Looking back at actor Richard Beymer's stunning photographs from the final episode, as Twin Peaks turns 30 today
(Image credit: Richard Beymer / In the Trees)
It may not be the official Twin Peaks Day, as recognized by the state of Washington (which falls on 28 February, when Special Agent Dale Cooper arrived in the fictional titular town), but today nonetheless marks the 30th anniversary of the seminal, surreal television series.
Twin Peaks premiered on 08 April 1990, and in its turbulent two seasons on the ABC network transformed serialized television to such an extent that it became a genuine pop culture and cult phenomenon. Indeed, such was its cultural impact that the show was resurrected in 2017 for a Limited Event Series on Showtime.
Its tumultuous history is perhaps encapsulated no better than in its original finale. When filming the final episode of season two – at which point the show had been effectively dumped by ABC – creator David Lynch essentially threw out the shooting script and what ensued was an almost stream-of-consciousness showcase of surreality.
The cast and crew worked all night on the nightmarish cliffhanger, set in Twin Peaks' almost purgatorial Black Lodge, filled with backwards-talking entities, sinister doppelgangers, Jimmy Scott performing a harrowing jazz ballad, dead bodies that speak, and a battle for Special Agent Dale Cooper's soul – which he lost.
Knowing that the show would not be renewed by ABC, Lynch unleashed every ounce of his creativity that he felt had been shackled by the network – and, remarkably, sewed the seed for the show's return 26 years later with Laura Palmer's immortal line, " "I will see you again in 25 years" (he was off by a year, but we'll forgive him!).
With the show in its death throes, the in-house photographer had quit the production, leaving no-one to capture any further stills from the set. Lynch allowed actor Richard Beymer, who played hotelier Benjamin Horne, to bring his camera on set for the final days of filming – and he captured some incredible images that truly capture the tone of the dying days of this remarkable show.
We highly recommend that you take a look at the galleries of Beymer's photographs on both the Welcome to Twin Peaks fansite and the In the Trees blog, where these beautiful black and white stills tell the incredible story behind the story.
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James has 22 years experience as a journalist, serving as editor of Digital Camera World for 6 of them. He started working in the photography industry in 2014, product testing and shooting ad campaigns for Olympus, as well as clients like Aston Martin Racing, Elinchrom and L'Oréal. An Olympus, Canon and Hasselblad shooter, he has a wealth of knowledge on cameras of all makes.
