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Twin Peaks

Twin Peaks was a cult television series created by David Lynch and Mark Frost, and directed by Lynch, Frost, and others (Lynch invited various directors to guest-direct particular episodes). It was co-produced by Aaron Spelling's production company and ran for two seasons on the ABC network in the United States from April 8, 1990 until 1991.

This was a genre-busting series which explored small-town USA via the eponymous town of Twin Peaks. The pilot was filmed in the real-life town of Snoqualmie, Washington, not far from Seattle, in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains.

With a particularly haunting theme tune by the composer Angelo Badalamenti, and songs sung by Julee Cruise, the series set out to establish its credentials from the very outset as hip, urban, ironic, and knowing. The series opened on the murder investigation of a high-school girl, Laura Palmer (Sheryl Lee). The gradual unravelling of the tale exposed the darker secrets and unreal lives of the town's inhabitants. As with much of Lynch's other work (such as Blue Velvet), Twin Peaks is largely concerned with the difference between the veneer of respectability and the seamier side of life lying beneath the surface. It's also an argument against the rationalism of the mystery genre, since dream analysis and intuitive techniques are treated as valid investigative techniques.

The series is particularly memorable for the performance by the actor Kyle MacLachlan as Special Agent Dale Cooper, who had the most famous line from the series (which became a catch phrase): "That is a damn fine cup of coffee."

The overseas (non-US) version of the pilot episode included additional footage. It was released theatrically overseas as a stand-alone story, 20 minutes longer than the TV pilot, with a different ending added to it to bring closure to the story.

A prequel movie of the series, Fire Walk With Me, was subsequently made by Lynch who co-wrote the script with Bob Engels (a writer from the series).

Characters

The FBI

• Special Agent Dale Cooper
• Albert Rosenfield, abrasive forensics expert
• Chief Gordon Cole, Cooper's boss

Twin Peaks Police Department

• Sherriff Harry S. Truman, lover of Josie Packard
• Deputy Andy Brennan, dorky sidekick, lover of Lucy
• Deputy Hawk, tracker
• Lucy Moran, dizzy receptionist

The Sawmill

• Josie Packard, widowed sawmill owner, lover of Sherriff Truman
• Catherine Packard Martell, scheming with lover Ben Horne to burn the mill
• Pete Martell, long-suffering husband of Catherine

The Palmers

• Laura Palmer, murder victim, connected to almost everyone in town
• Leland Palmer, Laura's father
• Sarah Palmer, Laura's psychic mother
• Maddie Ferguson, Laura's identical cousin

The Johnsons

• Leo Johnson, brutish trucker, drug-runner
• Shelly Johnson, wife of Leo, lover of Bobby Briggs

The Briggses

• Major Garland Briggs, pompous war veteran
• Betty Briggs, long-suffering wife and mother
• Bobby Briggs, rebellious teenager, drug-runner, lover of Shelly Johnson

The Hornes

• Benjamin Horne, owner of half the town, lover of Catherine Martell
• Jerry Horne, Ben's playboy brother
• Audrey Horne, Ben's sultry teenage daughter, an amateur sleuth
• Johnny Horne, Ben's mentally handicapped son

The Haywards

• Dr Hayward, coroner
• Eileen Hayward
• Donna Hayward, Laura's best friend, lover of James Hurley

The Hurleys

• Big Ed Hurley, gas stop owner, lover of Norma Jennings
• Nadine Hurley, Ed's drape-obsessed wife
• James Hurley, adopted son, lover of Donna Hayward

The Jenningses

• Norma Jennings, diner owner, lover of Big Ed Hurley
• Hank Jennings, paroled criminal

The Renaults

• Jacques Renault, Canadian, croupier, drug-runner
• Bernard Renault, his murdered brother

Others

• Dr Lawrence Jacoby, mad psychiatrist
• Margaret, the Log Lady
• The Log, who sees things

The Enigmas

• The Man From Another Place, enigmatic dwarf
• Mike, the one-armed man
• Bob, dark spirit