Top 10 TV of 2024

 

There has been a lot of great new television in 2024, and whilst there is still a ton of it that I want to watch as I've been catching up on some older shows rather than watching new ones, there are a few shows that have absolutely delighted me this year.

Fallout 

Video games have been adapted into film for decades now, and most of them have been done pretty poorly. With a lot of games requiring dozens, perhaps even hundreds of hours from the players condensing it down into less than two hours seems like a big task. Television, on the other hand, has allowed these adaptations to thrive and reach many more audiences, and Amazon Prime's Fallout is the latest addition to the ever growing catalogue.

Set within the Fallout game universe and telling it's own story rather than adapting an existing one, the Fallout series follows a trio of protagonists as they try to survive in the post nuclear wasteland of the United States. Ella Purnell takes centre stage as Lucy, a young woman who has grown up in the relative comfort and safety of a vault, a vast underground facility designed to survive the end of the world. When raiders break into the vault and kidnap her father, played by Kyle MacLaughlan, Lucy set out into the dangerous wasteland to save him. Her journey brings her into contact with Maximus (Aaron Moten), a member of the religious warrior The Brotherhood of Steel, and The Ghoul (Walton Goggins), a mutated human from before the nuclear apocalypse hundreds of years ago.

Fallout manages to capture much of the weirdness and horror of the game series, translating some of the more outlandish concepts in a way that's easy to access for those unfamiliar with the source material. Having played a number of the games, I enjoyed what they were able to do and how much they incorporated whilst forging their own narrative. And the people I watched it with who had never played the game were just as engrossed, proving to me that the show works for multiple audiences. With the second season on the horizon, and a wonderful tease for game fans in the final moments, now's a perfect time to catch up if you missed out.

What We Do in the Shadows 

What We Do in the Shadows has been a wonderful franchise that I've absolutely adored since the film first came out. Whilst the spin-off Wellington Paranormal (which featured characters from the film) failed to garner much attention, What We Do in the Shadows became a huge success, capturing the hearts of viewers the world over. Reusing the concept of the movie, a documentary crew following a group of vampire housemates, the series came to a close this year with its sixth season.

With former familiar Guillermo (Harvey Guillén) having been cured of being a vampire the household enters some big changes this year. Guillermo, who has moved out from under the stairs to the garden shed, decides to enter the business world; a move that has been copied by Nandor (Kayvan Novak) and Nadja (Natasia Demetriou) as they both join him at Canon Capital. Meanwhile, Laszlo (Matt Berry) and Colin Robinson (Mark Proksch) set out to create life as they build their own monster out of body parts.

Guillermo's quest to become a vampire has been a core part of the series since the very beginning, and with the previous season putting that plotline to bed many fans have been asking where the latest season might go instead. It seems that with the knowledge that this would be the final season the showrunners have spent the final episodes building towards a satisfying conclusion. Whilst there are several subplots, including a formerly forgotten fifth housemate returning, and the ghost of Laszlo's father appearing, much of the season is built towards making a send-off for these characters. The final episode makes it clear that these characters have had weird and wonderful adventures in the past, and just because the cameras stop rolling it doesn't mean they'll be moving on. With a surprisingly bittersweet final season What We Do in the Shadows ends on a high note, and remains one of my favourite sitcoms. 

Star Trek: Lower Decks 

Another series that has sadly come to a close this year is Star Trek: Lower Decks. The second animated Star Trek series, Lower Decks has secured it's place as the most popular of these as it charts the weird and often disastrous missions of the USS Cerritos, one of Starfleet's least important ships. Instead of focusing on the command crew, however, we follow some of the lowest ranked officers. 

The first episode sets the stage for this year's season arc, with the Cerritos being sucked through an interdimensional fissure into an alternate reality, where they meet a version of the Cerritos commanded by Beckett Mariner (Tawny Newsome). Despite the Cerritos managing to return to the Prime universe there are unforeseen results, as fissures in reality spread throughout the galaxy. Now the Cerritos must try to find a solution to the problem, as well as the lower deck crew adjusting to their recent promotions.

The final season of Lower Decks follows a similar structure to previous years, with the season arc working away in the background amidst the adventure of the week format that allows the writers to do some weird and wacky things (sentient cubes vs sentient spheres, escaped nanites on a resort planet, and a visit to the fabled Starbase 80 amongst others). These adventures also allow each of the main cast the opportunity to figure out what their new role is since their promotion, to help other junior officers, and to begin their journey into more mature officers. With four seasons of our leads fighting against the responsibility that a promotion brings seeing them grow this way is a fitting final arc for them, and whilst it might be sad that the show has come to a close the journey to the end is an utter delight.

Agatha All Along 

Despite being a big comics fan the recent MCU output has been somewhat less than stellar for me. Deadpool & Wolverine was enjoyable but kind of middling, the final two seasons of What If? felt very lacklustre, and I haven't even gotten around to doing Echo yet. I needed something to reinvigorate the franchise for me, and I was shocked to find out it was Agatha All Along. Released in the build-up to Halloween, featuring a cast with a mainly older female majority, and embracing the silly, I was sucked into the show by the end of the first episode.

Picking up a few years after the events of WandaVision, the show returns to Westview, where the evil witch Agatha (Kathryn Hahn) has been trapped inside a spell that makes her think she's in a detective show. When the spell is broken, however, Agatha finds herself in need of power in order to combat a coven of witches out to kill her. Assembling her own coven of misfits and outcasts, and accompanied by a mysterious teen who's identity has been hidden by magic, Agatha sets off to walk the Witch's Road, a magical trial that will give whoever survives it anything they desire. 

One of the things that makes Agatha All Along a stand out in the MCU for me is that it feels like it's just having fun. Much like Werewolf by Night, the series doesn't seem to be here to set up anything big, it doesn't tie into an upcoming movie, and instead is just giving audiences something a bit different. Embracing horror and the fantastical, the series has a visual style all its own, and the relentless humour and snappy writing hide a story with much more depth that you first suspect. The series will absolutely change your view on Agatha by the end, and the seventh episode might be one of the best made episodes of TV that Marvel has ever made, with an astonishing non-linear presentation that absolutely demands a second viewing. 

Frasier 

I absolutely adore Frasier. The original series is my favourite sitcom of all time, one that I can watch over and over without losing any of the love or excitement I feel for it. Because of this I was somewhat nervous of the continuation of the show decades later, especially with Kelsey Grammer being the only returning cast member. I didn't know how it was going to work, I was afraid that it might tarnish my love for the character, but thankfully by the end of the very first episode these fears were put to bed, and as the series progressed I came to love the new cast of characters. So, having a second season (thirteenth?) was an absolute delight.

The second season of Frasier continues to chart the titular character's life after his move to Boston where he's taken up teaching at Harvard. His role as a teacher takes something of a backseat this season, as we instead follow more of his off campus adventures with his son Freddy (Jack Cutmore-Scott), and his various friends. This season spent time expanding the supporting cast, sometimes relegating Frasier to a secondary role in the episode as the others were given a chance to take the spotlight. However, it never felt like the lead was being side-lined, and the this more ensemble approach gave the series room to breathe and expand in much needed ways. 

The second season also introduced some more serious stories, particularly with Alan (Nicholas Lyndhurst) and his family issues, that made a number of the episodes feel wonderfully poignant. My biggest issue with the last season, the character of David (Anders Keith) was also addressed by making him much less weird, and whilst he was still a very strange young man he was much more realistic this season and didn't detract as much. And of course, this season also included a number of returning characters from the previous iteration of the show, including one who became a regular cast member, so long time fans will find a lot to be delighted with too. With the show seeming to be going from strength to strength I can only hope it continues. 

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power 

The first season of The Rings of Power was massively divisive, with people either loving it or hating it. And whilst I won't claim that everyone who disliked it was dishonest about the reasons why we're all aware that the show was subject to a huge amount of hate for all the wrong reasons, with people complaining about female characters, and people of colour being in the show. Despite the hate bombing and manufactured negativity I really enjoyed the series, and the second season only continued to impress.

With the three elven rings having been forged, and Galadriel (Morfydd Clark) aware that Halbrand (Charlie Vickers) is in fact the evil Sauron, the fight for Middle-Earth begins in earnest this season. Returning to the elven city or Eregion in secret, Sauron convinces the elven smith Celebrimbor to fashion more magic rings, starting with seven for the dwarves. Meanwhile, political tensions boil over on the distant island of Númenor puts a number of characters in danger as dark forces conspire against the queen regent. And in the land of Rhûn, The Stranger (Daniel Weyman) and Nori (Markella Kavenagh) search for answers as to where The Stranger comes from, and come to the attention of a Dark Wizard (Ciarán Hinds).

As with the first season, there's a lot that happens in The Rings of Power, with multiple stories being told at the same time. But the show never feels too bloated nor confusing, and if anything I came away from each episode wanting more. Thanks to a lot of groundwork being laid in the first season we're able to delve into more interesting things with the second season, exploring some of the darker parts of Middle-Earth, and featuring some characters and creatures that will wow fans. Barrow Wights, Entwives, and Tom Bombadil (Rory Kinnear) all make appearances this season, as well as a host of other amazing creatures. With an episode that's entirely dedicated to a city under siege from an orc army, there's action aplenty, and I think most fans of the source material will find something here to love.

Bob's Burgers 

Entering it's fifteenth season, the animated Bob's Burgers is one of my favourite sitcoms thanks to it's weird and wonderful central cast of characters. Whilst the show does do some outlandish things, it's not a series that relies on the impossible, and remains grounded in a lot of ways. Despite only being part way through airing the series at the point that I'm writing this I can say that it easily fits into my top ten because it does almost every year. 

This season has featured a deadly cheese throwing contest, an open mic night at the restaurant, Bob (H. Jon Benjamin) trying to hold onto his past by saving an ageing drive-in, and a rather touching episode where Tina (Dan Mintz) and Louise (Kristen Schaal) end up at each other's throats over their toys. The series might not be to everyone's tastes, and there's absolutely no way I'd want to be stuck in a room with the Belchers for a long period of time, but watching their adventures is always a lot of fun. The fact that this season also recast the character of Marshmallow, was also a huge improvement to the series, replacing David Herman, a white cis man, with Jari Jones, a Black trans woman. Marshmallow has now gone from what felt like an uncomfortable caricature of a trans woman into a character that feels more honest, and the episode featuring her this season had some beautiful moments that showcased this.

Star Wars: The Acolyte

Oh boy did this show have an uphill battle. Not only was it bringing to the screen an era of the Star Wars mythos that most people were unfamiliar with, but the toxicity of a certain area of the 'community' who seem to only exist to rage bait and take part in a 'culture war' to line their own pockets meant that a series with a mostly BIPOC cast, and a non-binary lead was always going to come under fire. This is the same group of fans who has relentlessly attacked people like Daisy Ridley, Kelly Marie Tran, Moses Ingram, and others simply for daring to not be white men in the Star Wars universe. The review bombing of The Acolyte before it even aired, the hours of YouTube complaining about single lines of dialogue, and the harassment of stars showcased how truly dark and twisted the Star Wars fandom has become, and led me to distance myself from it whenever possible.

Star Wars: The Acolyte takes viewers back hundreds of years before the events of the prequel trilogy, to a time where the Jedi were at their peak, to investigate a series of murders targeting Jedi Knights. Sol (Lee Jung-jae) is sent to investigate the matter when it appears that a former apprentice of his, Osha (Amandla Stenberg) may be responsible. As the investigation goes on, the Jedi begin to uncover a dark conspiracy that leads back to an enemy thought long destroyed.

The Acolyte is, despite the hate, a great show. It's not perfect by any means, but the good in the series far outweighs the bad. The show brings a part of the Star Wars universe so far only seen in comics and books to live action, giving new audiences the chance to discover The High Republic. It also features some great new characters, an exploration of the Force that adds to the mythology, and features some of the best lightsaber fights that have ever been put on screen. With pieces of the story left unfinished, some big teases of important character, and ties to important events left hanging it's a shame that the amount of hate from a minority of shitty people has led to The Acolyte being unfinished.

Interview with the Vampire

I was late to watching Interview with the Vampire and only discovered the series when I was offered the chance to review the second season's Blu-ray release. Knowing I liked the movie, I caught up with the first season (binging the thing in three days) and dove into the second season, desperate to find out what happened next. This is a series that I was hooked on before the first episode came to a close, and it quickly became one of my favourite shows of the entire year.

Adapting the book by Anne Rice, Interview with the Vampire makes some big changes to the original narrative in order to create an adaptation that works for television. One of the biggest changes is to the central character, Louis (Jacob Anderson), who is now a Black man from the turn of the 20th century. A businessman in New Orleans, he falls in love with the vampire Lestat (Sam Reid) and is turned into a vampire himself. The second season sees Louis and his vampire daughter Claudia (Delainey Hayles) fleeing to Europe after their murder of Lestat. Travelling across war torn Europe, they search for signs of other vampires, eventually coming to Paris after the war ends. Here, they discover a coven of vampires running a theatre; an event that will change their lives forever.

Much like the first season, the second is incredibly well written, adapting the source material brilliantly. The change to the time in which the story is set feels incredibly natural, and suits a lot of the themes that the series is addressing, and it ends up working well with the characters own arc. There are a number of new characters added to the show this season too, and so many of them shine so well on the screen that you can't help but want more of them, even if some of them are characters you hate. Even the change in casting to Claudia, something I was slightly nervous of, is quickly forgotten, as Hayles makes the role her own and has you loving her performance by the end of the first episode. If you've been sitting on watching Interview with the Vampire you've done yourself a disservice, and you definitely need to catch up before the third season hits.

X-Men '97

The 90's X-Men animated series is one of those shows that I think was better in my memory than it actually was. I recently rewatched the entire thing with my partners, partly to get ready for the new series, and whilst there were some great stories there was also a lot to the old show that wasn't as great. The revival, however, manages to take what was good about the original and dialled it up to eleven, delivering an incredibly strong season, and one episode in particular which has become the gold standard for every other X-Men adaptation to beat.

Picking up where the original show ended, Charles Xavier (Ross Marquand) has gone into space to receive medical treatment, but may not survive. As such, those left behind are reacting as if the Professor has died, which includes listening to his last will and testament, which gives everything he owns to Magento (Matthew Waterson). With the former villain in charge of the X-Men, he begins a road to redemption, trying to earn his place amongst them. However, things are threatened by a number of problems, including a clone of Jean Grey (Jennifer Hale), the depowering of Storm (Alison Sealy-Smith), and a disaster that will change the world forever.

X-Men '97 isn't a long season, but it manages to pack a lot into its episodes, adapting some well known stories, such as the trial of Magneto, the Inferno event, E is for Extinction, Lifedeath, and Operation Zero Tollerance amongst others. The series managed to balance these stories well, and was able to weave them into the series long narrative quite naturally. The new series also brought back characters like Bishop (Isaac Robinson-Smith), Nightcrawler (Adrian Hough), and Morph (J. P. Karliak) on the team, and introduced new character Sunspot (Gui Agustini). The standout for the series, however, is the episode 'Remember It'. This is episode I consider the best X-Men adaptation outside of comics, it's the episode that made this a series that I adore, and it's one that has caused the biggest reaction in viewers. Watch it for yourself, and tell me this show isn't worth being in your top ten.

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Interview with the Vampire Season 2 - Blu-ray Review

 

Anne Rice's Interview with the Vampire is a global phenomena, and was even before the new television adaptation came into being. The book, which spawned a dozen other entries in what would become The Vampire Chronicles series was such a success that it inspired numerous other creators in the genre, and helped to propel the popularity of fan fiction (despite her turbulent relationship with it. I, like many other fans of the genre my age, watched the film adaptation at a young age, and it helped spawn a love of the gothic vampire genre. Because of this, when I heard that the series was being adapted to television is was excited to see what might become of this sprawling epic. However, it was a series that I had not yet found the time to watch due to other commitments, and my household watching some other shows. 

It wasn't until I was offered a review copy of the Blu-ray release of the second season that I found myself committing to actually sit down and watching the show. I turned on my television, found the first season of streaming, and fired it up. And was instantly hooked. Everything that I liked about the genre was here in spades, and the story that I remember from the film was fleshed out in fantastic ways, expanded and changed, with certain elements such as the timeline being changed and characters being altered slightly in such a way that the heart of the story remained, but was offered to me in a fresh and exciting new manner that (in a possibly contentious statement) I think I like more than the original version. I, much like a hungry fledgling vampire, devoured one episode after another, wanting more each and every time as I was sucked into this narrative, and before I knew it, I was onto the second season, and the reason for this review.

Season two opens big, with the story of Louis de Pointe du Lac (Jacob Anderson) and his companion Claudia (Delainey Hayles - replacing the previous season's Bailey Bass) having fled the United States after the murder of their sire, and Louis' abusive lover, Lestat de Lioncourt (Sam Reid). Claudia, who in the previous season had delved into the history of the vampire in a desire to learn more about her origin, and wanting to find some decent vampires, drives the two of them across the ocean to Europe to search out others of their kind. However, this is the 1940's, and World War II rages on. We follow the two of them through the ruins of Europe, as they move from ancient castle to ancient castle, searching out signs of other vampires. Sleeping in pits during the day, feeding on wounded soldiers and Nazi's by night, the two of them have begun a life of misery. 

After some time searching for answers, answers that almost push Claudia to breaking point, the two of them find themselves in Paris following the conclusion of the war. Having heard much about the city from their maker, Lestat, they hope to find some peace and contentment, and hopefully a vampire or two. Thus begins the main thrust of the season, as Louis and Claudia discover a coven of vampires that have made Paris their home for centuries, and must try to figure out their place in the world that they've stumbled upon. And, just like with the first season, all of this is framed by our current time, where journalist Daniel Molloy (Eric Bogosian) interviews Louis and his immortal lover Armand (Assad Zaman).

The second season of Interview with the Vampire has a lot of heavy lifting to do. Much of the praise of the first season was laid at the feet of the central relationship between Louis and Lestat, and the chemistry the lead actors had. Indeed, it's hard to deny that their abusive, tragic love story was one of the main draws for that initial season, and even if you came away from the show not liking those aspects I think it'd be impossible to deny that Anderson and Reid gave anything less than one hundred percent in every scene. With Lestat gone from the narrative the show would have to focus instead on the relationship between Louis and Claudia, and the recasting of Claudia could make or break the season. 

Bailey Bass was amazing in the first season, and had tons of infectious energy that made it impossible to hate the character of Claudia. She brought youthfulness to the role, portraying the child made into a killer in a way that was incredibly believable. Hayles, in contrast plays the character quite differently. This is a Claudia much changed from the girl who was made into a vampire at 14. An adult in mind, and hardened by her experiences, Hayles brings a mature, almost world weary energy to Claudia in the opening episode of the season, and you very quickly forget that this is a different actress in the role. Changing a lead character, especially one much of the season pivots on, is never easy, but Interview with the Vampire makes it seem almost effortless. As soon as Claudia crawls her way out of the ground, dressed like a refugee of war, smeared in dirt and blood, Hayles makes the character her own with a depth and sense of sorrow that she will carry for the rest of the season.

One of the biggest departures for the show is the huge shift in locations. The first season was set almost exclusively in New Orleans, and the location felt almost comfortable, and whilst we could watch times change around our immortal characters the character of the city melded into the background somewhat towards the end. The change to Europe offers something very different, and the opening episode makes for a dramatic change. The ruins of Europe are dark, almost nightmarish, and a huge departure from the warm lights and comforts of the first season. It's following our characters at their lowest, and the visuals reflect that in some beautifully grim locations and costuming.

It's the relocation to Paris where the season comes into its own. It brings a fresh sense of life into the characters and the narrative following the dour opening. There's a renewed sense of hope in Louis and Claudia, something that only increases when they discover a coven of vampires hiding out in the open as part of the Théâtre des Vampires, where the coven 'pretend' to be vampires to a paying audience. Everything about Paris looks gorgeous, from the small cafes and bars that Louis spends his nights in, people watching, to the monuments and iconic places we visit with them, to the old and somewhat rundown theatre the coven call home. Paris almost becomes a character, one that informs the look and feel of the season and changes Louis and Claudia.

Assad Zaman is promoted somewhat this season thanks to the reveal in the final episode of the first season that he was not the human servant of Louis in the present day, but instead an even older vampire, one able to walk in the sun. Paris is the place where Louis would first meet Armand, where the two of them would fall in love, and so he enters the interview alongside his companion. Zaman is a wonderful addition to the story, and the small trick that the show played with him in the first season makes the viewer want to learn so much more about him here. His relationship with Louis becomes a big part of the second season, and acts as a nice counter to Louis' previous lover. We're given the chance to watch Louis learn to move on, to leave the trauma and the love of his past behind him and embrace a new chapter of his story with Armand, even if he's unsure if that's something that he wants to begin with. It's a very different energy to Louis and Lestat, and it brings something new to the series that I think fans will really love seeing.

Speaking of Lestat, despite his 'death' at the end of the last season this doesn't mean that the show is done with the phenomenal Sam Reid just yet, as the guilt that Louis carries with him manifests in the world around him. Louis sees Lestat wherever he goes, haunted by the man he both loves and hates. This allows for Reid to stay in the series, and for him to approach the character from a different angle. This isn't Lestat, it's Louis' mind playing Lestat, and as such this version of the character does feel somewhat different, a lesser version of him. This doesn't mean that Reid isn't playing him as well, in fact it means he's got a more difficult performance as you start to see parts of Louis coming through this fake Lestat here and there. Reid does this fantastically, and at times it's incredibly subtle, and you can miss it if you're not looking for it, but it allows the character to be used in some interesting scenarios the show hasn't done before, and leads to some truly beautiful and haunting scenes.

Much like with season one, the second season does a lot of new things with the story, and it's very much making Rice's novel it's own thing. This is not a criticism, and if anything I found myself more invested in it because of this. A large part of this is thanks to the knowledge I had of the story beats, mainly learned from the film adaptation. This made certain aspects of the story all the more exciting for me. I remembered what happens with the vampire coven, I remember where this chapter in Louis' story leads, and I found myself unable to stop watching because I was desperate to find out if that's where the series would go, or if they could avert those events with their new interpretation. 

Alongside the episodes, the Blu-ray offers some behind the scenes extras. Each episode comes with a small five to ten minute behind the scenes that shows some of the making of, and features interviews with the cast and crew. There's also a two minute blooper reel, and a 45 minute larger behind the scenes piece that contains more than the shorts, but does also feature some of the moments from them in it. Perhaps it's the length of most of the extras, or the fact that each of them ends with a 'stream now on AMC' screen at the end, but it comes across feeling like most of these extra features have been collected from social media promotional material and thrown onto the disc. I would have loved more, and something like episode commentaries with cast and crew would have been amazing; sadly, outside of the episodes the discs do feel a little barebones. 

Interview with the Vampire was a show that I was wanting to watch, but wasn't sure when I was going to get round to it, and it ended up as a show that I binged two seasons of in a week and am excitedly waiting for the third season of. I found every single episode to be some of the best made, best written, and stunningly acted episodes of TV that I've seen in a long time. The series will appeal to fans of the source material thanks to the creative chances it takes, with the changes it introduces, and the new vision the showrunners are crafting. And new fans are going to be sucked in by how absolutely amazing each and every episode is. The show feels like a masterclass in how to adapt books, and I hope that this show ends up becoming one that people talk about in the highest regards, because it absolutely deserves it.

Interview with the Vampire Season Two Blu-ray, and the Season One & Two boxset, are released on 7th October 2024.

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Listmas 2023 – TV

 

Originally published on Set The Tape

This year I took part in the Set The Tape Listmas articles, sharing my thoughts on some of my favourite media from the last year. I talked briefly about a couple of TV shows that I enjoyed.

Frasier (2023)

Frasier is my favourite sitcom of all time. Between the DVD box-set on my shelf and TV reruns, I’ve seen the whole 11 series through at least a dozen times and will still sit to attention whenever I find it on a channel. But when it was announced that Frasier would be returning after a 20-year absence, I was unsure about it. The more I learned – that it would be set somewhere else, that only the titular character would be coming back – I began to hate the idea. Spin-offs and reboots are rarely as good as the original, and this would be a spin-off of a spin-off.

But a friend of mine saw the first couple of episodes and advised me to try it. And I’m so glad he did. Though taking a while to find its feet, I soon saw that this was still the show I loved. The first episode had some jokes that made me laugh out loud, and some heartfelt moments that moved me to tears. The Frasier spirit was still kicking. As the season went on, it began settling into itself and became a show that I looked forward to each week.

The new cast bring a unique energy to things, to a degree which may even have worked better than simply just bringing the original cast back. Frasier (Kelsey Grammer) gets put into a new life, forced to adjust to a changed environment and figure out his relationships. It’s great to see the inevitable clashes and hi-jinks that brings, as well as the tender moments too. The various nods to the late, great John Mahoney help, not only reminding viewers of the history, but also showing that the new showrunners care about the on and off-screen history too. 

Star Trek: Lower Decks

I was discussing Star Trek with my partner recently and said that there isn’t a Trek show that didn’t take a while to get good, using the spectacular Deep Space Nine as an example – boy, were the first two seasons bad in places. Yet as I was making that argument, I realised that I actually couldn’t find fault with Lower Decks at all. Since it premiered, the animated excursion has been firing on all cylinders, mixing the Trek we know and love with wacky animated comedy, in a balance that must be hard to do but the show makes look effortless.

The latest season continues to do just that whilst, in addition to adventure-of-the-week antics that add to the overall universe, introducing a season long arc that feels like a genuine mystery. It also turned out to be a surprisingly satisfying season for long-time Trekkies. Not just content to bring back Rom (Max Grodénchik) and show the progress he’d made as the Grand Nagus, the show also connected things back to the original ‘Lower Decks’ episode of The Next Generation in a genuinely heartfelt way.

If you’d have told me an animated comedy Star Trek series that featured evil holographic com-badges out to kill people, a tiny bone-eating monster called Moopsy, and jokes that poke fun at recycling the same actor in multiple roles was going to end producing the most consistently excellent Trek ever made, I’d have laughed at you. But here we are. A show that isn’t afraid to try wild, wacky new things which bring a brand new life to this long running universe. A love letter to the series that came before, Lower Decks might just be one of the most perfect shows in the franchise.

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Creepshow Season 4 – Blu-ray Review

 

Originally published on Set The Tape

We recently took a look at the physical media release of the first three seasons of Shudder exclusive horror anthology series Creepshow, developed as a continuation of the 80’s film series. These were released around the same time that the fourth season premiered on the streaming platform, and now the fourth season has got its own release, allowing fans to complete the collection.

As with the previous seasons, season four has six episodes, and each one covers two short horror stories, with different on and off screen talent. In the first few seasons of the show these episodes were fairly evenly split, with both stories taking around 20 minutes each. This season, however, feels quite different, as some of the episodes tend to lean more heavily towards one of the stories over the other, leading to it feeling more like a main story and a B-feature. To be fair though, the premise of the show is that you’re reading a comic book, and most comics that feature a back-up story are structured this way, with one gaining the bulk of the page count; so in that regard it does feel a bit like a comic.

This season has some interesting episodes, and opens strong with two tales that are immediately engaging. The first deals with a woman whose home comes under siege by a monster who’s chasing a woman that she decides to help. Having been told that the monster will kill her within twenty minutes, we follow the woman as she tries her best to find a solution to saving her life. Whilst it’s light on the horror, this story is surprisingly introspective, and features some really delightful interactions. And it might just have the best pizza delivery guy that’s ever been put on screen. The second part of the episode is much shorter, but works well because of it. It follows an award winning photographer whose past comes back to haunt him, and is genuinely quite creepy in places, and ended up being one of the stories from the season that really stood out in my mind.

After this first episode, however, things become kind of a mixed bag. There are still some good stories to be found, such as one about a writer who uses a lucky hat to get through his writer’s block, but it turns out the hat is controlling him. It’s kind of silly, it makes obvious nods to Stephen King (who helped create the original Creepshow), and it goes a bit creature feature towards the end, but there is something delightfully engaging about it. But I found there to be a lot more misses than hits as the show went on, with stories that were either completely forgettable, or just dull and predictable. There was one that felt like it was going through the motions until the ‘show twist’ final moment, but this elicited nothing much more than ‘Oh, so that’s the twist? Okay then’ from me.

This season seems to lack something that the previous ones had; the hook that made the others really enjoyable just doesn’t seem to be here. Part of this feels like it may be a decrease in budget. I don’t know if that’s the case, but it feels like it might be. The show doesn’t have as much punch as before. The segments with the Creep are gone, with the show now simply doing animated pages within the comic, there’s much less night shooting than previous seasons, which tends to save money, and there are next to no big name stars this season. The very first episode of the series, the very first story, opened big, with Tobin Bell, Adrienne Barbeau, and Giancarlo Esposito, all names that horror fans will recognise. Other episodes would feature people like Jeffrey Combs, Keith David, Kiefer Sutherland, Justin Long, James Remar, and other relatively big names. But this season doesn’t have any.

The lack of big name guest stars certainly makes this season feel like it has dropped somewhat in quality. Whilst none of the bigger actors featured in past seasons did anything more special than the actors in this one, with every actor essentially playing a bit part, the loss of recognisable faces means that this season just doesn’t stand out. Part of the fun of loading up an episode of the show was waiting to see if anyone you know would be in it, but after a coupe of episodes of season four I gave up even trying to anticipate, because I just knew it wasn’t coming.

Sadly, a lack of big names isn’t the only thing missing from this season. The previous home releases came with some extra features that included interviews, comic-con panels, audio commentaries, and special episodes. What does this season have listed as extra features worth getting the physical release for? Subtitles. Basic accessibility features that should be included in everything is all that this set could put together as ‘special’ features. Disappointing to say the least. Not only does this seem like a huge downgrade on previous seasons (and once again feeds into the feeling of cheapness) but it also gives those with a Shudder subscription no incentive to buy the discs. There are some people who have Shudder who’d absolutely buy the physical releases to look into the extras, but for this season they’ll likely just not bother.

I very much enjoyed the previous Creepshow releases, but season four feels like a big let down. After excitedly awaiting its delivery, hoping to get it watched before Christmas kicked in, I ended up feeling kind of deflated by the time the final episode credits rolled.

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Loki (Season Two) – TV Review

 

Originally published on Set The Tape

The first season of Loki saw the titular character, played by Tom Hiddleston, from earlier in the timeline, becoming a time variant, a Loki that shouldn’t exist, and so was taken outside of time by the Time Variance Authority (TVA). Working alongside the TVA, Loki was sent to hunt down another variant of himself, Sylvie (Sophia Di Martino). Over the course of the season we learned that the TVA was founded on a lie, and that this had all be created by He Who Remains (Jonathan Majors), a variant of the next big MCU bad, Kang. By the end of the season Sylvie had killed He Who Remains, creating a new multiverse, but things ended with Loki in a TVA who didn’t recognise him.

This season picks up literally where things left off, with Loki in a Kang-ruled TVA, with his friends Mobius (Owen Wilson) and B-15 (Wunmi Mosaku) chasing after him. Very quickly it’s revealed that Loki has become unstuck in time, and has arrived in an earlier version of the TVA who eventually have their memories wiped by Kang. In his regular time, he and the others work with the TVA’s resident egg-head inventor Ouroboros (Ke Huy Quan) to fix Loki back in time. With one disaster averted, the group now have to try to find a way of saving the TVA, as the device that manages the timeline can no longer handle all of the alternate universes passing through it, and if they can’t fix it, it could mean the end of everything.

Loki season two is a much more focused season than the previous one, with a clear goal set out early on. Part of what made the first season so enjoyable was the mystery element to the story, of trying to figure everything out as we journey along with Loki. This season, whilst still containing some mysteries, instead has a much more simple narrative; there’s a problem, let’s fix it. This helps to make this season feel distinct enough that it doesn’t feel like the people making it are relying on the same tricks again, and are brave enough to try something new.

That being said, this does mean that there are times when this season of the show feels a little bit dull. There are great performances, and the visual quality of the series is still there, but there is something of a slump in this season where the middle episodes feel like they’re spinning their wheels. This is one of those stories where it definitely feels like there was too much to be able to fit into a film, yet perhaps six episodes may have been a bit more than that could have filled well. There are some sub-plots that take too long to play out, and a few that feel like they’re distracting from the main story. In contrast, the opening episode and the final two, which focus almost solely on the main plot, are the best in the season, and deliver some fantastic moments.

As with the first season, much of the quality of the series lays with the cast. Hiddleston has been a fair few different versions of Loki by now, but it’s here that he feels the most human, and the most heroic. This Loki has had the best journey, and the best development. When this Loki pleads for people to do the right thing and be good you believe it, and when he steps up to put his life on the line you’re not in doubt that he means it. Hiddleston brings a pathos to the character that hasn’t been there before, and it works wonderfully. By the end of the season it feels like Loki can finally be put to bed. There could be more done with the character for sure, but if this becomes the last thing we have from him it’s pretty much the perfect conclusion, and it seems like Hiddleston poured everything into his performance in case this is the end.

Elsewhere in the series the next standout is Jonathan Majors as Victor Timely, a new variant of Kang. Victor is very much not He Who Remains, and it’s great to see different versions of the same person portrayed so differently, even down to their physicality, facial tics, and the way that they speak. That being said, much like with Loki himself, the series seems to have created a perfect wrapping up point, but this time not for the character, but for the actor. With multiple domestic violence and assault charges against him, which see Jonathan Majors appearing in court later this month, the continued use of the actor in such a major role has been a point of contention for many. Kang is perhaps the easiest character in the MCU to recast, with literally anyone able to play a variant of him. With the story in Loki season two being what it is, this may be the perfect time to say farewell to the actor.

Elsewhere, the returning cast don’t really get a huge amount to do. Sylvie takes more of a backseat this time round, and is more of a supporting character than a co-lead, and there are times where it feels like the writers perhaps didn’t know what to do with her after season one. Mobius continues much in the same role as the first series, acting as Loki’s guide and partner, and there are some great moments between them early in the season where they get to team up, but his role lessens as the series goes on. Despite this, he has a pretty great journey that acts as one of the emotional hearts of the show.

Wunmi Mosaku returns as B-15, and is great to have back, but never really gets any big, important moments as she did in the first season, and feels very under-utilised for the most part. Minor character Casey (Eugene Cordero) gets elevated to a recurring character this season, and gets to play off this season’s newest cast member, Ke Huy Quan a lot. Quan is a great addition to the show, and brings some fun, quirky energy to his character that ends up with him stealing almost every scene that he’s in.

As with the first season, the production value on the show is fantastic, and Loki remains the best looking MCU series. The TVA looks fantastic, and has a wonderful retro-sci-fi look that adds a level of quirkiness and realism. Every piece of costuming and set decoration in the TVA is being used to further build this world, and it ends up becoming a location you’d love to wander around in. Also returning this season is composer Natalie Holt, who did fantastic work on the season one soundtrack. Loki‘s signature theremin returns, but this time Holt also gets to compose some epic, emotional pieces of music that elevate some already fantastic scenes to some of the best moments in the MCU in recent years.

Whilst season two might not be as strong throughout as the first, it moves the story and characters forward into interesting new directions. It has some fantastic visuals and a production quality that feels miles above shows like Secret Invasion. If this is the end for this character, and for this particular corner of the MCU, then it’s a fitting one, and one that goes out on a wonderful, glorious high.

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Ahsoka (Season One) – TV Review

 

Originally published on Set The Tape

Ahsoka was going to have to do a lot of things. When it was announced that the character was going to be getting her own series, and that it was going to be a continuation of the beloved animated series Star Wars Rebels there was pressure for it to do justice to the show. It was also, of course, going to be a continuation of Ahsoka’s story which began in Star Wars: The Clone Wars, and has featured throughout several other shows. And then they went and announced at Star Wars Celebration that Dave Filoni was going to be directing a film, and that this series was leading up to that (along with the other shows set in that era). The series was going to have to manage all of that, and yet still be an entertaining piece all itself. No easy task by any means.

The story begins continuing on from when we first saw Ahsoka (Rosario Dawson) in live action in The Mandalorian, with former Imperial Magistrate Morgan Elsbeth (Diana Lee Inosanto) being transported by the New Republic to stand trial. However, the ship she’s on comes under attack by a pair of lightsaber-wielding mercenaries, Baylan Skoll (Ray Stevenson) and Shin Hati (Ivanna Sakhno), who kill the crew and release Elsbeth. Morgan uses her newfound freedom to continue her mission to find and rescue the missing Grand Admiral Thrawn (Lars Mikkelsen), who went missing almost a decade ago.

She isn’t the only one looking for Thrawn, however, as Ahsoka discovers an ancient device in an old Night Sister temple on a deserted world. Ahsoka brings the device to her ally in the New Republic, General Hera Syndulla (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), hoping that it might prove the threat of Thrawn’s return. Knowing that it might also be the key to finding their missing friend, the Jedi Knight Ezra Bridger (Eman Esfandi), Ahsoka brings the device to the former rebel Sabine Wren (Natasha Liu Bordizzo) who has been watching over Ezra’s home in his absence. However, when Elsbeth’s forces come for the device it begins a race against time to stop the return of one of the galaxy’s biggest threats, and a journey that will lead to a whole new galaxy of danger.

Ahsoka is a show that plays it sly. At the beginning things feel very familiar, even if you’ve not seen the animated series that this show is a continuation of. We’re in a time that we know thanks to The Mandalorian, we’re fighting the threat of the Imperial Remnant, and even the introduction of a couple of dark side Force users and a surviving Inquisitor add a bit of something new for our heroes to fight; yet it’s also something that we’ve seen elsewhere. The first few episodes are ‘grounded’, in as much as this fantastical universe is ever grounded. However, as the series goes on it begins to introduce more and more fantastical elements, eventually creating one of the most magical experiences in Star Wars.

The biggest of these is the fact that Ahsoka takes us to another galaxy, something that has never been done in Star Wars. We find out where the Purgill took Thrawn and Ezra at the end of Star Wars Rebels, and the answer is more surprising than most people considered. Not only is it in another galaxy, but a world filled with mystery, magic, the Force, and more questions than you’d expect. The series takes us to a world that belongs to the Night Sisters, (bringing them into live action fully for the first time) a world where their dark magics rule supreme, and ancient secrets are lying in wait. And some of our heroes get there by flying across galaxies inside of a giant space whale. It’s magical, and it’s so wonderfully Star Wars.

And that sense of magic and wonder permeates the show. In what is perhaps the greatest episode of any Star Wars show ever made, Ahsoka finds herself in the World Between Worlds, a place outside of time and space. Here, she comes face to face with her old master, Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) who helps her to deal with the trauma that she’s been carrying about his fall. He does this by taking her through her memories, and we go back to the Clone Wars, complete with a young Ahsoka played perfectly by Ariana Greenblatt. We get to see the animated series brought to life in live action, witness the Siege of Mandalore. And whilst all of this could be happening in Ahsoka’s head as she lays dying in the ocean, the fact that the son of Kanan Jarrus can hear her through the Force shows that it was real. It’s the kind of magic that often feels lost in the world of Star Wars.

For those fans of Star Wars Rebels hoping to see their beloved characters brought to life in the show, Ahsoka doesn’t disappoint. Mary Elizabeth Winstead feels like a war weary Hera, a slightly older Hera who has gone from the leader of a small rebel cell to one of the key generals in the Rebel Alliance, and the New Republic. She also plays the part of a mother beautifully, and the inclusion of a young Jacen (Evan Whitten) was a moment that brought genuine tears.

Natasha Liu Bordizzo is fantastic as Sabine, and brings a lot of the character’s anger and rebellious spirit to life well. She’s also a character who’s been through a lot, who has lost her entire family in the Night of a Thousand Tears, which saw Mandalore destroyed, and even spent some time training with Ahsoka. The continuation of her training first begun by Kanan in Star Wars Rebels is a big part of her journey in Ahsoka, and her trying to become a Jedi and tap into the Force is something that feels like an unusual, but also very believable next stage in her journey.

One character that everyone was anxious to see make the leap to live action was Grand Admiral Thrawn, a beloved EU character that was brought into the new canon in Star Wars Rebels and brought to life wonderfully by Lars Mikkelsen. Mikkelsen brought gravitas to the character, made he feel threatening and powerful just through his voice. As such, people were clamouring for him to reprise the role, and Dave Filoni listened. Lars returns as Thrawn, and there’s just no one else who could play that role. At first it is a bit jarring hearing that voice coming out of a living person rather than animation, but Lars has been playing this role for so long that he returned to the role without it feeling like he ever left. This is Thrawn, the same ruthless, calculating, and strangely charming character that dominated Star Wars Rebels, and come the end of the season his threat to the rest of the galaxy feels very, very real.

The most surprising new actor for the Star Wars Rebels cast, however, is Eman Esfandi as Ezra. The first time we see him in the show he’s playing the hologram version of Ezra that was left behind at the end of the animated series. The mannerisms and the way he speaks felt just like Ezra, but it’s not until he returns that you really get to see just how perfect he is for the role. He not only looks like an older Ezra, but the way he moves, the way he stands, his speech pattern, all of it screams Ezra Bridger. Whilst the show brings so many of the characters to life in amazing ways, he is perhaps the most perfect, even beating Lars who played his character in animation.

As for the lead character, I’ve seen some people complain that the live action version of Ahsoka felt colder, and more detached than she did in animation. And I’d agree with that to a certain degree. Whilst Rosario Dawson captured the physicality of the character well, it did feel like parts of her character were missing. Of course, this was a part of the story, and the fifth episode of the season addresses that head on. After her time with Anakin, after she confronts the pain and guilt she feels for not being there for him when he needed help the most, she re-emerges changed. Not only does she don new clothing (Ahsoka the White, as fans have dubbed her), but it’s like a weight has been lifted from her. She’s smiling, she has faith in the Force, and she seems to be at peace even when things seem at their worst. This series might be heavily about the Ghost crew and their journeys, but it in no way forgets about its titular character.

The series also added some new characters in the form of Baylan and Shin, mercenary Force users allied with Elsbeth. Baylan, played by the late Ray Stevenson, is a former Jedi Knight who survived Order 66, and has become somewhat disillusioned with the galaxy since. Stevenson plays this wonderfully, and there’s a sense of honour and decency to the man that you tend not to find in most depictions of dark side users. This is hinted at in his saber, which isn’t the pure red that we’re used to seeing, but a deep orange instead.

There are hints that there could be some good in him, and he keeps proving this throughout the series by being a man who doesn’t just want to see the galaxy burn, as a man who keeps his word even to his enemies. The series ends in a hugely important way for his character, bringing in more mystery and more mysticism that will get any fan excited to see what will happen next. Sadly, with us having lost Ray Stevenson even before the first episode aired it looks like Baylan’s story will have to either end in this form, or continue on with another actor in the role. Either way, Stevenson has created a character that fans have quickly fallen in love with, and who has left a lasting mark on Star Wars, which is a wonderful tribute to him.

Ahsoka is perhaps also one of the best looking series that has been made for Star Wars. Whilst Andor was a phenomenal series, and looks fantastic, it was a very grounded show, and made the Star Wars universe feel more real than ever before. Ahsoka goes in the opposite direction, and makes it feel more magical than before. Giant star whales flying through space, dark magics, a world ringed with the bodies of Cthulian beasts, giant statues of ancient Force gods, magical swords, and the undead all make the series different. Star Wars has never been hard science fiction, and has always been science fantasy, and this show embraces that part. If Andor is the gritty and realistic war story, this is The Lord of the Rings of Star Wars. The beautiful, wondrous elements of the show are jaw dropping, and give the series a scope that others have failed to capture.

Because it’s a show with multiple characters with lightsabers you expect the series to feature decent action, and it more than lives up to that. Each of the characters has their own feel to them when it comes to combat. Baylan Skoll is a medieval knight who walks slowly and hammers through your defences with hard strikes. Shin Hati is chaotic, she moves quickly and in unexpected ways. Sabine is not really able to tap into the Force, so she’s clumsier with the saber, and relies on her Beskar armour to help out, blocking blows with her gauntlets and using her other weapons. Ezra has survived without his weapon for almost a decade, and fights hand to hand using the Force to augment him. All of the fights in the series feel different and unique because each one is telling us more about the characters, how they approach combat, and what it says about who they are.

The two best fights in the series, however, involve Ahsoka. Dawson has clearly been training a lot, and whilst there are likely times when stunt doubles are used, for the most part it looks like she did the majority of the combat herself. Her fight with Anakin stands out due in part to Hayden, who steps back into saber combat like he’s just come off the set of Revenge of the Sith. He still moves like Anakin, and we get to see him pull out some iconic moves in a fight that feels like The Clone Wars brought to life. The final episode’s confrontation between Ahsoka and Elsbeth is also worthy of note. Diana Lee Inosanto is a trained martial artist and sword fighter, having grown up around fighters. And you can tell that in her fight. She moves with a fluidity and skill that you don’t normally see in actors who’ve been training for weeks or months, and she may be one of the most skilled combatants the franchise has had.

The series music is also worthy of note, and features the return of Kevin Kiner, who has composed the music on Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels. The music here brings back several important themes, and for those who’ve been watching since the animated series began it’s a big part of why the show feels so damn good. We get to hear Ahsoka’s theme in a way we’ve never had it before, the music that accompanied the Purgil in Rebels adds to the magic of seeing them on screen in live action, and Thrawn’s entrance is chilling because of the music. Even the end credits music of the show, which is a beautiful melding of Sabine, Hera, and Ahsoka’s themes into a new piece is something that both adds to the magic of the series, and indicates to the audience the merging of these characters narratives. The Ahsoka soundtrack is a beautiful piece of work that I’ll be listening to again and again, and Kiner needs to be the person to score Filoni’s movie.

With so many things that the show had to do, to continue Rebels, to move Ahsoka’s story on, and to set the stage for the next part of the journey towards the Thrawn movie, does it do a good job? Yes, without a doubt. Ahsoka is one of the most magical and rewarding stories in Star Wars. It brings back beloved characters, it adds more wonder to the universe, and it feels like a love letter to some characters and stories that began fifteen years ago. As someone who has been following Ahsoka’s story since it began, and who has loved this character for so long, this was an amazing experience. I was filled with awe, I was excited to find out what came next, I laughed, I wept, and I kept on wanting more. I’m sure there will be some who will hate this series, and the complaints and nit-picks are already all over social media, but for me, this was perfect Star Wars.

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Creepshow (Seasons 1-3) – Blu-ray Review

 

Originally published on Set The Tape

We live in an amazing time for media access. Whether it’s being able to rent movies and shows through your TV, or the multiple streaming services that are all offering different things, it’s never been more simple to get your hands on something. In theory. The big drawback to the streaming services is lost media. There have already been multiple examples of television shows simply ceasing to exist due to lack of physical releases and their host streaming services removing them completely. One streamer who’s doing right, however, is Shudder.

Shudder have done a great job at releasing physical copies of their exclusive films and shows. The latest release from Shudder, ahead of its fourth season joining the streaming service, are seasons 1 -3 of the horror anthology series Creepshow.

Based upon the film series originally created in the late 1980s, the series follows the format of the films, presenting short horror stories, written and directed by a variety of big names, and featuring both long time industry icons and up and coming talent in front of the camera, all presented around the format of the audience flicking through a horror comic. Shudder brought the series back in 2019, and the series quickly earned the streaming platform its highest viewing numbers to date. As with the films, the series does also take a slightly comedic slant towards horror, with some of the stories being more dark comedy than out and out horror tales.

Headed by Greg Nicotero, a special effects legend in the horror community, as well as director and co-executive producer for The Walking Dead, the series brings together a host of talent to work on it. The three seasons on offer here feature tales adapted from short stories by names such as Stephen King, Joe Hill, and Josh Malerman, as well as wholly original tales by Rob Schrab, John Harrison, Dana Gould, and Paul Dini. The series features directors including Roxanne Benjamin, Tom Savini, and Joe Lynch.

For those who are less into their writers and directors, the onscreen talent also includes some amazing names, like Adrienne Barbeau, Bruce Davison, Kiefer Sutherland, Justin Long, Ali Larter, James Remar, Giancarlo Esposito, Michael Rooker, Jeffrey Combs, Molly Ringwald, Keith David, Tricia Helfer, and Tobin Bell, to name but a small fraction. Each story features a face or two that people will recognise, and the fact that the series is able to draw in some big names in the horror industry also helps it to stand out. The very first story the show gives us seems to be trying to showcase this kind of talent in the fact that it’s a Stephen King story, directed by Nicotero, and stars Tobin Bell, Adrienne Barbeau, and Giancarlo Esposito. The fact that the series has so many big names working both in front of and behind the cameras speaks to the level of quality it has.

Each episode of the show is divided into two stories, each running roughly 20-25 minutes in length. The lack of any overarching plot or connective narrative works to the show’s advantage, and it means that you’re able to stick on an episode (or even half of one) without having to worry about what came before it. It’s the kind of show you can easily dip in and out of, and if you want to perhaps try some new kinds of horror stories it’s a great way to test out various styles and sub-genres without having to commit to something long. It’s also a great way to introduce folks to horror, as even if they don’t particularly like one of the stories, the next one might just grab them.

A lot of the stories the show has feel like they’re being made by people who really do love the genre, and you’ll find multiple nods to other horror projects. Two that stand out include the season one story ‘Bad Wolf Down’, which has a group of American soldiers becoming werewolves to fight Nazis (led by Jeffrey Combs). Each of the soldier’s names are characters from famous werewolf movies, such as Talby from The Wolfman and Quist from The Howling. The episode also makes each of the werewolves look different, featuring styles distinct from each other and reminiscent of different werewolves from across the decades. Perhaps the best for making nods to other stories is the season two story ‘Public Television of the Dead’, which is basically a sequel to The Evil Dead. Set in a TV studio, Ted Raimi, playing himself, comes onto an antiques show with a creepy old book that’s been in his family for years. Of course, the book gets read aloud, and Deadites wreak havoc.

A large part of the charm of the series is that it also uses a lot of practical effects. Whenever the show can it seems to embrace physical effects over things such as CGI, with make-up, animatronics, and even the occasional puppet or two making appearances on screen. This absolutely fits into the feel of the old Creepshow movies, and gives it a more timeless feel and quality. Where the show can’t always do practical effects it will often used animated segments, such as when transitioning from one story to another, that work extremely well.

Alongside each of the episodes, the new Blu-ray releases come with extras that fans of the series will want to check out. Season one comes with audio commentaries featuring cast and crew, season two has both the Animated Special and Holiday Special included, along with behind-the-scenes featurettes, and season three includes raw footage and the full length footage of Amazon’s Comic-Con @Home Panel with cast and crew.

For those looking for some short and sweet horror stories, something that can fill in short gaps and features a host of amazing talent and legendary names, Creepshow is the perfect addition to your collection. With so many shows vanishing forever with streaming service evils, Shudder and Acorn Media are doing their fans right with these new releases.

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