Every returning Twin Peaks character – and where we left them Much like a “damn good coffee” from the Double R Diner, anticipation is brewing ahead of David Lynch’s Twin Peaks […]

Much like a “damn good coffee” from the Double R Diner, anticipation is brewing ahead of David Lynch’s Twin Peaks revival.

The ground-breaking TV show which Lynch created with Mark Frost in 1990 returns to our screens on 22 May, and the good news is that most of the familiar faces are back too.

Lynch revealed a mammoth 217-long cast list last year, with Kyle MacLachlan, Mädchen Amick and Sheryl Lee among the names to reprise their roles.

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The few notable absentees from the surviving cast include Lara Flynn Boyle (Donna Hayward), who reportedly declined an invite, as well as Michael Ontkean ( Harry Truman), Piper Laurie (Catherine Martell), Heather Graham (Annie Blackburn) and Joan Chen (Jocelyn Packard).

Both Catherine E. Coulson (The Log Lady) and Miguel Ferrer (Albert Rosenfeld) reportedly filmed scenes for the new series before their recent deaths.

Set 25 years on from when we left them, Twin Peaks will delve back into the mysteries of the small town and its various parallel dimensions.

If the teaser trailer is anything to go by, it promises to be darker than ever.

New additions to the cast include Naomi Watts, Monica Bellucci, Amanda Seyfried, Ashley Judd, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Laura Dern, Michael Cera and even Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor.

Here’s a recap of where we left the main characters.

*spoilers for seasons one and two follow*

Agent Dale Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan)

Charismatic and unshakably chipper, FBI agent Dale “Coop” Cooper was drafted in to help the local Sheriff investigate Laura Palmer’s murder. He found himself dragged into an increasingly bizarre, increasingly otherworldly mystery, eventually leading him to the evil Black Lodge, where he meets his crazed doppelganger. His character’s fate has had ‘Peakies’ speculating for a quarter of a century.

Laura Palmer (Sheryl Lee)

The centre of the show’s mystery, Laura Palmer was the Twin Peaks homecoming queen whose body is found in the pilot episode. A classic Lynchian creation, it turns out she was a teenage prostitute, a drug addict and had been involved with many of the male characters before her death. Although Lynch had chosen an unknown actress in Sheryl Lee to play such an insignificant part, it turned out she could act, so he brought her “back to life” in flashbacks and visions – and cast Lee as Laura’s dark-haired cousin Maddy Ferguson, in a nod to Kim Novak’s dual role in Hitchock’s Vertigo.

Shelly Johnson (Mädchen Amick)

Even by Twin Peaks standards, Shelly Johnson had an eventful storyline. Married to abusive Leo, caring for vegetative Leo, stabbing reawakened Leo, the open affair with Bobby Briggs, and finally the admiring glances of two very different older characters: Windom Earle and Gordon Cole. If she’s not back at the Double R working for Norma in some capacity though, we’ll be disappointed.

Bobby Briggs (Dana Ashbrook)

Floppy-haired Bobby Briggs was Twin Peaks’ teenage tearaway and small-time drug pusher. He didn’t waste much time grieving for his ex Laura Palmer before he was getting involved with the married Shelly Johnson. We left him as he was trying to ingratiate himself with Ben Horne, although this wasn’t helped by the latter’s complete nervous breakdown. Will Bobby have mellowed in middle age?

Audrey Horne (Sherilyn Fenn)

It didn’t take listless Audrey Horne to fall for Agent Cooper when he arrived in Twin Peaks. Although he refused her advances, she did help him out by becoming an undercover hostess at the One-Eyed Jack’s brothel. In season two she found a calling as an environmental activist, and it was while chained in protest to the doors of the local bank that her fate was left uncertain when a bomb explodes. Did she survive?

Ben Horne (Richard Beymer)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HzG-Z5xb7dM

Wealth-worshipping, cigar-puffing tycoon Ben Horne was often a suspect in the Laura Palmer case, even though the police missed his many other dodgy dealings. Having recovered from a nervous breakdown that led him to believe he was a Civil War general, he’d become a much more serene soul, determined to make up for his past mistakes. But it remains unclear what happened when he was knocked down by Dr Hayward in the final episode, after claiming to be Donna’s real father.

Deputy Andy Brennan (Harry Goaz)

A popular character, and source of many of the show’s comedy moments, Deputy Andy Brennan was the likeable if intellectually challenged local cop who had a habit of stumbling upon a clue. When he wasn’t bursting into tears at murder scenes, he was gently courting Lucy on the reception desk. In season two he played an important role in locating the Black Lodge, and Lucy had finally chosen him to be the father of her baby.

Lucy Moran (Kimmy Robertson)

Lucy, for her part, found herself at the centre of a bizarre love triangle between gormless Andy and suave Dick Tremayne. Did the ditsy, child-voiced receptionist enjoy a long, happy marriage with Andy after choosing not to take a paternity test?

Deputy Tommy ‘Hawk’ Hill (Michael Horse)

Along with the less able Deputy Brennan, Deputy Hawk was Sheriff Harry Truman’s trusty sidekick last time round. Because Michael Ontkean, who played Truman, has officially retired from acting, Lynch has cast Robert Forster as “Sheriff Frank Truman”. But expect the expert tracker Hawk to be as dependable as ever.

Leland Palmer (Ray Wise)

Possessed by the evil spirit “BOB”, Leland Palmer was a Jekyll and Hide presence throughout Twin Peaks. The father of Laura, who it emerges he raped and killed while controlled by the malevolent spirit, he’s eventually arrested by Cooper. In custody he kills himself in an attempt to banish BOB for good. So it’s unclear whether Leland, another deceased character, will appear in flashback, or some other form.

Sarah Palmer (Grace Zabriskie)

Leland’s long-suffering wife, Sarah had a paranormal knack that meant she saw visions of BOB and of various other bad omens. Having suffered a nervous breakdown in season two, she wasn’t in a good state when she was basically used as a human messaging service by Windom Earle in the final episode.

James Hurley (James Marshall)

There wasn’t much to James Hurley. He seemed to have been plucked straight out of one of Lynch’s favourite 1950s B-movies. A perennially pouting, motorbike-riding romantic, he was involved with almost every eligible young woman in town – and one or two out of town too. The least said about his singing the better.

Big Ed Hurley (Everett McGill)

Big Ed Hurley, uncle to James, was the gruff, John Wayne-esque presence in the show. He was stuck in an unhappy, guilt-fuelled marriage to Nadine, and he jumped at any chance of leaving her for Norma. An upstanding citizen and “Bookhouse Boy”, he often helped out the sheriff with his enquiries.

Nadine Hurley (Wendy Robie)

Even by Lynchian standards, eye-patch-wearing, super-strong Nadine Hurley is a strange creation. After losing her attempt to patent the world’s first silent drape-runners fails, she tries to kill herself by taking an overdose of pills. But after waking from a coma she believes she’s a teenager, and even begins dating a high school student. Spotting his chance, Big Ed then tries to rekindle his affair with Norma, but it comes to nothing in the season two finale when Nadine reawakens after being hit on the head during the “Miss Twin Peaks” pageant, and sees them together.

Norma Jennings (Peggy Lipton)

The doyenne of the Double R Diner, Norma’s will-she-won’t-she love affair with Big Ed was one of the more soap-style storylines of Twin Peaks. In the end they didn’t, for reasons described above. But has that changed in 25 years?

Gordon Cole (David Lynch)

FBI Regional Bureau Chief Gordon Cole, played by Lynch himself, was one of several comedic characters who helped lighten the tone of Twin Peaks. The hard-of-hearing agent didn’t appear much, but when he did he was always good value, and in the promo for the new series he simply munches on a doughnut.

Dr Lawrence Jacoby (Russ Tamblyn)

The colourful, Hawaii-obsessed Dr Jacoby was briefly implicated in the Laura Palmer case when it emerged she’d been recording audiotapes for him, and they had a close relationship. But this is just one of many red herrings, and he returns to work. By the end of season two he had become a marginal character, but Tamblyn is cast in the new series.

The Log Lady (Catherine E. Coulson)

The Log Lady, real name Margaret Lanterman, became an icon of Twin Peaks. Rather than dismiss her as a completely crazy local eccentric, Lynch and Frost gave her character meaning, thanks to the opening monologues, and her stern, mystical advice which often helps the main characters take a new direction. Sadly, Catherine E. Coulson passed away in 2015 but she is credited in the new series.

Denise/Dennis Bryson (David Duchovny)

And finally… a pre-X-Files David Duchovny was a brilliant cameo as Denise Bryson, who found wearing women’s clothes during an undercover operation to be “relaxing” and kept doing it. It’s unclear how big a role Duchovny will have in the comeback.

Twin Peaks returns on Sky Atlantic on May 22