'Twin Peaks' Season Three Doubles To 18 Episodes, Angelo Badalamenti Returning

Twin Peaks isn't just back — there's more of it coming than anyone expected.

The return of Twin Peaks has already become a saga, with Showtime setting up a nine-episode third season to air in 2016, with David Lynch directing all episodes and co-writing with Twin Peaks co-creator Mark Frost. Then Lynch bailed on the series, reportedly over budget and deal issues. But Showtime worked things out with Lynch, and the director returned, just in time for Showtime to announce the third season had expanded from its original nine-episode order.

We didn't know much more than that. What would be the final Twin Peaks season three episode count? And who else will return to the series now that Lynch is fully on board? During a convention appearance, Sheryl Lee and Sherilyn Fenn revealed some details. Notably, that the series order has doubled, and there's a suggestion that Angelo Badalamenti, the musical voice of the show, is also coming back.

At Seattle's Crypticon, Sherilyn Fenn talked about the show's development so far, calling it a "roller coaster," and suggesting, as we assumed, that if Lynch had stayed away she would have refused to do the show. But things are back on, and Fenn looks very happy.

She also said, "And 18 episodes now, even!"

Her comment after that went a ways towards confirming some of our suspicions about the money conflict, saying "and I think when he did the nine, he realized he needed nine more to really complete it."

So the budget Showtime had agreed upon was basically doubling. That's just a loose account of the dealmaking process, of course, but it does shed a little bit of light on the situation.

Also revealed is the plan to use music from Angelo Badalamenti. There isn't a specific mention of him doing new music, but one would suspect that will end up being the case. Badalamenti was among the most significant parts of the show's formula, as his mournful, ghostly music tied all the show's eccentricities together.

There was also an interesting detail: Twede's Cafe in North Bend, WA, which served as the Double R Diner in the show's original location shoot, is being restored to be used in the new shoot.

"We're shooting there, 100%," Fenn said when asked about the original Washington locations. She added,

"[David's] already come here. They're redoing the R&R Diner to look exactly like it did in the show, and then the owners of the diner are going to keep it that way."

She also mentioned that Lynch is figuring out how to shoot the Sheriff station, as it has been built up quite a bit since the original shoot.

While many Pacific Northwest locations were used for exteriors during the show's pilot shoot, most of the series was actually shot north of Hollywood in the San Fernando Valley, in a warehouse that was refitted into stages, with Malibu forests doubling for the northwest in some scenes. We don't know what the balance will be for the new series, but it sounds like at least some of the interiors will be shot on location, if the interior of the diner is being restored.

One of those interiors will be the Red Room, as Fenn says "she's alive in the Red Room" while talking about Sheryl Lee. A few minutes later, Lee says "I know that I'm coming back now, but I don't know how, and I may not know until I show up for the first day." That's obviously an exaggeration, but it's a good way to say she's not going to reveal anything now.

Fenn also references her character's own odd end at the conclusion of the second series, explaining that it was the network's desire for a cliffhanger that led to Audrey's final scene.

Twin Peaks should begin shooting this September, with the series slated for Showtime in 2016.

Here's video of the panel appearance, via Welcome to Twin Peaks. The first season three comments are right at the top, and the mentions of Badalamenti and the diner come much later in the talk.