Quentin Collins I

Quentin Collins is the name of several characters featured in the 1967-1971 ABC soap opera television series Dark Shadows. All variations of the character have been played by actor David Selby. The second Quentin Collins was actually the first one featured in the series, and is arguably the more popular of the two versions among fans, owing primarily to the fact that he was a werewolf.

Biography
In 1840, Quentin Collins was one of three brothers living at the gothic mansion known as Collinwood in the town of Collinsport, Maine. The favorite son of his mentally troubled father Daniel Collins, Quentin stood to inherit the entire family fortune. This position brought him into frequent conflict with his scheming brother, Gabriel (Christopher Pennock). Quentin was married to a woman named Samantha Drew, with whom he had a son named Tad.

While Tad was still a young boy, his father spent a great deal of time at sea. During this time, Quentin became close friends with a fellow seaman named Gerard Stiles (James Storm). While the two developed a deep friendship, Gerard secretly longed to be with Quentin's wife. At some point in 1839, Quentin had an affair with a woman named Joanna Mills. His wife Samantha eventually discovered the affair and secretly murdered Joanna, making it look as if she had taken her own life.

At one point, Quentin was committed to managing his family's business enterprises, but eventually forsook his professional pursuits in favor of studying the occult. Quentin also fancied himself an amateur inventor and used his knowledge of the occult to develop a device that he called his "Stairway Through Time". He persistently labored to build his staircase in a cellar room at Collinwood. It was Quentin's belief, that ascending the staircase could open a dimensional portal through which individuals could view and even interact with the future. What Quentin never realized however, was that his staircase also created a divergent parallel reality (this functioned as the genesis for several storylines which took place in parallel dimensions). Quentin's devotion towards his work gave Gerard the means by which to manipulate and ultimately betray him.

By 1840 Quentin's marriage with Samantha deteriorated even further, and she began spending more and more time with Gerard. Quentin meanwhile began having an affair with his son's governess, Daphne Harridge (Kate Jackson), the sister of Quentin's former lover, Joanna Mills.

Gerard meanwhile had fallen prey to the spirit of a disembodied warlock named Judah Zachery. Judah wanted revenge against the entire Collins family for sentencing him to death in the late 1600s. Judah's spirit took possession of Gerard Stiles and used him as a secret weapon against the Collins family. Working alongside a disreputable clergyman named Reverend Lamar Trask, Gerard convinced the local authorities that Quentin was a Satanist and that he had used his knowledge of the dark arts to murder a young woman named Lorna Bell, as well as his own brother-in-law, Randall Drew. Quentin was arrested and taken to prison. When his ailing father, Daniel, heard the news concerning Quentin's arrest, he changed his will leaving the entire Collins family fortune to Gerard Stiles.

With the aid of his brother Carl and his "distant" cousin Barnabas, Quentin escaped the gallows and eloped with Daphne Harridge. The two left Collinsport forever to make a new life for themselves.

Notes & Trivia
Both Quentin I and Quentin II had counterparts that appeared during the various Parallel Time story-arcs. Quentin I appeared in the 1841 Parallel Time arc, which began with episode 1186 and continued until the final episode of the series. Played once again by David Selby, there was very little to distinguish this version of Quentin from his mainstay 1840 counterpart. Quentin's first actual appearance in Parallel Time was in episode 1200. He appeared in a total of 14 Parallel Time episodes.

Episodes
Quentin Collins appeared in the following episodes of Dark Shadows 1113 1120 1121 1122 1123 1127 1128 1129 1132 1133 1136 1140 1142 1144 1145 1146 1147 1148 1150 1151 1153 1154  1156 1157 1158 1162 1165 1166 1170 1172 1174 1178 1180 1181  1183 1184 1185 1186 1189 1190 1191 1192 1193 1194 1195 1197  1200 1201 1202 1203 1204 1209 1210 1211 1212 1216 1220 1222  1227 1230