Forever Knight

Plot synopsis:
The series followed the adventures of Nick Knight, a Toronto cop working the graveyard shift with his partner Donald Schanke. Unbeknownst to most of his colleagues, Nick is actually Nicholas, an 800-year-old vampire (his human name was a pun based on his status as a literal knight in medieval France). Remorseful over centuries spent as a vampiric cold-hearted killer, Nicholas works as a cop and often ends up using his special abilities to bring criminals to justice. Nicholas explains his need to work on the night shift by claiming to have a skin disorder, photodermatitis, which requires him to stay out of sunlight. Refusing to feed from humans, he survives by drinking bottled animal blood, something that most vampires find repulsive. The only one who knows his true nature is his friend Natalie Lambert, a city medical examiner who doesn't like for Nicholas to use his special powers as she believes it increases his need for blood.
Nick's ultimate dream is to find a way to become human once again, but his quest for redemption is complicated by the arrival of fellow vampires Lucien LaCroix and Janette DuCharme. LaCroix, who was born in the Roman Empire, and Janette, whom originally made Nick a vampire, were his companions for many centuries. Janette now runs a night club, while LaCroix works as a late-night talk radio host. While Janette is scornful yet tolerant of Nicholas's new lifestyle, LaCroix actively attempts to seduce his protégé back to a more violent life.
During the series, Nick had two partners. At the beginning of the third season, his first partner, Detective Schanke, is murdered, and he is partnered with Tracy Vetter, a rookie detective who gets the assignment due to her father's high-ranking position in the police force. Tracy is never aware of Nick's true nature but finds herself increasingly attracted to Javier Vachon, a vampire who had been a conquistador in life. Although Nick continues to protect the "innocent" civilians, he finally gets tired of the life he lives. Nick is faced with the choice to either move on or attempt to recapture his humanity through a method that puts Natalie's life in the balance. At that point LaCroix appears and indicates the time to leave is near and he must either bring Natalie over or leave her to die. Nicholas decides that neither option is acceptable and hands LaCroix a wooden stake. We do not see what LaCroix does, but we hear him say "Damn you, Nicholas" in stress and frustration, and the scene pans out to the building where Nick lives.
The ending is left to the viewers' interpretation but the implication is that Nick dies with LaCroix's help, hoping to join Natalie in an afterlife.

Tags: flashback

Review:
I started watching it on late night TV back when it was originally on (we picked up locally after Letterman) and found myself hooked.
There were very few uninteresting episodes (most were in the first season) and the acting and scripts done so seriously and so intelligently that one really could not help but respect the work that went into them.The show ended on the perfect note and the last season built steadily to that point.
Some channel surfers may have viewed Forever Knight merely as a "Vampire Cop" show.
If you have never seen this series, take the time to watch a few consecutive episodes always airing on the Sci-Fi channel, you won't be disappointed!.
It had a person(vampire) who was trying to use his talents to help the world.
Perhaps one of the two best tv vampire shows to ever air(dark shadows 1966 being the other)It was very disappointing that Sony Tristar demanded the show be cancelled during the middle of 3rd season.
After the backlash from angry fans, the show did make it thru five more shows including a series finale.(A finale most did not expect would happen in the way it did)There were 70 episodes all together.
I accidentally caught Forever Knight one morning on the Sci-Fi channel and instantly fell in love.
The mixture of drama, action, romance, and tongue-in-cheek humor makes it one of my favorite shows of all time.
The main character, Nicholas Knight, weaves an intricate web of love, loss, and pain while still holding the viewer captive in his spell.
Though Forever Knight could be summed up in two words--vampire cop--the series itself examined the aspects of humanity, and what it means to be human, through the eyes of a repentant vampire seeking to become mortal again.
Geraint Wyn Davies portrays Nick Knight with the perfect balance of menace and innocence, humor and heartache.
The supporting characters are well-rounded and adeptly played, particularly Nigel Bennett in the role of Lucien LaCroix, Nick's vampire master, who loves what he is.
Father, brother, devil's advocate to Nick's tormented vampire, he exhibits a feline grace and unflappable poise reminiscent of the late Yul Brynner..
I watched Forever Knight when I was younger, and I always liked it.
And, when you think of the vampire setting, its not like "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" where the vampires are pure evil and work for the devil....
The story of Forever Knight is a vampire named Nicholas Knight, who was brought across about 800 years ago.
MY favorite Character is Lucien LaCroix played by Nigel Bennett..
Forever Knight is a show about a vampire cop.
Forever Knight, Cult Classic.
Having to stay awake because of my newborn baby and trying to find anything on TV worth watching, at such a stupid time of night.
This is one of the only series I can watch today and it's still as great now as it was the first time I watched it.
A vampire while trying to regain humanity is playing the part of a police detective solving crimes.
This is a must see for anyone with wonderful taste in vampire series.
It was fantastic, Nick Knight is a vampire cop that hunts criminals, some like him, some human.The episodes were well written and filmed with a dark ambiance reflecting the series theme.It similar to Highlander with the character being immortal, but this was less goofy and serious toned.
They played off each other perfectly, one serious, one a trouble maker, but both good cops doing good.This was fantastic and one of the great shows that reminds me of the 80's TV shows.They DO NOT make them like this anymore.
This was a guys show, for when networks cared about guys.This is perfect for men and a must watch for people struggling to find good shows to try.TEN OUT OF TEN!!!!.
As Nick Knight is a vampire, he is ALREADY immortal.
This was a great series.
Nick Knight, the title character, gives us a deep and conflicted portrayal of a vampire in love with life, desperate to regain what he believes he lost with his mortality, but not yet ready to die.
Notable episodes include the pilot episodes, "Ashes to Ashes", featuring LaCroix's mortal daughter/vampiric mother, and "Last Knight", the end of the series (a bit disappointing due to its clip/flashback format, but with powerful storytelling and compelling visual images, I can't get the image of the very last scene out of my head)..
Based on a Rick Springfield Pilot, "Forever Knight" was a series about a 760 year-old vampire who wants to regain his humanity.
Nicholas "Nick" Knight is currently a homicide detective in Toronto, Canada.
In his quest to regain his mortality, his friends, most notably an attractive female Police Coroner, Dr. Natalie Lambert, try to help him and his family (other vampires, notably his "Father," the Machiavellian Lucien LaCroix) try to stop him.
This was one the best series on TV -- both original and extremely interesting.
Everyone should've gotten a chance to watch this series -- a mix of gothic horror, romance, adventure and police drama.
Forever Knight was one of my favorite shows.
You can currently find Forever Knight on SciFi, but no new episodes, of course.
TV series' changed in the 21st century, going from episode centered to season centered, where a story can take several episodes to tell.
It makes TV shows more engaging.Forever Knight, obviously, was written during the episode centered era, and while there are consistent themes in this show, each episode is meant to be a unit unto itself, and inevitably there's some kind of corny plots and mediocre stories in there (like the vampire pet episode).But I remember this show fondly.
The acting was overall very good and the actors played well off each other.Geraint Wyn Davies played the tortured vampire hero who's basically "Angel", before Angel.
They don't say how it happened and I think that actually works better, cause you get the sense he earned his humanity back over time.
Between the two, I find Davies silently tortured Vampire vastly superior to Angel's stoic/brooding one.
While the story telling is better in Angel, the heart and depth of character goes to Davies.
He played this role brilliantly, which is interesting cause I've never been much impressed with Davies' other performances but this he did very well.Nigel Bennett (Lacroix) is brilliant in this show as the old vampire with more strength than anyone else.
John Kapelos plays Davies (Nick Knight's) partner for the first two seasons and he's a well known "everyman" actor who plays his role well as the straight man to the difficult to explain things he sees.
He played the janitor in breakfast club, and while Bennett is dark and a little scary and Knight (Davies) is haunted, regretful and sad, Kapelos is likable, skeptical, sensible and a straight cop.
Kapelos & Bennett are almost never on screen at the same time, but they both spend time with Knight and the differences in the roles those 3 play is part of what makes this show work as well as it does.
It was spun off a TV movie and the characters take a while to set, so there are some inconsistencies and if you start with Episode one, you might think it's just a cheesy formula show, and, it was, for a bunch of the first season, but as the characters come into their own it gets better.For season 3 they changed everything around.
Kapelos is replaced by Lisa Ryder (Blond ship captain from Andromeda) and she plays the cop role well enough, though she doesn't have Kapelos' heart, nor his ability to play the straight man.Pretty boy Ben Bass is also added in the 3rd season as another Vampire who Knight kind of takes under his wing as a guy who doesn't kill people anymore.
Bass isn't haunted the way Knight is, and I found his role a little pointless but not unwatchable.
Forever Knight is one of the few original shows..
I liked it though I wasn't too crazy with the last two seasons..
I thought I saw the familiar face of Geraint Wyn Davies who played Klaus Von Helsing in Dracula the Series.
Nick and Schanke were great partners and occasionally bounced off each other.
In many ways Nick through his admission is really human at heart.
Catherine Disher is good as the supportive Natalie Lambert and Deborah Duchene is great as Janette, the vampire mistress of the The Raven Club, torn between her master Lacriox and her ex-lover.
Still this is one of my favorite TV shows and one I will always remember even though I felt the last two seasons were a bit of a let down..
Story & appreciation of Forever Knight..
Forever Knight is a series about the life of a 760 years old vampire who wants to regain his immortality.
In his quest to regain immortality, his friend are trying to help him and his family(the other vampires) are trying to stop him.
I think this is the best series ever present on TV, it`s original and very, very interesting.
I think everybody should watch this series as it is a mix between science-fiction, drama, romance, adventure and detective serie, it should interest a lot of people.
I don`t have any year preference, but the episode call "Last Night", present at the end of the 3rd years was not good at all..
I loved the show but I couldn't get over the fact Nick wanted to become human.
Surely he could redeem himself by saving more people as a Vampire than he could as a human & there are plenty of ways of getting blood without killing.
Vampires have formed the basis of more than a few shows and movies, too many to count, in fact.
One of these exceptional pieces is the late night television series "Forever Knight".
Airing first on CBS's crime time after prime time line up, it's a show that follows the story of Toronto police Det. Nick Knight (Geraint Wyn Davies) who, unbeknownst to his colleagues, is really an 800 year old vampire seeking redemption by solving crimes while working the night shift.
Joining him in this quest is his wise cracking partner, Det. Don Schanke (John Kapelos), (who somehow seems to miss every clue his partner's not mortal!), as well as coroner Dr. Natalie Lambert, the only person in the entire department who knows Nick's secret and whom is committed to finding a way to make Nick human again.
But Nick must also contend with interference at every turn by his 2,000 year old former master and vampire maker Lucien Lacroix (Nigel Bennett) who disapproves of his former protege's attempts at morality and does everything he can to make Nick live the vampire life he deems acceptable.
Will Nick become human again, or will he be destined to live the life a vampire forever?
As cheesy and slightly ridiculous as the premise is (An 800 vampire as a cop!) "Forever Knight" is one of those shows that somehow, someway just works.
The writing is superb, often times injecting depth and further meaning in each episode (often through well done historic flashbacks from across Nick's long life, which were a major bit of the show's fun) and being able to expertly combine a vampire story with that of a police/crime solving procedure type show (which is what "Night" is 50% of the time).
Geraint Wyn Davies is excellent in the lead role, and gives believable pathos to the tortured Nick Knight, a vampire who after living for 800 years desperately wants mortality.
Catherine Disher is great as Natalie, who is in many ways the love interest for Nick, and the one who ties Nick to the human world more than anyone else.
However, none of this would be nearly as good if it weren't for the wonderful performance of Nigel Bennett as the evil, charming, and devilish Lacroix.
Oozing charisma, seduction, and darkness all at the same, Bennett is able to bring a really strong devil-like persona to the character Lacroix, more so than perhaps any other evil vampire overlord, and injects a certain level of danger that should be present in any vampire story.
Bottom line, if you love vampires as much as me and can't get enough of them, check out "Forever Knight".
I have heard of this series for years, but was never able to view it, Gotta love DVD!
I have been a reluctant fan of Buffy The Vampire Slayer, but always felt it was never quite as good as the movie.
I especially like the way Nick remembers times past and it shoots back and forth.
But I do wish there had been more episodes of Forever Knight.
Forever Knight the series.
seemingly after 2002 it went off the air until fall 1995 when it came back with a similar cast for one (mostly good) season.I don't know why this happened (being canceled 2wice) I realize it was syndicated and Canadian/b.c. but so was highlander and it lasted 5 1/2 seasons (season 6 was only 13 episodes) and for the record highlander: the series wasn't canceled, series star, Adrian Paul quit the series.Does anyone know how many seasons F.K. had??
It was an excellent show, particularly with its rigid structure which almost always exhibited a nuanced parallel between the present and the past (usually, but not always, Nick's past).Many have said that this show was the inspiration for a lot of "Angel" (which I also loved) and they are correct.One thing that Forever Knight had that Angel didn't was having the title character kissing and even having sex with numerous women.
After all the rave reviews I decided to give Forever Knight a try.
I liked the concept and the actors, but after five episodes into the first season, I couldn't get one thing out of my head: how dd Nick become a cop if he's a vampire?
Shame, because I really liked Nick..
Perhaps some time in the future some TV exec will get smart and "Forever Knight" will have another life.
There are some TV shows, as there are all things, that make viewers think more deeply about the world around them.
Some things change the world forever for the people who love them.
Forever Knight is one of these things.
FK taught me to appreciate the good in life and in the people around me.
It glorified all that is good in humanity, by showing us what we are through the eyes of one who seemingly has it all...and wants more than anything to be one of us.
Its main character is a vampire, but this show is about what it is to be human - all the beauty and the ugliness, all the wisdom and the madness, all that we are capable of and all that we have lowered ourselves to.
I would recommend this show for anyone mature enough to appreciate its intelligence, sensitive enough to be touched by its soul, and willing to take on a show that will change the way you see the world forever..
Forever Knight is one of those great shows that you miss out on their initial run, either because of lack of hype, or even that they did not have an 'original run', like here in Australia, where it was doomed to the rigours of late night television.
After watching Buffy and Angel, I started watching an late night offering called Forever Knight and became instantly hooked.
The characters and situations in this series are both intelligently written as well as being highly entertaining.
This series is what Buffy and Angel tried to be but could not.
With unforgettable characters such as Nicholas and LaCroix, all other vampire shows pale in comparison.
I agree with a previous comment that it was very reminiscent of Highlander, containing numerous flashbacks to times long since past, recurring enemies and friends, and an otherwise similar feel with the character interactions and setting.What I found particularly intriguing was the relationship between the sympathetic and essentially "good" lead, Nick, and the conniving, manipulative, "evil" side character of LaCroix.
Yet at the end of nearly every episode, Nick would seek LaCroix's advice on a number of topics.
And LaCroix would always be eager to lend his assistance and often good advice mixed in with his deliciously wicked banter.I highly recommend this series..
Forever Knight is a reminder that a decade ago, television shows used to have charisma, good writing, quality acting and originality.
It is about a 700ish vampire, ex-knight and now police officer, Nicholas de Brabant.
Of course Forever Knight had it's flaws as well, but they can be easily overlooked.I do not agree with those who say the last episode was a disappointment.
In my opinion, the show seriously needed the cruel, unhappy ending - without it, the relationship between the two main characters would've seemed just another Hollywood type boring love story, where everybody who really deserves it gets a better life at the end..
As young, i used to see this series in dubbed version, but this didn't annoyed me to appreciate an original idea of vampires : on of them tries to buy himself and wash away his sins, by seaking good all over the periods he travels ; he ends on the present day (by the time of the series) as a police detective, solving cases directed linked with his old time vamp pals.Too bad I couldn't catch up entirely with the series, but I keep good old memories about it and I hope I manage to find her anywhere (well, this is not the kind of series you'll find here in France, but Paris is a city where you can find many "insolites" stuff !).Simply is impossible not to love "Forever Knight" : great actors, perky Gothic atmosphère and beautiful structured stories ; myself, I'm a bad time writer and this series is an inspiration !!!