Twin Peaks

Twin Peaks was a cult television series created by David Lynch and directed by David Lynch, Mark Frost, and others (Lynch invited various directors to guest-direct particular episodes). It ran initially for two seasons on the ABC network in the United States in 1990 and 1991.

This was a genre-busting series which explored small-town USA via the eponymous town of Twin Peaks. It was filmed in the real-life town of Snoqualmie, Washington, not far from Seattle, in the foothills of the Cascade Range.

With a particularly haunting theme tune by the composer Angelo Badalamenti, and songs by Julee Cruise, the series set out to establish its credentials from the very outset as hip, urban, ironic and knowing. The series was loosely based around a murder investigation into the death of a young high-school girl, Laura Palmer, and the gradual unravelling of the tale exposed the darker secrets and unreal lives of its often way-out inhabitants. As with much of Lynch's other work (such as Blue Velvet), Twin Peaks is largely concerned with the difference between the veneer of respectability and the seamier side of life lying beneath the surface. It's also an argument against the rationalism of the mystery genre, since dream analysis and intuitive techniques are treated as valid investigative techniques.

The series is particularly memorable for the performance by the actor Kyle MacLachlan as Special Agent Dale Cooper, who had the most famous line from the series (which became a catch phrase): 'That's a damn fine cup of coffee'.

A prequel movie of the series, Fire Walk With Me, was subsequently made by David Lynch. The overseas (non-US) version of the final episode included additional footage. The pilot episode also had a different ending added to it and was released as a stand-alone story.