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‘The Fades’ axed by BBC Three after one series

8 Apr


© BBC

BBC Three has cancelled The Fades after one series.

Johnny Harris confirmed to SFX that the corporation decided against ordering more episodes of the supernatural drama.

Fellow cast member Iain de Caestecker had previously set out his hopes for a second series to be commissioned.

Penned by Skins writer Jack Thorne, the show also starred Daniel Kaluuya, Lily Loveless, Tom Ellis, Johnny Harris, Daniela Nardini, Claire Rushbrook and Natalie Dormer.

As well as positive reviews, The Fades pulled in strong audience figures for the channel last September, and performed well on iPlayer.

Centring around teenager Paul, the show culminated with him saving the world from an apocalypse

DVD Review : The Fades – Series One

24 Dec

Release Date: 26 December 2011
2011 | 15 | 339 minutes | £20.42
Distributor: 2entertain
Creator: Jack Thorne
Cast: Iain De Caestecker, Natalie Dormer, Tom Ellis, Johnny Harris, Daniel Kaluuya

Back in the day, TV for and about teens and twentysomethings was a cultural dead end of “issues” drama and try-hard coolness. Then, some time in the latter half of the Noughties, TV executives realised that people under 30 can possess more than one brain cell, and started to greenlight shows that had high-concept premises, engrossing story arcs and smart, snappy dialogue. Liberal lashings of sex, swearing and violence didn’t hurt either.

BBC Three’s The Fades (created and written by Skins and This Is England ’86 veteran Jack Thorne) is the latest show to follow where Being Human and Misfits blazed the trail. It’s not quite as accomplished as either, but the “Freaks And Geeks meets Ghostbusters” tale of an ordinary sixth former (De Caestecker) who starts seeing dead people still provides a gripping ride.

On the down side, the six-part series does take a little too long to get going, the first two episodes straining to establish numerous plotlines and a complex mythology about ghosts feeding on human flesh to regain corporeal form. Sticking with the show is soon rewarded, however, as it delivers edge-of-the-seat thrills, some brave and unexpected twists, and visceral horror imagery in spades – let’s just say it’s not shy with the gore.

But the biggest compliment you can pay The Fades is that it often plays like a British Buffy, populated by pop culture-literate teens (The Fades is genuinely geek-friendly) who are more worried about popularity and the opposite sex than they are about saving the world. The characters are so rounded and believable that you could take out the fantasy and still have a decent show. If BBC Three has any sense, it’ll greenlight a second series now.

Extras: Behind-the-scenes featurettes, cast interviews, outtakes and deleted scenes.

Rating : 8/10

Tv Review : The Fades – episode 6 ‘series finale’

28 Oct

This review contains spoilers.

Having never been a show that shies away from the darker side of prime time drama, this final episode of The Fades’ first series was far lighter on the human body count scale, but infinitely darker than its siblings.

There was just the one human death, but it was as shocking as they come. Not shocking that the hero’s girlfriend bit the dust, more the manner in which she bit said dust – summarily executed by a fanatic. As a show that so far has made almost every visible human death count, Jay’s murder was amazingly effective, and worth more than a dozen shouty-John scenes. Neil’s cold-blooded actions proved just how far into cuckooland he’d gone, placing him on a par with the reborns themselves – sadly, irony isn’t one of his strong points. Although why Paul didn’t just kill Neil is anyone’s guess.

A measure of a show’s success – how well it achieves its aims, as opposed to how many people watch it – is how willing the team are to take risks and make hard choices. Killing off 90 per cent of the cast is pretty hardcore, as is having Mark secretly ditch his reborn wife while she’s off snacking on some entrails.

For Jack Thorne and his team, harsh times equals great TV, and how right they are. The reality of The Fades is grim as all hell, and it’s only right that the characters decisions should reflect that all-consuming grimness.

And grim it was. While many genre shows save up and pull out all the stops for the finale, The Fades resisted the temptation to throw the VFX/stunt manual at us, and instead went with some infinitely more effective, if less visually affecting, explosions.

The cast cursed up a storm during the episode, quite possibly uttering more expletives in 55 minutes than in the preceding five episodes put together. To paraphrase consummate curser Ade Edmondson, this is how real people talk – they quote movies, ask dumb question and they swear. Any show purporting to even have a hint of reality should really reflect that, and while it might not be the most cultured of a script’s high points, it’s a high point nonetheless.

While the reborns’ time on earth was always going to be limited – Paul and his fiery hands were never in any danger of losing – as with all great stories, it’s the journey that’s important, and this was a great story. Familiar enough to be instantly recognisable, but unique enough to be interesting, engaging, and at times, plain gripping, Paul’s journey from bed-wetting nerd to winged saviour has been an absolute pleasure from start to finish. From the wittily written script, to the fantastic and entirely believable performances, particularly from Iain De Caestecker, even the slightly boxy BBC direction and occasionally ropey VFX can do nothing to detract from the show’s obvious quality.

Predictable endings aside, the finale episode still held plenty of surprises, chief among them being that Neil, somehow, hasn’t died. Fanatical, unfeeling and mostly a bloody awful shot, he’s the most irritating human in a 50 mile radius, and that includes Anna. Perhaps by the time season two rolls around, he’ll have finally bled to death…

And no, your eyes do not deceive you. Having sent the reborns packing via a massive ascension event, The Fades left us with one final surprise. Paul messed with ascension, and now it seems ascension might be about to mess back.

Leaving us with a cliffhanger was a spot on choice, as was keeping Mac and Anna the best of enemies. Clearly Jack Thorne et al know their stuff. The visual references in this episode alone prove that, and to be fair, they’ve been proving it for the last five weeks. Horror TV made by horror fans, for horror fans – a rare and beautiful thing. If Paul and Mac don’t make a welcome return to the Beeb next year, something has gone very wrong indeed.

Rating : 9/10

source:denofgeek.com
by:Emma Matthews

Tv Review : The Fades episode 5

20 Oct

This review contains spoilers.

Having eaten and/or turned pretty much everyone in town, John and his ever growing army of flesh eating immortals seem content enough. As far as world domination plans go though, it’s languorous at best. And quite possibly ill conceived – what happens when they’ve eaten and/or turned everyone? Surely even immortals need a steady food supply?

Whatever their grand plan, the immortals have proved creepily efficient at creating and feeding their army. With just Paul and a small number of normals left, the authorities have admitted defeat and ordered an evacuation of the town. As is generally the way with authorities in a crisis, this was completely the wrong decision. As Paul points out, immortals are indistinguishable from normals, unless he happens to have shoved his fist through one; the evacuation could well scatter them across the county, making tracking them down incredibly difficult.

Paul and his magic hands need a plan, but for reasons not fully explained, he doesn’t want to simply kill all the once dead, now immortal not-quite humans – despite the fact that they are killers themselves, and would quite like for there to be no humans left. Sensitive and nerdy is one thing, sensible is quite another. Given that John is hell bent on staying where he is, and now faces the prospect of life eternal without the second love of his life, thanks to the aforementioned magic hands, you’d think Paul would jump at the chance to be rid of his nemesis. That’s teenagers for you.

As dark as it’s possible to get on prime time Beeb – even on the less glamorous channels – The Fades has been ruthless in its, in some cases literal, execution, with characters dropping left, right and centre. Okay, Steve’s death was glorious and particularly deserved, but the poor young DI’s was callous in the extreme, and strangely affecting. And that’s what has been so interesting about this show. It’s definitely not groundbreaking stuff – we’ve seen much of it before – but it’s handled so deftly, paced so well, written so beautifully and acted with such conviction and passion that’s it’s almost impossible not to be impressed with, and immensely satisfied by it.

It’s not perfect, mind. Natalie Dormer has been criminally underused – nudity is no substitution for having something to do. Also, Mark’s brief stint as suspect number one fizzled to nothing in quite a clunky way, and the entire investigation itself never really got going, leaving Robbie Gee with very little to play with. Having said that, perhaps these things were sacrificed so that Anna could become more than a little kick ass – something that was long overdue – and to make sure that we know that the visions that Paul, and probably Sarah, had are not set in stone. As with any show, choices have to be made and, while we’re still an episode from the full complement, it’s more than possible that the choices were absolutely correct.

With the zombie army raring to go, and Paul stubbornly adhering to only using his powers for good, the final episode will see a victor one way or another, and under these circumstances, John would appear to be a pretty good bet. But, as the visions have proved to be just one possible outcome of the events they portray, who the actual winner will be is anyone’s guess. But then, the powers that be do seem to have a thing for bed wetters…

Whatever the outcome, it’s a pretty good bet that it’ll rock. Oh, and if anyone is wondering what the architect is a metaphor for, it’s cash. Cold, hard cash. That’s what the Wachowski brothers were thinking about when they wrote the Matrix sequels…

Rating :9/10

source:denofgeek.com
by:emmamatthews

The Fades episode 4

18 Oct

This review contains spoilers.

After last week’s incredibly effective twists and turns, it’s time for the story to really get going, and that’s exactly what episode four did, in spades. As we get closer to the inevitable final battle, the slow burn of the previous episodes gives way to a frenzy of activity in a place where death is anything but final.

Having not been shy about the body count up til now, this week the show upped the death rate considerably, with the cannibalisation, not only of three Angelics, but the odd considerate farmer and annoying teenager as well, courtesy of the Big Bad, or John as we’ve come to know him. Spending much of the episode in his company, we finally learned the origin of the Angelic killing fade, that the Ascension mechanism somehow got broken, and that his rebirth was almost entirely accidental.

We don’t however, know what John’s actual intentions are now that he’s here, outside of eating anything and everything he can get his hands on. Having emerged from his creepy cocoon as ravenous as a newborn, his appetite isn’t just for flesh – apparently, chocolate will also do. In fact, the only time he’s not stuffing his face is when he’s torturing Paul, or throwing up, which begs the question, what’s with all the effluvia?

One possible answer to that could lie in John’s, and now Natalie’s rebirth – newborns also throw up a whole hell of a lot. Add that to the fact that they appear to be immortal, and what we’ve got is a literal birth of a new species, so throwing up seems entirely logical. Of course, as Neil rather sensibly pointed out, it’s going to be pretty hard to kill something that’s unkillable, but then Neil doesn’t know that their not so secret weapon is about to re-join the battle…

Yes, thanks to his best friend’s insistence and sister’s existence, Paul is once again in the land of the living; however, having showed his hand to John in a spectacular fashion, he’s going to have his work cut out for him – particularly when you consider that the Angelics are falling faster than tween bullies. Let’s hope Paul came back with all his glowy powers intact; an army of immortals is coming – he’s definitely going to need them.

Four episodes in, and The Fades is already one of the best TV shows of the year thus far, and with October already bedded down, it could well be the year’s crowning glory. Consistently engaging, intriguing and downright gripping, this is a well crafted, well researched and brilliantly executed show. From the pitch perfect dialogue – the Vamp reference was much appreciated – to the eminently believable central performances from Iain De Caestecker and Daniel Kaluuya, who, having had much more to sink his teeth into this week upped his game considerably.

Even the slightly ropey visual effects add to the show’s charm rather than detract from it. The horror elements have been well placed so far, and therefore have been kept reasonably effective, although the real shocks have all been far more subtle than simply the appearance of the flesh-eating, cocoon-wearing undead.

A complex, interconnected story with a multitude of possibilities, that so far has almost completely managed to avoid predictability where the supernatural is concerned, The Fades is a powerful example of just how good horror TV can be in the right hands. And Jack Thorne’s hands are definitely right.

There’s always one big worry when a show comes out of nowhere to become the best thing on TV, and that’s whether or not the production team can keep meeting what are now the incredibly high expectations of its audience. And yet somehow, the worry is most likely unfounded here – whatever the outcome, the build up has been an absolute pleasure to watch and unless something has gone drastically wrong somewhere, the end of the series is unlikely to be anything other than gripping.

Make the most of this show while you can, horror fans – who knows when we’ll see something this good on UK TV again…

Rating : 9/10

source:denofgeek.com
by:Emma Matthews

Tv Review : The Fades episode 3

6 Oct

This review contains spoilers.

Ladies and gentlemen , something special is happening on BBC Three on Wednesday nights. Something unique. Something rare. Something well worth an hour of your precious viewing time. That something is The Fades, possibly the first great, home-grown(ish) horror series of the 21st century’s awkward pre-teen years.

Having established its ‘interesting and engaging’ credentials in the first two episodes, the latest instalment of the supernatural drama took that ‘interesting and engaging’ and raised it to compelling.

Utilising the same slow burning, darkly atmospheric tack that has been so successful so far, episode three ramped up the tension, revealing answers and asking questions in the same measure, and generally revelled in being a near perfect hour of television.

From the beautifully balanced relationship and character development, to the increasingly effective horror elements, and the shocking final scene twist, the writing team have created a universe that is completely believable, with likeable, yes actual likeable characters, buffeted by what has now turned into an utterly absorbing supernatural tale.

With his newly acquired wings and scarily literal magical powers, nerdy teen Paul, played with aplomb by Iain De Caestecker, continues to be a great lead character, treading that fine line between nerdy and sensitive, and whiny and self involved, and generally succeeding. His scenes with BFF Mac were particularly convincing, driving home just how weirdly nice these kids are.

Aside from the jarring idea that any teenage boy bothers to open his curtains, episode three took great pains to establish Paul’s place in the audience’s affections, making the final scene all the more devastating. Deftly handled, it was a genuine shock to see the winged ejaculator lying in a hospital bed.

Of course, the only problem with the twist being so effective is that it’s in danger of eclipsing the rest of the episode, which would be a shame. Aside from Mark’s (predictable) entry at number one on the suspects list, we discovered that there are other Angelics, that Mac’s general good humour is not in fact down to his lovable personality, but a cough medicine habit, (even his addictions are nerdy) we witnessed an Ascension (okay, Helen was to be trusted – Daniella Nardini just has that look about her) and we saw the big bad made flesh, thanks to the sacrifice of the teenage bullies and some time chrysalising in a damp tunnel.

While the fades left the town’s population alone this week, the same cannot be said for the Angelics, who have taken an altogether darker path than previously seen. With the end of days allegedly fast approaching, the rag tag band of warriors has taken to torturing any fades they can capture – namely, Natalie, Paul’s ghostly stalker. Suddenly, the Angelics are running Guantanamo Bay, UK and it’s a little disconcerting. And possibly futile – with the big bad wandering around in a meatsuit, it’s probably already too late.

One of the biggest questions raised by the arrival of the final stage fade during Paul’s incapacity is whether or not the final showdown was always meant to go down on another plane of existence, or if, to paraphrase Kevin Smith, the problem with being a hero is that you generally have to die?

Whatever the answer, The Fades once again provided the week’s most interesting, well written and, for the most part, brilliantly acted hour of television. Essentially, this show has become pretty much unmissable, and anyone who is in any doubt that the BBC can make eminently watchable, well made and smart TV should look no further.

Rating :9/10

source:denofgeek.com
by:Emma Matthews

Tv Review : The Fades episode 2

28 Sep

This review contains spoilers.

After last week’s promising start, episode two of supernatural drama The Fades had quite a lot to live up to. Having introduced us to the world of the fades and the coming apocalypse, as well as the 17-year-old chosen to stop it, it was time to up the gore count as the ghostly goings on claimed even more lives.

In another high body count instalment, Jack Thorne’s (Skins) drama more that lived up to its Supernatural in Grimsby in downers target, with more death, gore and Star Wars quotes than has ever been seen on the Beeb on a Wednesday night.

With the fades now established as a threat, the addition of the taste for pre-pubescent flesh has now been added to their repertoire. A revelation that would have been far more shocking had the two little sods not totally deserved it. Just desserts aside, this new facet to the fades themselves led to some fantastically gory scenes of chewed limbs and the like, upping the horror credentials considerably.

Could it be that we’re finally witness to some decent horror TV?

Very possibly. Alongside the surprisingly good gore, the story itself took a couple of surprising turns – most notably killing off yet another of the plucky band of warriors – which leaves the grand total of zero plucky warriors left. Clearly, being expendable is part of the job description.

Neil’s death was in no way as impactful as it might have been. He was way too cryptic to be likable, and let’s face it, he fell for the oldest diversionary tactic in the book, so not too bright either. It does, however, leave a nice side-kick shaped whole for Mac to fill, now that Paul has decided to be Buffy.

Yes, rightly or wrongly, psychic, healer and all round guy with a destiny, Paul, has apparently decided that saving the world can easily be handled alongside his A Levels. And with the newly acquired flame shooting capabilities, what could possibly go wrong? That’s right – Paul now shoots flames out of his healing hands, and it sits as uncomfortably on the page as it does on the show.

In the space of one episode, Paul has discovered two new powers without explanation. Admittedly, exposition is most likely forthcoming, but as of now, they feel a little out of kilter with the rest of the episode.

Given over in large part to character development – particularly Mac, and Paul’s burgeoning relationship with Annie – the ultra supernatural elements were a jarring juxtaposition. Even the flesh-eating ghosts seem less fantastical than superpowers in the grim reality of anytown UK, in which all this is taking place.

The character development itself gave rise to one of the most interesting reveals of the show. Namely, that Mac’s daddy is none other than the DCI charged with finding both the ‘missing’ Sarah, and the murderer of two schoolchildren. Almost thrown away, this in particular highlights how the interconnectedness of the major players is slowly being revealed.

Speaking of, History Boy Mark is now the only connection between his wife’s disappearance, and the partially digested bullies. It’s altogether possible he could find himself in some trouble…

So, a slower, far more cryptic episode than last week, but the feeling that this series will continue to be interesting remains. While we’re yet to really see what Paul, or the fades, are really capable of, the show is still in its infancy, quietly but effectively sowing the seeds that will hopefully turn an intriguing premise into a great story. As it’s still so early, it’s difficult to say with any certainty how well those seeds are growing.

For a while at least, the slow burn is definitely working for The Fades – this is a story will clearly take time to tell, and to rush it would be certain disaster. Added to that the much improved VFX, the willingness to kill off main characters, well placed, well done horror elements and a great central performance, and what we should be left with is a show to be proud of.

So far, so good…

Rating : 7/10

source:denofgeek.com
by:Emma Matthews

Tv Review :The Fades episode 1

22 Sep

This review contains spoilers.

The Fades is a brand new supernatural drama series from the writer of Skins and This Is England.

While across the pond, zombies are allegedly the new vampires, closer to home, it seems ghosts are the supernatural successors to the navel gazing undead, as BBC Three’s latest original drama, The Fades, kicked into life.

A much-heralded co-production with BBC America, writer Jack Thorne (Skins, This is England) originally pitched The Fades as “a cross between Freaks And Geeks and Ghostbusters.” Given that, between them, those two franchises gave the world its first glimpse of, among others, James Franco, Seth Rogen, Busy Phillips and the all-conquering humour of Judd Apatow, and made superstars of Bill Murray and Dan Aykroyd respectively, that’s setting the bar stratospherically high.

Admittedly, that bar was set five years ago, and clearly the show has clearly undergone some fine-tuning since then – angsty teens versus the world of the supernatural is so mid-90s, and died with the demise of one Buffy Summers. Lucky then, that rather than focus too much on the angst, Thorne has come up with an altogether darker prospect – think Supernatural in Grimsby on downers, and you’re some way there.

Not that this is a bad thing – far from it. The premiere episode was surprisingly engrossing, peppered with what could be some very interesting concepts. This is a reality where death is not quite so straightforward as Highway To Heaven would have you believe. In the world of The Fades, life is a bitch, and “Death is similarly crap.” There’s no white light, no fanfare, definitely no long lost relatives, and for more than a few, no anything at all.

Even the afterlife is depressing in The Fades. With “ascension” to a better place essentially a lottery, the town is teeming with dead people with nothing to do but a spot of parkour. And it’s into this world that 18-year-old Paul – nerdy, highly strung bed-wetter – is unwillingly thrown, after a chance encounter in an abandoned shopping centre.

Okay, so there might be a little angst, but it’s in no way gratuitous, mostly because there’s no such thing as gratuitous angst when you’re an 18-year-old bed wetter. That encounter – with a ghost, and a buster – leads to the revelation that not only is Paul one of the few who can see the ghosts, or fades, as they’re known, but that he’s psychic as well.

As is always the way with these things, there’s a big bad a-coming, and only a handful of plucky souls able to fight it. Paul, like it or not, is about to become one of them, which unfortunately for him and his untamable bladder means the constant threat of, if not actual, death. Two members of the ghostbusters have already died, and there were only three to begin with.

Given that one of the deceased busters was a priest with a healing touch, clearly this thing means business. Which leaves the fate of the world in the hands of a bed wetter and a one-eyed man. Surely those are odds even the mighty Buffy would have baulked at.

If nothing else, it’ll be a good fight. The creepy eyeball/tongue interface was without doubt one of the better horror inspired moments of the episode. And there were a few – although not as gory as they could have been, the horror elements were well placed and reasonably effective.

As you’ve no doubt heard, premiere episodes are extremely tricky things to review. Stories and characters are brand new, and a series always needs a few weeks to bed down. Let’s not forget Supernatural was atrocious for at least a dozen episodes before it settled into the kickass show we can’t live without twelve weeks out of the year.

Having said that, what started off with a run of the mill horror convention, quickly became something far more interesting. Yes, the big bad/accidental hero/plucky band of warriors is well trodden ground, but the conceit – that death itself will cause the end of the world, all the while avoiding any religious implications at all – is nothing if not refreshing.

Added to this the incredibly well written script, just the right side of self-referencing, with some excellently deployed Matrix quotes, and the darkly lit, atmospheric direction, and what you have is a show filled with possibilities. But the real revelation here is Iain De Caestecker (16 Years Of Alcohol), who plays the angsty psychic teen. Engaging and engrossing from the start, this is perhaps the best casting decision the BBC has made in a very long time. Particularly when you consider that this is a channel that still gives Will Mellor work.

So, a promising start for the UK/US co-production – if you ignore the blatant rip off of The Gentlemen from Buffy, for the look of the big bad – and if they keep this up, I just might be tuning in a lot…

Rating : 7/10

source:denofgeek.com
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