Forever Knight
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
The series followed the adventures of Nick Knight, a Toronto cop working the graveyard shift with his partner Donald Schanke. Unbeknownst to most of his colleagues, Nick is actually Nicholas, an 800-year-old vampire. Remorseful over centuries spent as a vampiric cold-hearted killer, Nicholas works as a cop and often ends up using his special abilities to bring criminals to justice. Whenever he works on his cases, Nicholas remembers similar situations from previous lifetimes and these appear as flashbacks in the episodes. Nicholas 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 city medical examiner who doesn't like Nicholas using 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 LaCroix, who was a general in the early Roman Empire, and who was turned into a vampire by his daughter Divia as Pompeii erupted in 79AD, originally made Nick a vampire in 1228. Janette was also 'brought across' by LaCroix, before he brought Nick across. They were Nick's companions for many centuries until he left them, seeking redemption and a way to reclaim his lost humanity. Janette now runs a night club, while LaCroix works as a late-night talk radio host. While 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 gets the assignment due to her father's high-ranking position in the police force. Tracy finds herself increasingly attracted to Javier Vachon, also a new character, who is a vampire who had been a conquistador in life. Nick and Vachon know about each other, and Tracy knows about Vachon being a vampire, but she never knows 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. Nick is faced with the choice to either move on 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
- Gary Farmer as Captain Joe Stonetree
- Natsuko Ohama as Captain Amanda Cohen
- Ben Bass as Javier Vachon
- Lisa Ryder as Detective Tracy Vetter
- Blu Mankuma as Captain Joe Reese
- Greg Kramer as Screed
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.The concept of vampires in the Forever Knight universe
Vampires in society
Forever Knight originated the concept of a sympathetic vampire detective in popular culture. As such, it is seen as a direct precursor to other vampire detective/investigator shows such as Angel and Blood Ties. It also influenced shows featuring more broadly supernatural detectives, such as The Dresden Files.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. The Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation is series star Geraint Wyn Davies' favoured charity; the "Bridging the Knight" fan event also raised money for Casey House, an AIDS hospice in Toronto, helped in part by donations from Forever Knight producer Nicolas Gray, as well as the series' actors and crew.
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 gunshot, blunt force trauma, or blade. Vampires in the Forever Knight universe also display the powers of super strength and speed, enhanced senses, flight and a degree of hypnotism/mind control. However, Nick's hypnotism does not always work, especially if the victim has physical evidence that proves opposite to what Nick would have him or her believe. Vampires in the Forever Knight universe are not reanimated corpses as 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. It is also never shown that they needed to turn into mist, fog or any other substance to get into or out of small spaces to enter or leave an area.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's never been rerun.
Home media
has released the entire series on DVD in Region 1 in 3 volume sets. Madman Entertainment released the entire series in Region 4, in the same format.In other media
Novels
There have been three novels written based on the series:Soundtracks
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, but was taken off the list in 2007.| Year | Award | Category/Recipient | Result |
| 1992 | Golden Reel Award | Best Sound Editing - Television Episodic - Effects & Foley
| |
| 1993 | Gemini Award | Best Sound in a Dramatic Program or Series | |
| 1993 | Gemini Award | Best Photography in a Dramatic Program or Series | |
| 1993 | Gemini Award | Best Performance by an Actor in a Continuing Leading Dramatic Role | |
| 1993 | Gemini Award | Best Performance by a Supporting Actor | |
| 1993 | Gemini Award | Best Direction in a Dramatic Program or Mini-Series | |
| 1994 | Gemini Award | Best Photography in a Dramatic Program or Series | |
| 1994 | Gemini Award | Best Performance by an Actress in a Continuing Leading Dramatic Role | |
| 1994 | Gemini Award | Best Dramatic Series | |
| 1996 | Gemini Award | Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Dramatic Program or Mini-Series | |
| 1996 | Gemini Award | Best Performance by an Actress in a Continuing Leading Dramatic Role | |
| 1996 | Gemini Award | Best Performance by an Actor in a Continuing Leading Dramatic Role | |
| 1996 | Gemini Award | Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Dramatic Series | |
| 1997 | Gemini Award | Best Original Music Score for a Dramatic Series | |
| 1997 | Gemini Award | Best Dramatic Series |