ITV1 have a new supernatural series on the way, called Demons. It stars Life On Mars' Philip Glenister as Rupert Galvin, the American godfather of British teen Luke Rutherford (Christian Cooke), who is actually the descendent of world-famous vampire hunter Van Helsing...Luke and Rupert team up to defeat the forces of darkness (known as "half-lives"), helped by blind concert pianist Mina Harker (Survivors' Zoe Tapper) and Luke's feisty friend Ruby (Holly Grainger). Richard Wilson essentially reprises his Merlin role as zombie priest Father Simeon, an authority on the supernatural.
The series will guest-star Mackenzie Crook (as vampire Gladiolas Thrip), and includes creatures such as the "Noisy Boys" (hooded hyena-men who roam the streets), "Redlip" (a monkey-creature), "Mr Tibbs" (a man-rat who experiments on humans underground), and "Gilgamel (a demon who feasts on the souls of children.)
First impressions? It all sounds fun, although it's clearly a fairly unremarkable hybrid of Dracula and Buffy. Not sure why the title changed from The Last Van Helsing to the bland catch-all Demons, though. The actors are also an interesting mix: I can't wait to hear Glenister's American accent (what's the betting his character will just be Gene Hunt with stakes?), while rising stars Cooke, Tapper and Grainger are all attractive and familiar faces from recent fantasy series. Cooke played Ross in Doctor Who's "The Sontaran Stratagem" two-parter, while Grainger recently turned up as Sophia in Merlin's "The Gates Of Avalon".
The six-part series will air on ITV1 in the New Year.
