They say the first bite is the sweetest, but fantasy drama Demons left a very bitter taste in the mouth. ITV1's latest attempt to duplicate the success of Doctor Who, this was essentially Harry Potter-meets-Buffy from the creative force behind Hex, but with twice the suck...Demons is a coming-of-age tale about a teenage boy called Luke Rutherford (Christian Cooke), who meets his American godfather Rupert Galvin (Philip Glenister) and learns he's the descendent of famed vampire-hunter Abraham Van Helsing, and last in line since the death of his father when he was a baby. This all explains why he has the reactions of a flea, and starts seeing beasties the moment Rupert reveals his lineage – including banana-faced villain Redlips (Martin Hancock) and his razor-toothed pet gremlin.
As Rupert convinces Luke of his destiny as a smiter of so-called "half-life" entities (the word "demons" is never mentioned), by showing him the Van Helsing family's secret library (known as "The Stacks"), Luke has to contend with the sinister Gladiolus Thrip (Mackenzie Crook); a beak-nosed teddyboy with bouffant blonde hair and a vendetta against the Van Helsing family.
Thrown into the mix are Luke's plucky best-friend Ruby (Holliday Grainger) and Mina Harker (Zoë Tapper), a blind concert pianist blessed with clairtangency (she receives psychic visions by touching people and objects.) It all sounds like spirited fun, but there's no spark of invention to the old-hat premise, and a sense of laziness permeates the whole enterprise. Its Potter-like discovery of birthright destiny (similarly employed in Merlin, produced by the same team), and the presence of a Buffy-style gang are elements that should at least be entertaining, but "The Bite" limped through its treacle-like storyline and contained truly laughable, stilted dialogue ("denial is not an option.")
There was barely a single moment that worked, despite the best efforts of Cooke and Glenister; the latter given an incongruous American accent (to help sell the show in the US, a la John Barrowman in Torchwood?), while the former displays his naked chest moments after being introduced (to snag the teenage girl demographic?) The dual-cuteness of Grainger and Tapper is welcome, but neither actress had a memorable character to play; with Ruby quickly reduced to damsel-in-distress, and blind Mina's psychic abilities are a mere gimmick to short-cut proper, investigative storylines.
Overall, this was a seriously underwhelming and embarrassing beginning. Under-10's may find entertainment in the monstrous make-up (hoodie Hyena-boys and the Mighty Boosh-style Redlips henchman) and the half-decent CGI, but there wasn't much of a compelling story or interesting characters. To be optimistic, producers Johnny Capps and Julian Murphy's tweenage Merlin also started unremarkably before finding mid-season form, so Demons might also find its feet in the futyre. On paper, the cast are a talented mix of relative newcomers, led by an experienced veteran, so I have a kernel of hope they'll develop some chemistry, too. But, as far as opening episodes go, "The Bite" failed to sink any teeth... and could be ITV's first turkey of the new year.
3 January 2009
ITV1, 7.20pm
Writer: Peter Tabern
Director: Tom Harper
Cast: Christian Cooke (Luke Rutherford), Philip Glenister (Galvin), Mackenzie Crook (Gladiolus Thrip), Zoë Tapper (Mina Harker), Holliday Grainger (Ruby), Martin Hancock (Redlip), Saskia Wickham (Jenny Rutherford), Thomas Arnold (Jay Van Helsing), Cloudia Swann (Greta), Meryl Fernandes (Amber Selway) & Chris Jarman (Security Guard)
