TELEVISION PERFECTION

"She's de-e-ead! Wrapped in plasss-tic!" 

When Pete Martell discovered the cellophaned corpse of homecoming queen Laura Palmer it was to be the start of a viewing experience the like of which I had never been seen before. No TV program before Twin Peaks arrived had ever affected me this way and none has since. It was to be the benchmark for all future shows - the standard by which television would now be judged. Unfortunately this never really materialised. While Twin Peaks has without doubt been a major influence in the past decade, it couldn't managed to change the viewing habits of a public used to being spoon-fed on a diet of predictable soaps and brain-numbing game shows. The more surreal it became, the more people deserted it, and the more its loyal followers became engrossed in it. At its best it was quite stunningly good while even the weaker episodes managed to hold on to that unique atmosphere and sense of dread that made Twin Peaks a true masterpiece of television.

Cult director David Lynch set out with Hill Street Blues veteran Mark Frost to create a surrealist parody of soap opera which was so unlike anything seen before that viewers couldn't help but talk about it. Full of deliberately over-the-top performances, it managed to delight, frustrate and downright confuse its audience worldwide. In an early scene from the pilot episode, when Sarah Palmer heard the news of her daughters death, her wailing cries down the telephone had people wondering whether they should be crying with her or laughing, such was the nature of the show. Twin Peaks went beyond the limits of traditional television from it's outset and remarkably managed to switch between comedy, that at times was almost slapstick, to white-knuckle horror, seamlessly integrating all genres of its medium.

The vision of Lynch and Frost meant the series became a phenomenon with quotes from the script being heard in everyday life - "a damn fine cup of coffee" and a slice of cherry pie became the staple diet of Peaks fans everywhere. By the end of it's first season it had slumped in the ratings as many admirers found that the show had become just too obtuse to follow. When the murderer was finally revealed in season two more people stopped watching and ultimately this was to be the demise of Twin Peaks but to any true fanatic it wasn't only about who killed Laura Palmer. For me it was about joining the townsfolk in that weird little place in the Pacific Northwest and completely forgetting that anything else in life existed for an hour each week.