Many television shows have made the leap to DVD in recent years, but no studio has yet bit off a bigger challenge than MPI who is planning to release the original gothic soap opera Dark Shadows in its entirety to DVD. The immensity of this project comes from the fact that being a daily soap opera, the television program aired over 1,200 episodes. And like many daily programs, the original masters were not kept or organized in any manner. Although some episodes have simply disappeared since their premiere thirty five years ago, MPI will do its best to present the show as close to entirety as possible.

The story of Dark Shadows begins with newly hired governess Victoria Winters arriving at Collinwood, the Collins“ estate in Collinsport, Maine in search of her mysterious origins. She soon is caught up in the strange events and mysteries that seem to surround the Collins family. Eventually, the Collins” “cousin from England”, Barnabas Collins, arrives and takes the show in a new direction; his vampire curse introduces a new history of the Collins family. Part of this revised history is the popular character of the witch Angelique whose jealously led to the tragic death of Barnabas’ great love Josette and who placed the curse upon Barnabas.

Set one of the series will come with 40 uncut episodes of the series, leaving only 1,205 episodes to go. The set will also include interviews with the cast and crew of the original series.

The first set of episodes is scheduled to arrive on May 28th.