For a television series to be regarded as successful these days it has to last more than a couple of seasons, and have a strong fan following. Series like Star Trek The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, Babylon 5, The X-Files and Sliders are all prime examples. But I would like you to consider another series – Highlander.

Now I know many of you are now sitting there scratching your heads thinking “Highlander? Never heard of it!” Believe me, I don’t blame you. It has not been shown on commercial stations here since about early 1995 (up until then Channel 7 did show it on an irregular basis late at night). Although for the last couple of years FOXTEL’s Fox 8 channel showed it right through from Season One to Season Six, finishing in June this year. They now show it on Sunday nights at 11pm.

The Movie

For those of you who have never seen Highlander, here is a brief background to the series. Highlander started off as a movie released in 1986. Although it wasn’t a box office success, it did gain a strong cult following. The film was directed by Australian Russell Mulcahy and produced by Bill Panzer and Peter S. Davis. The film starred Christopher Lambert who played Conner MacLeod, a Scottish warrior born in 1518. He is killed in battle, but returns from the dead and is banished from his village of Glenfinnan – labelled a witch.

A few years later he meets with Juan Sanchez Villa-Lobos Ramirez, played by Sean Connery. Ramirez explains to Conner that he is immortal and teaches him how to fight and explains about “The Game”, where immortals fight each other to the death (the only way an immortal can die is by decapitation), and receive the other immortal’s “quickening”. Which roughly translates into the other’s life force and experiences. He also explains that when there are very few immortals left, they will feel an irresistible urge to meet in a far off land. This is called “The Gathering”, and here they will fight for “The Prize”, because in the end “There Can Be Only One”.

The film flits back and forth between modern day New York, sixteenth century Scotland and a few other time periods in between. The film climaxes when MacLeod and his arch enemy The Kurgen, played with gusto by Clancy Brown, are the only two left and they battle to the death.

A few years later a sequel was made, which failed at the box office. But thanks to this far less superior film came the germination of an idea for a television series.

Season One

Highlander: The Series first aired in 1992, and its main character was not Conner MacLeod but his clansman Duncan (Adrian Paul) “I am Duncan MacLeod of the Clan MacLeod.” Duncan lives with his mortal lover Tessa Noel (Alexandra Vandenoot), whom he first meets when he jumps onto the boat on which she is acting as Tour Guide. “Is this the way you always make an entrance?” she enquires. They have an idyllic lifestyle running an antique store.

At the beginning of the series the couple have been together for twelve years. They met just at the time Duncan decided to temporally retire himself from “The Game”. But all that changes at the beginning of the first episode, called The Gathering, when Conner (Christopher Lambert) arrives. This episode also introduces another main character, a young street punk and thief Ritchie Ryan (Stan Kirsch) who comes across Duncan when he tries to steal a sword from the antique store and ends up witnessing a confrontation between Conner, Duncan and Slan Quince (Richard Moll) “Wow, I’m on like, ahh, America’s Funniest Home Videos right?”.

Having now established the three main characters, they were then pitted against a new baddie every week, who had to be defeated, whether immortal or mortal. Thankfully by the time production moved to Paris (Highlander is a co-production between Canada and France), in the episode Band of Brothers the creators decided to include into the mix a character called Darius (Werner Stoker) whom Duncan first meets while on the battlefields of Waterloo. “You shouldn’t be taking part in this tragedy” he tells Duncan. Darius is a friend and former teacher of Duncan’s, a Roman soldier who turned to the church after he killed an immortal Holy man at the gates of his church. Darius remains on Holy Ground, which is the only place immortals cannot fight.
The first season of any series will very rarely be its best, but as long as it can draw in an audience and show potential and live up to that potential, at least it’s a step in the right direction. Highlander was no different in this regard.

Season Two

A lot of changes took place early in Season Two. Alexandra Vandenoot asked to be released from her five-year contract, and her character Tessa was killed in a senseless act of violence. Also killed in the same incident is Ritchie, who we now discover is immortal. The first few weeks are spent with Duncan and Ritchie grieving over the death of Tessa, and training Ritchie how to fight to survive “The Game”. Duncan also sells the antique store and buys a run-down martial arts Dojo, owned by Charlie De Salvo (Phillip Akin), whom Duncan keeps on to manage the place.

Another new face brought in is that of Joe Dawson (Jim Byrnes): he is Duncan MacLeod’s Watcher. “We want the truth about immortals to survive, not a bunch of old wives’ tales.” The Watchers, we discover at the end of Season One/beginning of season two, are a secret society of mortals who for centuries have observed and recorded all about immortals. They observe but never interfere – until now.

We are first introduced to the Watchers in the last episode of season one “The Hunters”, when renegade Watcher James Horton (Peter Hudson) decides that all immortals are an abomination who want to rule the world and keep mortals in slavery. He and his followers, armed with their knowledge of immortals, begin their campaign to rid the world of them by hunting them down and killing them. Because they are not governed by the rules of “The Game”, they are able to kill on Holy Ground, so one of their victims is Darius. Horton tells his followers, “We have destroyed a malignant evil that has walked this earth in the form of a man for the last 2000 years.”

When Duncan first meets Joe Dawson in the episode “The Watchers” he is understandably suspicious of Joe (especially when he discovers Horton is Joe’s brother-in-law) and anything to do with the organisation he works for. Over the next few years you observe the constant conflict and growing friendship between these two characters.

Season Two also re-introduces the character Amanda (Elizabeth Gracen) whom we are first introduced to in season one’s Lady and the Tiger. Amanda is a thief with a heart of gold: “Why take a man’s head when you can have his gold.” She infuriates MacLeod, because whenever she turns up trouble is sure to follow. She will appear several times over the next few years, always ready to add a little spice and a lot of chaos into Duncan’s well-organised life.

Season Three

Season Three will see the return of Hugh Fitzcairn (Roger Daltrey), “Hugh Fitzcairn of the neither here nor there”, the womanising fun-loving layabout and one of Duncan MacLeod’s best friends. Fitz first showed up in the last episode of season one “The Hunters”, and although Season Three will see the demise of Hugh Fitzcairn at the hands of Kalas (David Robb) in the episode “Star Crossed”, it is by no means the last time we will see the lovable Fitz. One of the advantages of a series that has flashbacks as part of its format.

Season Three would also bring a new love interest for Duncan, Doctor Anne Lindsay (Lisa Howard). Whereas Tessa knew of Duncan’s immortality, Anne does not and Duncan tries to hide this from her, which inevitably leads to conflict and misunderstanding between them. When Anne witnesses Duncan die, he leaves for Paris believing it is in her best interest that she believes him to be dead. But after talking to an old friend Duncan realises he is being unfair to Anne by making this decision for her. He gets in touch with her and she comes to stay with him in Paris and he explains everything. Although Anne does try to accept all that Duncan has told her, in the end she decides that she can not cope and the relationship ends. Telling Duncan, “I can’t live my life like this Duncan. I thought I could, but I can’t.”

With the unexpected death from cancer of Werner Stoker who played Darius, the show was without an ancient immortal, someone whom Duncan could learn from. By season Three the creators had thought up a possible replacement. This immortal would be a lot older than Darius, who was over 2000 years old at the time of his death at the hands of James Horton.

Methos (Peter Wingfield) is over 5000 years old and everyone believes he is a myth, and Methos intends to keep it that way. In his guise as Watcher Adam Pierson, he is in Research and is responsible for the Methos Chronicles. “I’m in charge of finding myself and I make sure it never happens” he tells Duncan.

Unsure how the fans would take to this character the creators had allowed themselves a way out, by killing the character off if necessary. But they need not have worried, the fans really took to this enigma called Methos. Although he appears in only 21 of the 119 episodes he has become second in popularity after Duncan MacLeod.