably different. Despite this, it gathered positive feedback and a large amount of cult following that has stayed with it to this day. Even watching the series for the first time today, its ideas of social dysfunction in a secluded town, and the danger of the surrounding wilderness on an ever-changing world is paired with witty and captivating scripts, and an evocative soundtrack which has to be up there with the best TV soundtracks of all time. All of this gives Twin Peaks the power to fill viewers with laughter, intense fear, bewilderment and despair all in one episode. There hasn’t appeared to be anything like it before or since. In 2017, Lynch and Frost will be bringing these much loved characters back to our screens with a seemingly nearly full returning cast, and hopes are high that 25 years later the town of Twin Peaks will be just as delightfully disturbing as it was back then.