Highlander: The Series ran for six seasons on syndication from 1992 through 1998, and it remains the most substantial extension of the Highlander mythos ever made for television. Based on the 1986 film, the show follows Duncan MacLeod of the Clan MacLeod, a 400-year-old immortal warrior who fights other immortals and tries to protect ordinary people from the dangers they bring. It is a strange, often beautiful show, one that takes the idea of immortality seriously enough to build a whole world around it.
Trailer, via Pieter Piek.
Duncan MacLeod and the Immortal World
Duncan is played by Adrian Paul, and he carries the show with a quiet dignity that suits a man who has lived through centuries of human cruelty and survived it all. He is not a hero in the way that the films sometimes suggested; he is a survivor, weary and watchful, always looking for a way to help someone before the fight starts. His best friend is Joe Dawson, played by Jim Byrnes, a former cop who runs the Sword in the Stone bar and serves as Duncan’s anchor in the mortal world.
The show also introduces Methos, played by Peter Wingfield, an immortal who has lived for a very long time and has seen every civilization rise and fall. Methos is a walking encyclopedia of history and a constant reminder that the immortals are not gods but monsters, living off the deaths of others while the world around them ages and dies.
The Rules of the Game
The show is built on the rules established in the films: immortals can only be killed by decapitation, and when one falls, their life force is absorbed by the victor. This means that every immortal is hunting every other immortal, and the only way to stop the cycle is to win “the Prize,” a mysterious goal that remains mostly unexplained throughout the series. The show never fully explains what the Prize is, but it suggests that winning it might mean the end of immortality itself.
The series also introduces new characters and new threats, including the Watchers, a secret organization that studies immortals from a distance. They are not allies, exactly, but they provide a lens through which the audience can see the larger picture of what the immortals are doing. The show balances personal drama with broader mythological conflict, and it does both with a consistency that few syndicated shows of the era could match.
The International Hit
Highlander: The Series was an international hit, produced by Rysher Distribution in the United States, Gaumont Television in France, Reteitalia in Italy, RTL Plus in Germany, and Amuse Video in Japan. That international co-production gave the show a scope that few American shows of the era had, and it allowed the series to explore settings across Europe and beyond without feeling like a local production.
The show was nominated for several awards during its run, including:
- Two Motion Picture Sound Editors’ Golden Reel Awards for Foley Artist (“The Gathering”: 1992; “The Darkness”: 1993)
- Three Gemini Awards (Best Dramatic Series: 1996; Best Performance by an Actor in a Guest Role in a Dramatic Series: 1997 (John Pyper-Ferguson), 1996 (Bruce A. Young))
- One Saturn Award (Best Genre Syndicated TV Series: 1997)
- Eight Online Film & Television Association Awards (including Best Guest Actress in a Syndicated Series (Sandra Bernhard), Best Direction in a Syndicated Series, Best Writing in a Syndicated Series, and Best Syndicated Series)
These nominations suggest that the show was respected within the industry.
The Legacy of the Show
The show’s greatest achievement is that it took the simple premise of the films and turned it into a complex, character-driven drama. Duncan is not a lone warrior wandering the earth; he is a man with friends, a bar, and a sense of duty to the people around him. The show’s villains are often sympathetic, and the immortals themselves are rarely pure heroes.
The series also introduced the concept of the Gathering, a moment when all immortals near a particular place gather to witness the death of one of their own. The show also developed the Watchers, who were barely mentioned in the films but became a major presence in the series.
Where It Falls Short
The show is not without flaws. Some episodes feel rushed, and the pacing can be uneven. The show also suffers from the limitations of syndicated television, which meant that the show had to be produced quickly and cheaply, often with less money than a network show would have received.
The show’s mythology is also inconsistent. The Prize remains a mystery throughout the series, and the show never fully explains why immortals exist or what winning the Prize would mean. These questions are left unanswered, which some viewers find frustrating.
The show also leans heavily on action sequences, and while these are often well-choreographed, they can overshadow the character work that makes Duncan a compelling figure.
Our View on the Series
Highlander: The Series is a remarkable achievement for syndicated television. It took a simple premise and built a rich, complex world around it, populated with memorable characters and driven by a genuine sense of purpose. The show is flawed, but its strengths outweigh its weaknesses.
It is a show that rewards patience and attention, and it stands as one of the best examples of the genre of television it helped define. It is not perfect, but it is essential viewing for anyone interested in the Highlander universe.
Key Facts Box
- Creator: Gregory Widen
- Network: Syndication, RTL, TF1, M6
- Seasons: 6
- Episodes: 119
- First aired: 1992-10-03
- Last aired: 1998-05-16
- Main cast: Adrian Paul, Jim Byrnes, Peter Wingfield
- Nominations: Golden Reel (2), Gemini (3), Saturn (1), OFTA (8)
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