There had never been anything like it, and its influence is still apparent on all things quirky and offbeat. This was event TV of the truly unique, breakaway kind, created by David Lynch and fellow groundbreaker Mark Frost (Hill Street Blues). Set in
a small lumber town in Washington State, Twin Peaks combined mystery, soap opera, absurdism and humour, centred on the murder of popular high-school girl Laura Palmer.
Who killed Laura Palmer? was the obsession of the year as chipper, fastidious FBI agent Dale Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan) hit town with his addiction to a damn good cup of coffee and cherry pie, his openness to Eastern mysticism, his incessant recorded memos to never-seen colleague Diane... The show became famous for its fetishistic clues, oddball secondary characters, dreamlike tone, Angelo Badalamentis haunting music, and the Lynch sensibility in which most of the inhabitants had things to hide. Every heart struggled between good and evil, and under the guise of a pleasant small town, Twin Peaks seethed with secrets, lies, sin and psychopathy.
It was the coolest show ever, and is still hypnotic 20 years on. But the wheels came off in Season 2 when Lynch and Frost were pressured to wrap up the Palmer case. Ratings plummeted as the weirdness became wearisome, although there were 14 more episodes throwing up some wonderful ideas, a baffling finale and prequel feature film, Fire Walk With Me, before the cultural phenomenon was laid to rest. Gone but not forgotten.