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Occasionally, amongst an unremitting stream of faux-documentaries, teenage sex and Lee Nelson, BBC Three – the wayward nephew whose photo Auntie Beeb doesn’t carry round in her purse – will offer something different. Being Human, Gavin and Stacey and now The Fades.
Okay, so not entirely different. The success of Being Human surely helped to pave the way for the braver, darker Fades. Thus for 6 weeks The Fades has been free to offer an unashamed dose of sci-fi television, the kind of which is not often seen on British television.
The show tells the story of Paul (Iain de Caestecker), a bed-wetting, nerdy adolescent who comes down with a terrible case of the Haley Joel Osments when he starts to see dead people (the titular Fades). His gift causes him to run into Neil (Johnny Harris), a grizzly, enigma of a man with the same ability, who explains that they are two of a group of people known as the Angelics. Only they can see the harmless apparitions.
However, when one particularly malevolent Fade, the ghost of World War Two soldier John (Joe Dempsie), discovers he can regain human form by consuming human blood and flesh, it soon becomes apparent that young Paul may be the only one capable of stopping him from raising an army of re-fleshed Fades and bringing about the apocalyptic wasteland that haunts Paul’s dreams.
Whilst the idea of the reluctant hero isn’t exactly anything new, what sets the show apart is its execution. As Paul goes deeper into the world of the Angelics and the Fades, the show becomes increasingly and unremorsefully dark. The scenes in which the Fades become human are incredibly gruesome and gory, first with the feeding on flesh and then with the kind of rebirth, which is all blood, slime and ectoplasm. The dark tone is furthered by the mounting death count, with characters dropping like flies as the battle between the two sides also escalates.
In spite of its dark foundations, the show does have its lighter moments. Much of this is down to Paul’s wise-cracking best friend Mac (Daniel Kaluuya), who somehow manages to be both nerdier and cooler than his super-powered friend. Mac’s role is to ensure the show is littered with gloriously unnecessary sci-fi references as well as to help his friend (and the audience) get to grips with everything that’s happening. And to hit on his twin sister. That’s not to say Paul can’t raise a laugh too though – especially given his ability to grow wings upon ejaculation.
Admittedly the show isn’t perfect. Inevitably trying to fit such ambitious ideas into just six episodes can lead to some rough edges. The scenes involving Paul’s history teacher, Mark (Tom Ellis), provide some of the best examples, as they always feel under-developed and very much subsidiary to the main plot.
Yet such lapses are forgiven in what was a compelling, original and exciting first series. With Halloween coming up, what better time to catch up on some first-class British horror on BBC iPlayer. Or I’m sure it’ll be repeated on BBC Three at some point, somewhere between Don’t Snog the Teenage Bride She’s Haunted and Mongrels. And hopefully it’ll be there again for a second series.
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