ELEMENTARY, dear Jonny

Jonny Lee Miller (Trainspotting, Eli Stone) has been cast as Sherlock Holmes in CBS' modern-day update entitled Elementary. A project that's causing raised eyebrows at the BBC, whose globally successful Sherlock has likely inspired this American take on the same idea.

Bizarrely, Jonny Lee Miller recently co-starred with Sherlock's Benedict Cumberbatch in Danny Boyle's theatre play Frankenstein (where they alternated playing Dr Frankenstein and the Monster every performance). I wonder what Cumberbatch thinks of his colleague playing the lead role in what's widely seen as a cynical cash-in on the BBC's success...

It'll also be interesting to see if the BBC take legal action against the producers of Elementary, should their show have too many similarities to Sherlock. It's a tricky legal issue, seeing as the idea of modernising Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's iconic sleuth isn't copyrightable, but apparently there's a case to answer if Elementary reproduces the distinctive ingredients of Sherlock—like its costume design, specific plots, and visual style.

If CBS like the pilot of Elementary (currently being written by Robert Doherty, to be directed by Dexter's Michael Cuesta), expect this New York-set version to debut as part of their 2012/13 season.

THE WALKING DEAD, 2.8 – "Nebraska"

I think I'm going to call time on regular reviews of AMC's The Walking Dead. It gets phenomenal ratings and has a passionate fanbase, but I find it too much of a drag. There are enough exciting moments to keep me watching as a casual viewer, but there's also a staggering amount of mindless chit-chat between characters I don't care about. Sometimes I find myself realizing we're halfway through an episode, and yet I could recap what's actually happened in a sentence. Maybe the show has to be this way because the budget can't stretch to the kind of rollicking zombie apocalypse drama I really want, or maybe the writers are under the unfortunate delusion their characters are so brilliant we enjoy listening to them have the same handful of conversations time and again, I don't know...

But it's the kind of show that introduces an awesome new character, played by the brilliant Michael Raymond-James (True Blood, Terriers), gets him to dominate a brilliant scene in an abandoned bar, but then just kills him off. I'd have swapped the enigmatic "Dave" for most of the regulars. And where is this show going? Now we're hearing that the premiere's goal of getting the survivors to Fort Benning isn't a good idea, because the base has been overrun by zombies (I really hate how the show avoids using that term now), so will they just aimlessly point their convoy at some other horizon?

It doesn't help that the two-month hiatus has sucked momentum from the show's story, of course, but deeper than that I just don't think The Walking Dead is a very good show. The things I like about it are just the things I like about any zombie apocalypse story, and the unique things about it haven't really impressed me. Remember when the very idea of a serialised zombie epic on TV was enough to cause excitement? I think this show demonstrates why zombie stories work best as movies/books, and it's a pity the writers weren't brave enough to create more characters who are specific to this show (like Daryl) instead of sticking to the comic's bunch of sketchy idiots.

(On the upside, I think I must be the only person in the world who doesn't care about Andrew Lincoln's supposedly shaky Southern accent.)

I'll keep watching this series for entertainment-value, and if there's a particularly successful episode I'll do a quick review of it, but consider The Walking Dead erased from my weekly review list.

written by Evan Reilly / directed by Clark Johnson / 12 February 2012 / AMC

BEING HUMAN, 4.2 – "Being Human 1955"

Last week's premiere had the unenviable task of having to explain the sudden departure of two regulars, one of whom wasn't prepared to come back and film any kind of farewell, and it was perhaps understandable that the episode was something of an overstuffed, exposition-heavy mess. "Being Human 1955" (horrible and mostly irrelevant title aside) was a slightly stronger episode of series 4, but it still strikes me that there's a lot of silliness happening for the sake of it. Introducing new vampire Hal (Damien Molony) as part of an existing trio of "supernaturals" was an interesting idea, but we're only two episodes into series 4 and ghost Pearl (Tamla Kari) and ailing werewolf Leo (Louis Mahoney) have already been written out of the show! Was it even worth them being introduced last week? Considering the fact we're now left with Michael Socha and Lenora Crichlow, who often feel like they've walked onto the set straight from stage school, I can't help wishing we'd simply left the world of Mitchell, Annie and George behind and were now focusing on Hal, Pearl and Leo...

This second episode introduced us to Hal properly, as he was asked to take dying Leo and Pearl to the Welsh town of Barry to find "The Saviour" at Honolulu Heights, who may be able to help them, in a fun but cheesy riff on the Three Wise Men following a Star (or novelty car freshener!) to locate baby Jesus at Bethlehem. We quickly discovered that Hal and Tom aren't going to be as friendly as Mitchell and George once were, which is a good creative decision that makes sense because of Tom's family history with vampires. There's even an element of class war going on between the northern, "incomprehensible" Tom, and the southern, middle class, well-groomed Hal. It will hopefully be interesting to see how those characters come to defrost around each other, which should be a more interesting arc than George and Mitchell ever had together, despite also being very predictable.

The best part of "Being Human 1955" was getting to know Hal, who's a fairly interesting character at this early stage. Like Mitchell he's a predator trying to abstain from human blood, and has managed to do so for half-a-century because of the calming influence of Leo, even if it's left him with residual OCD (love the scene with the spiral of dominoes Hal builds but never topples). There's also an unshakable feeling that if/when the dam breaks Hal's killing spree is going to be twice as nasty as Mitchell's infamous train massacre. And while you were fairly sure Mitchell was a decent man deep down, Hal's motivations and loyalties are more uncertain right now. This episode suggests he's perhaps the biggest danger to baby Eve, who's prophesized to destroy all of his kind when she grows up, but isn't it also possible he's just susceptible to the influence of that woman from the afterlife who wants the baby killed?

One thing that can be awkward about Being Human is its balance between comedy and drama, as it doesn't always find equilibrium. It usually goes wrong when too much material is given to Annie (as she's the most obviously comedic character), because Crichlow's performance just isn't something I enjoy. She plays everything too broadly for my tastes, and whenever there's a "comedy moment" for her to indulge herself with the show feels like it's suddenly being aimed at kids. This week, there's a particularly stupid sequence with Annie performing a ritual in a bedroom by spouting mumbo-jumbo (did she really think that would work?), which was just farcical and beneath this show. A little better was Annie's little attempts to one-up Pearl, whom she sees as a rival, and it was also interesting to note that Pearl is written like Andrea Riseborough's original version of Annie from the Being Human pilot that spawned this show. I wonder if that was intentional, or am I just reading too much into surface similarities because Riseborough and Kari both just have northern accents?

The situation with the vampires is definitely the backbone of this series, as they await the arrival of the "Old Ones", and while I'm not a fan of this daft storyline, so far, I must admit I'm enjoying the performance of Andrew Gower as vampire spin doctor Cutler (who's trying to condition humans into accepting and fearing the existence of werewolves) and fanged policeman Fergus (Anthony Flanagan), who's basically a more weaselly and thuggish version of Herrick. It's almost a relief when the show switches to give us scenes between those two, who are much funnier than the three regulars.

Overall, I'm still not sold on what series 4 is doing, because there's no escaping the fact the replacements for Aidan Turner and Russell Tovey are noticeably worse actors—even if Molony has potential and his character has my interest. It just feels like Being Human's done everything it can with its high-concept premise of a vampire, werewolf and ghost sharing a house, so now it's being forced to reinvent itself in a largely uninspired way by embracing several B-movie clichés like returning vampire overlords, mysterious prophecies and Messiah-like babies. There's nothing here so bad it's insulting, and the show is still capable of making me giggle at times, but I'm having a hard time getting excited by any of the brewing situations and new characters.

written by Lisa McGee / directed by Philip John / 12 February 2012 / BBC Three

TV Picks: 13-19 February 2012 (Big Fat Gypsy Weddings, Grimm, Homeland, Let's Dance For Sport Relief, Luck, The Mad Bad Ad Show, Upstairs, Downstairs, etc.)

HOMELAND - Channel 4, Sunday, 9.30PM

MONDAY 13th

Don't Tell The Bride To Be: The Proposals (BBC3, 8pm) Series following various people who propose in big and dramatic ways.
Mozart Le Nozze di Figaro (Sky Arts 2, 8pm) Production of The Marriage Of Figaro to celebrate Mozart's 250th birthday.
Don't Tell The Bride (BBC3, 9pm) Valentine's Day special.
PICK OF THE DAY Grimm (Watch, 9pm) Season 1 of the US supernatural drama about a man who can see "fairy tale" creatures who live alongside humans. Starring David Giuntoli, Russell Hornsby, Bitsie Tulloch & Silas Weir Mitchell. (1/22)
True Stories: America's Serial Killers (Channel 4, 10pm) Documentary about a serial killer who killed 11 people and dumped their bodies outside a wealthy gated community.

TUESDAY 14th

PICK OF THE DAY Big Fat Gypsy Weddings (Channel 4, 9pm) Series 2 of the reality series looking at the matrimonial side of the travelling community.
Jo Brand On Kissing (BBC4, 9pm) Documentary on the kiss.

WEDNESDAY 15th

PICK OF THE DAY Britain's Favourite Supermarket Foods (BBC1, 8pm) Documentary expose on supermarket produce. Presented by Cherry Healey.
Daddy Daycare (Channel 4, 8pm) Documentary series where 9 men are taught about childcare. (1/3)

THURSDAY 16th

The Great British Countryside (BBC1, 8pm) Travel series, presented by Hugh Dennis & Julia Bradbury.
Wonderland: A Dad Is Born (BBC2, 9pm) Documentary following three men who are about to become fathers for the first time.
PICK OF THE DAY Celebrity Juice (ITV12, 10pm) Return of the comedy panel show. Hosted by Keith Lemon, with Holly Willoughby, Fearne Cotton & Rufus Hound.

FRIDAY 17th

The Bank Job (Channel 4, 9pm) Return of the gameshow. Hosted by George Lamb.
PICK OF THE DAY The Mad Bad Ad Show (Channel 4, 10pm) Brand new comedy panel show focusing on adverts. Hosted by MarkDolan, with Micky Flanagan & Mark Watson. Guests are Lorraine Kelly & Josh Widdicombe.

SATURDAY 18th

Let's Dance For Sport Relief (BBC1, 7pm) Series 4 of the charity tie-in celebrity dance show. Hosted by Steve Jones & Alex Jones. Participants this week are Ulrika Jonsson & Angelos Epithemiou, Terry Alderton, Laurie Brett & Tamela Empson, Tony Blackburn & David Hamilton, and Darren Gough. This week's judges are Keith Lemon, Graham Norton & Greg Davies. Music from Jessie J & JLS.
PICK OF THE DAY Luck (Sky Atlantic, 9pm) Season 1 of the US horse racing drama. Starring Dustin Hoffman, Nick Nolte, Dennis Farina, John Ortiz, Kevin Dunn, Ian Hart & Ritchie Costa. (1/9)
Lucien Freud: Painted Life (BBC2, 9.45pm) Profile of the painter.

SUNDAY 19th

Upstairs, Downstairs (BBC1, 9.30pm) Series 2 of the period drama about the masters and servants of a posh London house before in the late-30s. Starring Keeley Hawes, Ed Stoppard, Alex Kingston, Anne Reid, Claire Foy, Adrian Scarborough, Art Malik & Blake Ritson. (1/6)
PICK OF THE DAY Homeland (Channel 4, 9.30pm) Season 1 of the US anti-terrorism drama. Starring Damian Lewis, Claire Danes & Mandy Patinkin. (1/12)

FRINGE, 4.11 & 4.12 – "Making Angels" & "Welcome to Westfield"

A few quickie reviews of recent Fringe episodes, as I try to get through a mountain of catch-up TV this week...



"Making Angels" is ostensibly a long-overdue focus for diligent lab assistant Astrid Farnsworth (Jasika Nicole), who's perhaps one of TV's most undervalued supporting characters. Unfortunately, this episode wasn't enough of a showcase for Nicole, although she had a few good scenes playing opposing versions of Astrid—and it was a relief to finally have someone behave realistically when faced with their doppelganger.

It was still a pity the majority of this episode worked perfectly well without either Astrid's involvement, so their part of the story almost became a glorified subplot. Instead, this was primarily just another freak-of-the-week outing, concerning a brilliant MIT scientist who discovered a way to see into the future and resolved to become a compassionate "angel"—painlessly euthanizing those who are destined to die in gruesome or painful ways. There were juicy ideas swimming around here, but nothing we haven't seen Fringe do before in slightly different ways. (In fact, the preceding "Forced Perspective" also dealt with precognition!) Still, it was great to see Walter (John Noble) warming to Fauxlivia (Anna Torv), and to see more of the ongoing Observer mythology (including the first on-screen instance of one disappearing from sight, I believe). Although I have to wonder why superior beings who've mastered Space and Time have taken so long to realise Peter Bishop (Joshua Jackson) has been restored into existence!

More entertaining was "Welcome To Westfield", although it fell into a common trap with Fringe with the audience being several steps ahead of the plot after awhile. This was another of the show's occasional forays into "spooky town" territory, with the team discovering the remote Westfield (undoubtedly named after Dorothy West from The Wizard Of Oz) that was riddled with unusual phenomena: levitating metal objects that crashed a plane, people suddenly behaving abnormally or speaking about dead relatives as if they were still alive, and eventually disappearing buildings. It didn't take a genius to work out that Westfield was at the epicentre of an event where the two universes were merging, with disastrous consequences, but the episode had a lot of fun with the repercussions of this happening (a two-faced man attacking people on a bus), and it was one of the show's best episodes on a purely visual level (lots of apocalyptic scenery, even some approximations of "zombies").

For committed fans, it was also great to see some movement with The Machine that Walter and Peter are trying to fix (setting up the Oz-like comparison of the town being bombarded by a "tornado" of sorts), and it looks like the writers are laying some groundwork regarding exactly how Peter's going to get back to the original timeline. Fans, myself included, have been worrying that the season will effectively hit a bit reset button and we'll lurch back to where season 3 left us... but instead it looks likely people in this alternate timeline will simply come to remember original events (Olivia recalled a case she didn't investigate with Peter, and the episode ended with her kissing Peter as if she was the version of Olivia he left behind). I don't think any of this will feel logical when the big explanation is spelled out to us, but it should be a nicer resolution than what many have been dreading.

written by Akiva Goldsman, J.H Wyman & Jeff Pinkner (4.11) & J.R Orci & Graham Roland (4.12) / directed by Charles Beeson (4.11) & David Straiton (4.12) / 4 & 11 February 2012 / Fox

Review: BEING HUMAN, 4.1 – "Eve of the War"

Faced with the loss of three major characters by the end of this opening hour, Being Human's creator Toby Whithouse takes inspiration from his Doctor Who boss Steven Moffat and supercharges the show to compensate—turning it from a relatively demure house-share comedy-drama into a full-blown fantasy adventure with cartoon-y villains, a doomsday prophecy inked on skin, glimpses of an apocalyptic vampire-controlled future, and a newborn baby called Melody Pond Eve who's at the centre of everything...

I'm not sure if audiences will adjust to Being Human's revamp, as it's now relying on brand loyalty without Aidan Turner, Russell Tovey and Sinead Keenan's involvement. (At least until their replacements take hold as three-dimensional people.) It's true that many British shows thrive because they don't hammer a formula into the ground over five years, with every actor safely under contract... but will sweeping changes work in Being Human's case, seeing as it's a show founded on the chemistry and relationships between three specific characters? Replacing vampire Mitchell with Damien Molony's cultivated vampire Hal is one thing, but to lose Tovey within the first hour means there are now two huge holes to fill. And the knowledge that we still have Lenora Crichlow around as ghostly Annie doesn't ameliorate anything, as she was always a weak actress who flailed around playing an irritating and exasperatingly stupid character. (Already, Annie can't even manage to protect a baby from a vampire cop and a social worker she's invisible to, despite having all manner of metaphysical powers at her disposal. Why not just teleport somewhere safe with the baby, as she was told to do so by George?)

Michael Socha has also been promoted to regular status, having guest-starred throughout series 3 as werewolf Tom. Unfortunately, while the athletic Socha was fine as a dim-witted youth who's lived a sheltered life with an overprotective father, aided by his large puppy-like eyes, I'm not sure he's lead actor material. He looked out of his depth throughout this premiere, whenever his physicality wasn't required, and is definitely a weaker substitute for Tovey—who may have his own faults as an actor, but can generally be relied on to give expressive and heartfelt performances.

I'm more confident about Molony's debut, even if he wasn't given much to do in this opener, which was surprising, because the few scenes he had felt genuine and interesting—especially a lovely moment with him getting a haircut from a werewolf barber. Making his character, Hal, already part of another vampire-werewolf-ghost trio was also an intriguing and unexpected choice, while the simple fact he's so calm and collected makes him a refreshing change from Mitchell's impetuousness.

"Eve Of The War" was still a strange and awkward episode, though, partly because Whithouse had to contend with a thorny situation regarding the off-screen departure of actress Sinead Keenan (who infuriatingly didn't return to film a fitting exit, unlike Tovey). After a few years spent following the ups and downs of George and Nina's prickly relationship, it was frankly unforgivably to be told Nina was murdered by vampires while the show was off-air. It's hard to see what else Whithouse could have done, faced with an actress who upped and left, but it's nevertheless an unfortunate problem this premiere had to deal with, and it didn't do a great job because there's no escaping the necessary exposition and weird lurch in George's situation (going from expectant father to grieving widow and paranoid were-daddy).

To be fair, Being Human couldn't have continued with new actors just stepping into the vacant roles of "vampire" and "werewolf" to keep the show's signature triumvirate intact. It's understandable that Whithouse has chosen to expand the scope of his show, by focusing on the idea of a vampire war and treating it with more seriousness than ever before (where it always felt like the silly fantasy of vampire boss Herrick). But it's still very cheesy, in a Primeval-type way, that this episode's doing things like jumping forward in time to "London 2037" to show us a world where vampires are taking over the planet in the manner of a shoestring Terminator 2 with fangs. Maybe that's because the budget isn't really there to do anything this ambitious, or maybe it's because Being Human always worked because it refused to do obvious and "American" things like that. I'm hoping the show will pull back slightly and focus on the characters in the present, although it's hard to see how the show can ever get back to the "vampire, werewolf and a ghost share a house together" simplicity of the previous three years now.

Overall, "Eve Of The War" offered a worrying but intriguing setup for this fourth series. I can't shake the feeling that Whithouse should have called it quits with 75% of his cast exiting the show (leaving us with Crichlow gabbling and half-forgetting some of her lines), but there's a chance we'll come to enjoy whatever Whithouse has planned. It's just hard to get excited about B-movie nonsense like symbols and prophecies from "vampire recorder" Mark Williams (playing things broad and irritating), while having to swallow oddness like the child of two werewolves not suffering from lycanthropy herself, or George being able to will himself into a botched "wolf-out" by simply looking at a poster of a Full Moon and getting very upset...

What did you think? Are you happy to see Being Human try something very different with new characters, or is the show moving too far away from what you loved about it to begin with?

written by Toby Whithouse / directed by Philip John / 5 February 2012 / BBC Three

Another break (updated)

Sorry everyone, but I have to take another break to visit my dad in hospital because his condition has worsened. I aim to be back Sunday afternoon. In the meantime, you'll just have to browse my five-year archive (um, AGAIN) or catch-up with any missed reviews from the past week or so.

My scheduled reviews of this Friday's Fringe and last Monday's Alcatraz may have to wait awhile. I know you all understand. (You'd be plain evil if you didn't, let's face it.)

UPDATE: I've decided to stay another week at the hospital, as my dad's not likely to last for much longer and I don't want to leave him.

Netflix bring IT'S ALWAYS SUNNY IN PHILADELPHIA to UK subscribers

Netflix UK have bought the rights to acclaimed FX comedy It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia. The first six seasons of the show are available online now, with the seventh debuting on 13 February.

The US show concerns a group of friends who run an Irish-themed bar in Philadelphia. It stars Charlie Day, Rob McElhenney, Glenn Howerton, Danny DeVito and Kaitlin Olson.

For £5.99 a month, Netflix subscribers can stream all of its TV/film content via internet TVs, computers, tablets, games consoles, Blu-ray players and mobile phones. (At time of writing, their US TV show lineup is decent but the range of movies is very limited and mostly back-catalogue garbage.)

Netflix's acquisition finally gives Philadelphia its long-awaited UK debut. I wonder if Netflix will find success in the UK by delivering many of the US shows that never manage to find a home on TV here, or else get mistreated when they do. Parks & Recreation (never aired), Breaking Bad (burned through in late-night runs) and Community (one season on a little-known music channel) spring to mind.

THE RIVER gets UK premiere on iTunes

In an unexpected move, ABC's documentary-style supernatural mystery The River will be getting its UK premiere on Apple iTunes. The two-part opener will debut on 8 February, a day after its US debut.

Oren Peli, executive producer:

"Right from the start, we've had a global audience in mind for The River--the show preys on universal human fears, and follows a journey to an exotic, remote setting. I'm excited to be debuting the show on iTunes."

The River concerns a family's search for their missing scientist patriarch in the depths of the Amazon, where they encounter frightening supernatural forces. It stars Bruce Greenwood (Star Trek), Leslie Hope (24) and Joe Anderson.

You can now pre-order The River on iTunes for your iPhone, iPad, iPod or Apple TV device. The entire season costs £12.99 (HD) / £9.99 (SD), with individual episodes priced £1.89 (SD) and £2.49 (HD).

It's not yet known if a UK channel will show The River later this year, or if it will remain exclusive to iTunes (similar to how the UK's Misfits is only legally available to America via online service Hulu).

The big question is: will YOU be downloading The River? Does the very idea of paying for a TV show, airing 24-hours after its US premiere, suit you just fine? Is £10-13 a fair price for what you're getting? Or will The River flop on iTunes, as people likely to be using that service definitely know how to save themselves some money and grab a free torrent file online?

Of course, that's not what happened with Misfits (which is an enormous hit for Hulu, despite all the episodes being available on torrents for a few years), but are Americans just less conditioned to download foreign content that way. It'll be interesting to see if iTunes manage to pull in the downloads for The River next week.

Review: SPARTACUS: VENGEANCE – "Fugitivus"

There are two yawning holes in this third year of Starz's Spartacus: John Hannah's joyously foulmouthed Batiatus, who was brutally slain in Blood & Sand's finale; and the show's eponymous lead Andy Whitfield, who sadly died of cancer last year. It's a rare and difficult task having to replace the protagonist of a show, but showrunner Steven S DeKnight's decision to recast Spartacus with Liam McIntyre is perhaps the best outcome of a tough situation. It helps that McIntyre resembles Whitfield, although it's obviously hard to accept him as the hero of this epic story after we've followed another actor for an entire season. The character may be the same, but the man is not. It will hopefully get easier to accept Whitfield's replacement the more McIntyre settles into this role and gains respect/admiration from his own performances. Hannah's loss could actually be a bigger problem, as there's absolutely no chance of a comeback for Batiatus (beyond the odd surprise flashback?), and his devious character was often more prominent than Spartacus. He was even given a prequel, Gods Of The Arena, largely to himself.

"Fugitivus" launches Vengeance in good form, although for a premiere it didn't feel as strong as Gods Of The Arena's launch. Maybe that's because there's so much here to adjust to; the loss of two major actors, the fact the story's gone cold during an unfortunate two-year wait, and how the show's expanded into an outside world it'll take some adjusting to. However, it certainly didn't hold back with the signature ultra-violence and nakedness to keep fans in no doubt which show they're watching: geysers of blood again erupting from fresh wounds, graphic sex sequences shown in lurid slow-motion, together with full frontal nudity from muscled men and big breasted women.

Away from all that titillation (don't watch this with your parents!), we caught up with the situation after Spartacus' rebellion from the House of Batiatus with his fellow slaves. They've since taken refuge in the sewers of Capua, surfacing only to slay Romans and terrorise the population with their unsettling near-mythical presence. Into this tense situation comes Glaber (Craig Parker), the man who sold Spartacus into slavery and later killed his wife, now promoted to Praetor in the Roman army, assigned to quash the rebellion and restore order to Capua's streets. Taking residence at the abandoned House of Batiatus with his nubile wife Ilithyia (Viva Bianca), they discover that Lucretia (Lucy Lawless) physically survived the uprising in her home, although she's mentally fragile and suffering partly from amnesia. Elsewhere, Oenomaus (Peter Mensah), the now disgraced trainer of the mutinous gladiators, is trying to keep a low profile in the city, knowing there's a bounty on his head.

In terms of laying down firm foundations for this series, "Fugitivus" achieves its aims well enough. There's already a sense that the gladiators aren't quite so unified around Spartacus, as Crixus (Manu Bennett) is particularly anxious to ditch their plan and go find his beloved slave girl Naevia (who was banished from the ludus before the revolt), while others just aren't accustomed to working as an organised group and often question their leadership. Despite how the show has broadened away from its ludus/arena backdrop, it's still oddly comforting when the House of Batiatus is returned to and a typically violent fight at the Capua arena plays out. Hopefully this show will make its new locations feels as iconic, as it may not be wise to venture out into the countryside too often—given the obviousness of the greenscreens at times. (Don't get me wrong, the show does a remarkable job on a comparatively low budget, but it can't quite turn in 300-style exteriors every single week.)

Overall, as a big fan of the two previous seasons, I'm looking forward to seeing where the show takes us. One of the best things about Spartacus is how it pays off everything it sets up, and isn't afraid to dole out gut-wrenching death and pain to characters you come to really like. It may have the surface of a live-action video game crossed with European soft porn, but there's also a playful sense of dark humour and some very charismatic people around. Throw in some of TV's most creative outbursts of archaic profanity, eye-opening violence (bones snap through flesh, knives jab through necks), plus some genuinely shocking twists, and you still have one of the most entertaining shows around right now. I just hope Vengeance has a story arc that proves as engrossing as Blood & Sand's became, develops the new characters into worthy replacements for the fallen ones, and McIntyre wins over fans to prove he's Spartacus.

written by Steven S DeKnight / directed by Michael Hurst / 27 January 2012 / Starz