''El extraño retorno de Diana Salazar'' (English title: ''The Strange Return of Diana Salazar'') is a Mexican

telenovela A telenovela is a type of a television serial drama or soap opera produced primarily in Latin America. The word combines ''tele'' (for "television") and ''novela'' (meaning "novel"). Similar drama genres around the world include '' teleserye'' ...

produced by Carlos Téllez for

Televisa Grupo Televisa is a Mexican multimedia mass media company. A major Latin American mass media corporation, it often presents itself as the largest producer of Spanish-language content. In April 2021, Televisa and Univision Communications announce ...

in 1988. It is an unusual example of a telenovela which addresses supernatural topics. The telenovela first begins in

Zacatecas , image_map = Zacatecas in Mexico (location map scheme).svg , map_caption = State of Zacatecas within Mexico , coordinates = , coor_pinpoint = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type ...

New Spain New Spain, officially the Viceroyalty of New Spain ( es, Virreinato de Nueva España, ), or Kingdom of New Spain, was an integral territorial entity of the Spanish Empire, established by Habsburg Spain during the Spanish colonization of the Am ...

in 1640 and later transitions to Mexico City in 1988, in which a woman accused of witchcraft and burned by the Holy Inquisition, reincarnates into a young girl who seeks to find the reason for her constant nightmare of being burned at the stake.

Lucía Méndez Lucía Leticia Méndez Pérez (born January 26, 1955) is a Mexican telenovela and film actress, top model and singer. Méndez was born in León, Guanajuato, Mexico. Career In 2011, Lucía starred in Mexico the telenovela ''Esperanza del Co ...

and Jorge Martínez starred as protagonists, while

Alma Muriel Alma Muriel del Sordo (20 October 1951 – 5 January 2014), known artistically as Alma Muriel, was a Mexican actress who appeared in plays, films, and telenovelas, best known for her role as Irene del Conde / Lucrecia Treviño in Televisa's tele ...

Alejandro Camacho Alejandro Camacho (born Alejandro Camacho Pastrana on July 11, 1954) is a Mexican actor and producer. Filmography Films Television Other works Awards and nominations References External links *Alejandro Camacho at the M ...

and

Patricia Reyes Spíndola Patricia Verónica Núñez Reyes Spíndola (born 11 July 1953) is a Mexican actress, director, and producer. She has received four Ariel Awards, two for Best Actress (''Los Motivos de Luz'' in 1985 and '' The Queen of the Night'' in 1994), and ...

starred as antagonists. The telenovela was retransmitted from January 27, 2020 through May 29, 2020 on

Tlnovelas Tlnovelas (stylized as tlnovelas) is a Spanish-language pay television network that broadcasts Mexican ''telenovelas'' produced by TelevisaUnivision, the owner of the channel. Tlnovelas is distributed around the world via two feeds: Tlnovelas ...

. As of December 29, 2020, the series is available to stream on

Blim TV Blim TV (stylized as blim tv) is an on-demand video subscription service, offered online via TelevisaUnivision, through an Internet connection, which offers access to programs strictly for personal use, in exchange for payment of a monthly subs ...

Plot

In 1640, in the city of

, in

, the young and beautiful aristocrat Leonor de Santiago (

) celebrated her marriage proposal to Don Eduardo Carbajal (Jorge Martínez). Her joy is overshadowed by a fear: Leonor possesses strange psychic powers, such as telekinesis and premonitions. Leonor begins to have strange dreams and premonitions in which she sees a dark future in her relationship with Eduardo. Leonor and Eduardo are stalked by Lucrecia Treviño (

), a mysterious woman who feels a sickly love for Eduardo. Desperate, Lucrecia sets out to destroy the happiness between Leonor and Eduardo. Lucrecia discovers the mysterious powers attributed to Leonor, and with the help of her faithful servant Casilda (Ella Laboriel), decides to resort to witchcraft, making spells to separate the couple. The night that Leonor and Eduardo celebrate their engagement party, Lucrecia breaks into Leonor's residence and accuses her of practicing witchcraft in front of one of the main authorities of the

Holy Office of the Inquisition The Inquisition was a group of institutions within the Catholic Church whose aim was to combat heresy, conducting trials of suspected heretics. Studies of the records have found that the overwhelming majority of sentences consisted of penances, ...

that was among the guests at the celebration. Eduardo defends Leonor, who experiences a nervous breakdown and uses her telekinetic powers in front of everyone, putting herself in evidence. Both Leonor and Eduardo are accused of practicing witchcraft and the dark arts. Both are prosecuted by the inquisitor court and sentenced to die by being burned at the stake. Upon learning that her accusation condemned Eduardo, Lucrecia commits suicide by hanging from a tree. Before dying, Leonor and Eduardo make a pact of love promising to meet in another life. The story then shifts more than three centuries later, to

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...

in 1988. There lives Diana Salazar (Lucía Méndez), a young middle class girl who lives with her mother, Delfina (

Adriana Roel Adriana Roel (4 July 1934 – 4 August 2022) was a Mexican actress from the Golden Age of Mexican cinema. Her roles included the Mexican telenovela ''Huracán''. Filmography * '' No quiero dormir sola'' (She Doesn't Want to Sleep Alone) 2012 * ...

) and her older sister, Malena (

Rosa María Bianchi Rosa María Bianchi (born February 18, 1948, in Buenos Aires, Argentina) is an Argentinean-born Mexican actress. Personal life Bianchi was married with director of theater Luis de Tavira. They have two sons, José María (b. 1983) & Julián. S ...

). Diana's life is not simple. Since she was a child, she has manifested mysterious gifts that grant her extraordinary abilities. Diana possesses telekinetic abilities and premonitory powers. This situation makes her live tormented. Her father died in an accident long ago and Diana had visions about his death. Because of this, Delfina makes Diana feel responsible for the death of her father, in addition to making her believe that her powers are a curse. Diana begins to have mysterious dreams, which are nothing more than visions of the tragic death of Leonor and Eduardo three centuries ago. Confused and tormented by these dreams, which become more disturbing every day, Diana consults Irene del Conde (Alma Muriel), a renowned psychiatrist. Irene has a romantic relationship with Omar Santelmo (

), a recognized physician in parapsychology studies. Omar is the nephew of Ernesto Santelmo (

Rafael Baledón Rafael Baledón Cárdenas (25 November 1919 – 6 May 1994) was a Mexican actor, director, screenwriter, and producer of the Golden Age of Mexican cinema. He worked in both film and television. Life Rafael Baledón was on 25 November 1919 in ...

), the owner and CEO of Santelmo Digital, one of the leading computing companies in Latin America. Ernesto is a widower and had no children. Although Omar hates his uncle, he hopes to become his heir. Ernesto Santelmo hires Mario Villarreal (Jorge Martínez), a prestigious Argentine computer engineer. Mario has an interesting project in mind: a minicomputer. Ernesto Santelmo and his company plan to support Mario's project, which they hope will be a huge success. Omar and Irene decide to discover all the secrets behind Ernesto and Mario's project and for their perverse purposes they decide to use Diana, whose mental powers will help them stay one step ahead. Diana discovers a photograph of Mario in a newspaper and recognizes him as the man she sees in her dreams (Eduardo). Meanwhile, to please his nephew, Ernesto decides to open a clinic for parapsychological studies that will be administered by Omar. With Irene's help, Omar begins to treat Diana and soon begins to seduce her in order to have her under his control. Irene makes a trip to Zacatecas. On her way back to Mexico City, suffers a serious motor vehicle accident. While Irene is unconscious, she has a series of dreams and revelations. When she wakes up, Irene discovers the truth: she is the reincarnation of Lucrecia Treviño. She also discovers that Diana and Mario are the reincarnation of Leonor and Eduardo. Irene discovers that her true purpose is to separate them again, destroy Diana and have Mario's love at any cost. With the help of Jordana (

), a mysterious woman she met in her convalescence, Irene begins to orchestrate a series of intrigues to fulfill her evil purpose. Mario finds an old portrait of Leonor de Santiago and falls in love with her, as if he had always known her. Diana and Mario finally meet and fall in love immediately. From then on, both have to circumvent a series of intrigues that prevent them from being together. Its main threat is Irene. Diana will also have to discover her true identity, learn to use and master her powers, and prevent her love for Mario from being interrupted again.

Cast

as Diana Salazar / Doña Leonor de Santiago * Jorge Martinez as Mario Villareal / Don Eduardo Carbajal *

as Irene del Conde / Lucrecia Treviño *

as Dr. Omar Santelmo *

as Jordana Hernández *

as Delfina García de Salazar *

Carlos Cámara Cárlos Cámara Lázaro (9 January 1934 – 24 February 2016) was a Dominican-born Mexican actor. Biography Cámara was born to a family of artists. He migrated to Venezuela where he married the actress Elisa Parejo, with whom he had three chi ...

as Luther Henrich / Franz Webber *

as Malena Salazar * Mario Casillas as Gonzalo Obregón *

Alejandro Tommasi Alejandro Tommasi (born Alejandro Casares Tommasi; August 14, 1957) is a Mexican television, stage and film actor. Personal life Tommasi is of Italian descent. Tommasi came out as gay and married his 35 years old boyfriend, Óscar Ruiz, in Sept ...

as Adrián Alfaro * Chela Nájera as Fidelia "Nelia" Velasco *

Rafael Baledon Rafael may refer to: * Rafael (given name) or Raphael, a name of Hebrew origin * Rafael, California * Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, Israeli manufacturer of weapons and military technology * Hurricane Rafael, a 2012 hurricane Fiction * ''R ...

as Ing. Ernesto Santelmo * Rebeca Manríquez as Marisela Rocha * Fernando Sáenz as Rodrigo Enríquez * Rafael Velasco as Enrique Falcón * Alejandra Peniche as Mónica Uzeta * Alonso Echánove as Rafael Romero *

Ariadne Welter Ariadne Welter (June 29, 1930 – December 13, 1998) was a Mexican movie actress of the Golden Age of Mexican cinema. She appeared in the Luis Buñuel film ''The Criminal Life of Archibaldo de la Cruz'' (1955). In 1956 she starred in the film '' ...

as Gloria Morrison / Gloria Escandón * Lolita Cortés as Elizabeth 'Liz' Morrison / Elizabeth 'Liz' Escandón *

Rosa Furman Rosa Furman Epstein (25 October 1930 – 29 October 1999) was a Mexican actress. Career Furman was born in Mexico City to Favy Furman Jaitzer of Mogilev, Belarus, and Sulamita Epstein Lamdansky of Visoki-Dvor, Lithuania. She was raised in Pa ...

as Madame Morett *

Arturo Beristain Arturo Beristain (born September 5, 1949) is a retired Mexican professional wrestler, or ''Luchador'' in Spanish, who works as a wrestling trainer at the Mexican professional wrestling promotion Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre's (CMLL) gym in Mexi ...

as Dr. Ronaldo de Juan * Ella Laboriel as Casilda * Tara Parra as Doña Constanza de Santiago * José Luis Carol as Don Álvaro de Santiago * Mario Sauret as Rodrigo Cervantes de Benavente * Yula Pozo as Teresa * Anaís de Melo as Yoko * Beatriz Martínez as Clara 'Clarita' * Eduardo Borja as Reverendo Williams * Lourdes Canale as Emma * Ricardo Lizama as Ignacio Galván * Carlos Magaña as Teniente Juan Manuel Amezcua * Clementina Gaudi as Irma * Ramón Menéndez as Jaime Ortiz Lajous * Enrique Hidalgo as Dr. Víctor Fortes * César Arias as Dr. Agustín Tamayo * Jorge Pais as Don Manuel Leal * Héctor Pons as Eugenio * Eva Calvo as Enfermera de Irene * Paola Ochoa as Enfermera de Delfina * Lucero Suárez as Empleada de la juguetería

Awards

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Extrano Retorno de Diana Salazar 1988 telenovelas Mexican horror fiction television series Mexican telenovelas 1988 Mexican television series debuts 1989 Mexican television series endings Spanish-language telenovelas Television shows set in Mexico Televisa telenovelas Television shows about reincarnation Witchcraft in television Supernatural television series Murder in television Suicide in television Television series set in the 17th century