imported>Οἶδα: −Category:Fiction set in 1985; ±Category:Television episodes set in the 1980s→Category:Television episodes set in 1985 using HotCat

2025-12-15T05:19:25Z

−Category:Fiction set in 1985; ±Category:Television episodes set in the 1980s→Category:Television episodes set in 1985 using HotCat

← Previous revision		Revision as of 05:19, 15 December 2025
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	\| director = [[Paul Lynch (director)\|Paul Lynch]]		\| director = [[Paul Lynch (director)\|Paul Lynch]]
	\| writer = [[Alan Brennert]]		\| writer = [[Alan Brennert]]
	\| based_on = {{Based on\|short story\|[[William M. Lee]]}}		\| based_on = {{Based on\|short story\|William M. Lee}}
	\| production =		\| production =
	\| airdate = {{Start date\|1985\|11\|01}}		\| airdate = {{Start date\|1985\|11\|01}}
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	* [[James Cromwell]] as Obadiah Payne		* [[James Cromwell]] as Obadiah Payne
	* [[Michael Fox (American actor)\|Michael Fox]] as Tom Carter		* [[Michael Fox (American actor)\|Michael Fox]] as Tom Carter
	* [[Jennifer Parsons]] as Ursula Miller		* Jennifer Parsons as Ursula Miller
	* [[Jack Wells ~~(actor)\|Jack Wells]]~~ as Dr. Maxwell		* Jack Wells as Dr. Maxwell
	* [[Phil Proctor]] as Mr. Wood		* [[Phil Proctor]] as Mr. Wood
	* [[Barbara Lindsay]] as Mrs. Wood		* Barbara Lindsay as Mrs. Wood
	\| prev = [[Examination Day]]		\| prev = [[Examination Day]]
	\| next = [[Teacher's Aide ~~(The Twilight Zone)\|Teacher's Aide]]~~		\| next = Teacher's Aide
	\| episode_list = List of The Twilight Zone (1985 TV series) episodes		\| episode_list = List of The Twilight Zone (1985 TV series) episodes
	}}		}}
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	[[Category:The Twilight Zone (1985 TV series) season 1 episodes]]		[[Category:The Twilight Zone (1985 TV series) season 1 episodes]]
	[[Category:Works set in the Thirteen Colonies]]		[[Category:Works set in the Thirteen Colonies]]
	~~[[Category:Fiction set in 1985]]~~
	[[Category:Television episodes set in Massachusetts]]		[[Category:Television episodes set in Massachusetts]]
	[[Category:Television shows based on short fiction]]		[[Category:Television shows based on short fiction]]
	[[Category:Television episodes set in the 18th century]]		[[Category:Television episodes set in the 18th century]]
	[[Category:Television episodes set in ~~the 1980s~~]]		[[Category:Television episodes set in 1985]]
	[[Category:Fiction set in 1700]]		[[Category:Fiction set in 1700]]

	[[fr:Le Futur des passés]]		[[fr:Le Futur des passés]]

imported>Marcocapelle: removed Category:Thirteen Colonies in fiction; added Category:Works set in the Thirteen Colonies using HotCat

2025-04-05T16:11:39Z

removed Category:Thirteen Colonies in fiction; added Category:Works set in the Thirteen Colonies using HotCat

New page

{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}}

{{Infobox television episode
| series = [[The Twilight Zone (1985 TV series)|The Twilight Zone]]
| image = A Message from Charity.jpg
| caption = Scene from "A Message From Charity"
| season = 1
| episode = 6
| segment = b
| director = [[Paul Lynch (director)|Paul Lynch]]
| writer = [[Alan Brennert]]
| based_on = {{Based on|short story|[[William M. Lee]]}}
| production =
| airdate = {{Start date|1985|11|01}}
| guests =
* [[Kerry Noonan]] as Charity Payne
* [[Robert Duncan McNeill|(Robert) Duncan McNeill]] as Peter Wood
* [[Vanessa Brown]] as Aunt Beulah
* [[Gerald Hiken]] as Squire Jonas Hacker
* [[James Cromwell]] as Obadiah Payne
* [[Michael Fox (American actor)|Michael Fox]] as Tom Carter
* [[Jennifer Parsons]] as Ursula Miller
* [[Jack Wells (actor)|Jack Wells]] as Dr. Maxwell
* [[Phil Proctor]] as Mr. Wood
* [[Barbara Lindsay]] as Mrs. Wood
| prev = [[Examination Day]]
| next = [[Teacher's Aide (The Twilight Zone)|Teacher's Aide]]
| episode_list = List of The Twilight Zone (1985 TV series) episodes
}}

"'''A Message From Charity'''" is the second segment of the sixth episode of the [[The Twilight Zone (1985 TV series) (season 1)|first season]] from the [[television series]] ''[[The Twilight Zone (1985 TV series)|The Twilight Zone]]''. In this segment, a pair of teenagers–one from 1700, and one from 1985–share a mental link across time.

==Plot==
Two teenagers–Peter Wood, an academically overachieving loner from 1985, and Charity Payne, a Puritan from 1700 [[Province of Massachusetts Bay|Colonial Massachusetts]], come in telepathic contact with each other when they have high fever from the same bacterial infection. After Peter convinces Charity she is not bedeviled, they find they enjoy each other's conversation and remain in frequent contact as they go about their day. Peter is heartened to have made at least one friend, while Charity is intrigued by the future events and technologies he tells her about.

At Peter's coaxing, Charity tells her neighbors about some of her "future visions", including the [[American Revolution]]. The notion that the [[Thirteen Colonies]] will eventually revolt against their government is controversial, and a posse led by Squire Jonas Hacker visits Charity's home to follow up on suspicions she is a witch. When Hacker tries to examine Charity for a [[witches' mark]], she fears he intends to [[Sexual assault|sexually molest]] her and flees.

Peter tells Charity to take refuge in a region less beset by panic over witchcraft, but she refuses to leave her home, so he searches library records of witch trials to see if she will be tried if she comes out of hiding. He instead stumbles on a biographical entry on Hacker, who was [[Posthumous trial|posthumously convicted]] of a double homicide. At her trial, Charity claims that her visions come not from witchcraft, but from a God-given second sight, and uses her knowledge of the murders to [[blackmail]] Hacker into supporting her claims. After her acquittal, Charity breaks off her relationship with Peter so that she will not risk getting into trouble again.

A year later, Peter receives one last telepathic call from Charity. She has left him a message at a local landmark known as Bear Rock. Peter finds Charity's message: chiseled into Bear Rock are the initials "CP + PW" inside a [[heart shape]].

==Production==
"A Message from Charity" is based on the short story of the same name by William M. Lee. The story was first published in ''[[The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction]]'' (November 1967). In the original short story, Peter Wood is 16 years old while Charity Payne is 11 years old. The episode's screenwriter, [[Alan Brennert]], was worried this would come off as creepy and made the two characters the same age.<ref name=AudioCom/> He also added in the aspect of Peter being a loner who comes out of his shell thanks to his relationship with Charity; however, he resisted the producers' suggestion that he modernize the story by having Peter introduce Charity to elements of 1980s-specific pop culture.<ref name=AudioCom/>

[[Robert MacNaughton]], who was known for his role as Elliott's brother Michael in 1982 film ''[[E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial]]'', was initially cast in the role of Peter Wood, but dropped out shortly before filming was due to begin. The producers quickly scheduled a casting call to find a replacement, and [[Robert Duncan McNeill]] was offered the role and flown out to Los Angeles within a day of his audition, which had taken place in New York.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WlVh7I-z1F8&t=230s Interview with Robert Duncan McNeill, at timestamp 3:50]</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.robertduncanmcneill.net/dreamwatch.html|title = Robertduncanmcneill - the home page for actor/director Robert Duncan McNeill}}</ref>

Actress [[Kerry Noonan]] originally auditioned for the part of Ursula Miller, but after reading the script, implored the casting directors to let her read for the lead role of Charity Payne as well.<ref name=AudioCom>{{cite video |title=The Twilight Zone: The Complete '80s Series: Audio Commentary - "A Message from Charity" |medium=DVD |publisher=[[CBS DVD]] |people=[[Alan Brennert|Brennert, Alan]]; [[Kerry Noonan|Noonan, Kerry]] |date=2020}}</ref> Noonan was ultimately passed up for both roles, and the part of Charity Payne was given to [[Justine Bateman]],<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WlVh7I-z1F8&t=328s Interview with Robert Duncan McNeill, at timestamp 5:28]</ref> who had not auditioned but had been cast on the strength of her lead roles in a popular sitcom of the time and a [[television film]]. According to Brennert, Bateman (whom he did not name) had difficulty with the Puritan lingo and refused to take direction during the first two days of filming, which were devoted to shooting the 20th century scenes, with Bateman talking to McNeill from off-camera.<ref name=AudioCom/> Due to the extent of the problems with Bateman, Brennert felt the best solution was to recast the part, even though it was Friday and filming of the Charity scenes was scheduled to begin on Monday. The casting director recalled that Noonan had done a good reading for Charity, and at his suggestion she was called in for another audition.<ref name=AudioCom/> Noonan said the part came very naturally to her, since she was an avid reader of historical fiction, had played in a number of historical dramas in high school, and even used to role-play as a Puritan when she was a young child.<ref name=AudioCom/>

Though the Charity shots and Peter shots were mostly filmed separately, the scene where Peter washes his car while Charity gardens was filmed with Robert Duncan McNeill positioned at the edge of the field where Kerry Noonan was performing; the two instinctively shouted their lines to each other until they were directed to speak at a lower volume.<ref name=AudioCom/>

Airplanes were flying overhead during the filming of the trial scene, so all the dialogue for that scene had to be [[Dubbing (filmmaking)|dubbed]] on afterwards.<ref name=AudioCom/>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*{{IMDb episode|0734708}}

{{The Twilight Zone (1985 TV series) episodes}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Message From Charity, A}}
[[Category:1985 American television episodes]]
[[Category:The Twilight Zone (1985 TV series) season 1 episodes]]
[[Category:Works set in the Thirteen Colonies]]
[[Category:Fiction set in 1985]]
[[Category:Television episodes set in Massachusetts]]
[[Category:Television shows based on short fiction]]
[[Category:Television episodes set in the 18th century]]
[[Category:Television episodes set in the 1980s]]
[[Category:Fiction set in 1700]]

[[fr:Le Futur des passés]]

A Message from Charity - Revision history

imported>Οἶδα: −Category:Fiction set in 1985; ±Category:Television episodes set in the 1980s→Category:Television episodes set in 1985 using HotCat

imported>Marcocapelle: removed Category:Thirteen Colonies in fiction; added Category:Works set in the Thirteen Colonies using HotCat