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Forever Knight
Screenshot from the opening credits of Forever Knight
Format	Drama
Created by	Barney Cohen James D. Parriott
Starring	Geraint Wyn Davies Catherine Disher Nigel Bennett Ben Bass Deborah Duchêne Blu Mankuma Natsuko Ohama John Kapelos Lisa Ryder Gary Farmer
Country of origin	Canada  United States
No. of episodes	72 (List of episodes)
Production
Running time	60 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel	CBS
Original run	1992 – 1996
External links
IMDb profile
TV.com summary

Forever Knight is a Canadian-German-American television series about Nick Knight, an 800-year-old vampire working as a detective in modern day Toronto. Nicholas is an unlikely vampire and an even less likely civil servant, seeking to repay society for his sins.

Contents 1 Origin 2 Synopsis 3 Recurring cast 3.1 Season One 3.2 Season Two 3.3 Season Three 4 Reception 5 Episode list 6 References 7 External links

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.

Nicholas de Brabant’s life is one of profound struggle. He is at constant odds with the nature of who he is (a monster, a natural predator), and his unending quest to be human again. His desires (both carnal and humanitarian) seem to equally get the best of him. Helping him achieve his mortality is Dr. Natalie Lambert (Catherine Disher), a medical examiner who accidentally discovers the truth about Nick and vows to help him. Through the series there evolves a budding (albeit forbidden for obvious reasons) romance between Nick and Natalie, constantly complicated by the presence of Nick's vampire family who are never far from him.

The beautiful vampire Janette du Charme (Deborah Duchêne) is a very powerful influence over Nick, for they are not only bound by their very natures but by their master and their quite literal eternal love for one another. While Nick might love Natalie for her mortality and her tireless devotion to his cause, Nick loves Jeanette for their deep abiding history and almost preternatural bond. Janette is also a "safe" way for Nick to indulge his vampire urges.

The most powerful force in Nick’s life, however, is Lucien De LaCroix (Nigel Bennett), the vampire master who brought both Nicholas and Jeanette across. There seems to be a more than coincidental irony here in that his name translates into English as, "LIGHT OF THE CROSS". Nick both hates and loves LaCroix, despising him for bringing him into a life of darkness but also bound by an unshakable loyalty to him. While Jeanette might be mildly amused by Nick’s desire to be human, LaCroix fosters no such tolerance. LaCroix harbors a deeply-felt, and oft-obsessive fatherly love for Nicholas, and their relationship is very much one of unholy father and son. LaCroix not only thwarts every attempt Nick makes to achieve his goal, he mocks his quest with cold derision. LaCroix wants nothing more than for Nick to leave the world of the living and unite with his “family” and especially him once more. This seems to be all the more apparent when Nick learns about who brought LaCroix across. LaCroix was a general in the Roman army, known as Lucius, and he lived in Pompeii. He returned from the war(?) a hero and had a bust created in his honour. Lucius was in love with a woman named Selene who had a young pre-teen daughter named Divia (Kathryn Long) whom he embraced as his own daughter. While he was away Divia became ill, and when he returned she was better again. When Vesuvius had the temerity to erupt during the General's victory/homecoming celebration Divia asked Lucius if he wanted to live and upon receiving an answer in the affirmative she brought him across.

Later on, the two traveled to Egypt where they found the tomb of her maker, Qa’Ra, an ancient vampire who lived before the pyramids were built. Lucius is told that Divia destroyed him because he thought that he controlled her. She tells Lucius that the only reasons for her becoming a vampire were because she was purely evil and because she was so young. She wanted to forge her own path and killed him. When she tries to induce her former mortal father to make love to her he recoils in fear and disgust and so decapitates her. In the third season, Divia returns with the intention of killing LaCroix for his betrayal. Instead, she decides it would be more painful to LaCroix if she first kills his friends Vachon and Urs. In a final act of cruelty, she attempts to kill Nick, knowing LaCroix loves him like a son. Believing she has succeed, she confronts LaCroix, taunts him with Nick's death, and tries to kill him. Nick arrives in time to save LaCroix.

Adding delightful comic relief and a refreshing counterpoint to Wyn Davies’ Knight, Nick’s season one and two partner Don Schanke (John Kapelos) is an outrageous, crude, yet charming character. Much of the success of Nick’s "mortal" development can be attributed to his annoying yet beloved "Schanke," as Schanke’s happy-go-lucky, no-nonsense approach to life often shadows Nick’s permanent melancholy. It is important to note that Kapelos was the only actor from the pilot to carry over into the series.

In the third and final season, the character of Schanke was killed off and replaced with a female partner by the name of Tracy Vetter (Lisa Ryder). Ryder’s character was surprisingly multifaceted, for during the course of the season she herself discovers the truth about vampires and falls in love with a young vampire (Javier Vachon) played by Ben Bass; however, Tracy did not discover that Nick himself was a vampire until moments before her own violent death at the end of the series. Her final, slightly reproachful words to him were "You could’ve trusted me."

Overall the first two seasons offered dramatic stories, but also moments of humor and levity. The third season took a darker turn with less levity, more fatalism, and less hope for redemption.

Each season had its own special guest stars one time or another, and a variety of recurring characters. Below is each season and who returned in episodes in that season. Nick Knight, Lucien LaCroix, and Natalie were each in most episodes, and Janette was in the first two seasons and one episode in season three.

• Geraint Wyn Davies—Detective Nick Knight
• Nigel Bennett—Lucien LaCroix
• Deborah Duchêne—Janette
• Catherine Disher—Natalie Lambert
• John Kapelos—Detective Donald Schanke
• Gary Farmer—Captain Joe Stonetree

• Geraint Wyn Davies—Detective Nick Knight
• Nigel Bennett—Lucien LaCroix
• Deborah Duchêne—Janette
• Catherine Disher—Natalie Lambert
• John Kapelos—Detective Donald Schanke
• Natsuko Ohama—Captain Amanda Cohen

• Geraint Wyn Davies—Detective Nick Knight
• Nigel Bennett—Lucien LaCroix
• Deborah Duchêne—Janette (one episode)
• Catherine Disher—Natalie Lambert
• Ben Bass—Javier Vachon
• Lisa Ryder—Detective Tracy Vetter
• Blu Mankuma—Captain Joe Reese
• Greg Kramer—Screed
• Kristin Lehman—Urs

While Forever Knight always had a devoted fanbase, it was more of a cult phenomenon than a commercial success. On several occasions its cancellation was announced only to be rescinded after protest campaigns from its fans. In another example of fan effort, Forever Knight is currently being released on DVD, with all three seasons in stores. While season one is a “no frills” release, season two boasts many extras in the form of commentaries, interview and featurette, much to the delight of FK’s fans. Season three also contains bonus previews and three music videos.

One unusual aspect of this show was that it was syndicated in several countries and many episodes were filmed with different length versions to accommodate local broadcasting schedules. Although it has been widely rumored that there were some scenes featuring nudity for airing overseas, viewers in Germany have stated that those scenes never existed. There has never been confirmation from any reputable source that the scenes were ever filmed at all.

After a summer run on CBS, the show lasted for three seasons in first-run syndication and was later re-run on the SciFi Channel.

There have been three novels written based on the series: A Stirring of Dust by Susan Sizemore, Intimations of Mortality by Susan M. Garrett, and These Our Revels by Anne Hathaway Nayne. Because of their scarcity, all three books are considered collector’s items.

The episode “Curiouser and Curiouser” was nominated for several Gemini Awards in the 1995-1996 ceremony, including Nigel Bennett’s winning performance for Best Supporting Actor.

Forever Knight was voted number 23 in TV Guide’s Top 25 Cult TV Shows of All Time special issue, May 2004.

Main article: List of Forever Knight episodes

• Nick Knight (pilot movie) at the Internet Movie Database
• Forever Knight at the Internet Movie Database