Blu-ray Review: Demons: Series 1

Ever since Doctor Who exploded back onto our screens TV companies have been aiming to capture the audience with shows that appeal to both adults and children (no doubt there are marketing meetings making extensive use of the word “demographic” taking place right now) in the Saturday tea time/early evening slot.

Demons was originally shown back on ITV 1 back in January of this year, a run of six 45 minute episodes that given comments made by star Philip Glenister recently, may well be the one and only.
Produced by Shine Productions (who also produce Merlin for the BBC), Demons takes a familiar formula of a teenager who is struggling to make his way in the world as all teenagers do with the pressure of school work and social responsibilities, and then thrusts them into a situation they didn’t ask for but it is somehow their destiny.

The cookie cutter teen in Demons is Luke Rutherford (Christian Cooke – last seen in ITVs short lived soap Echo Beach) who just happens to be the final descendant of famed vampire hunter Abraham Van Helsing.  This is told to him by his godfather Rupert Galvin (Philip Glenister – complete with a slightly bizarre American accent) who turns up out of the blue and proceeds to bombard Luke with information including the Van Helsing connection, and his deceased father didn’t perish in an accident as he had been told.

Around the time that Galvin arrives, a demon named Gladiolus Thrip takes an interest in Luke and sends out a sub-demons and his friends to watch and eventually endanger his nearest and dearest (notably his childhood friend and possible love interest Ruby).  As well as Galvin, Luke also has assistance from Mina Harker (yes THAT Mina Harker) who slightly bizarrely keeps her vampirism at bay with dialysis but has fought alongside Luke’s father and Galvin in the past.  Oh she’s also blind, and rather arrogant but she can touch objects and see the history regarding them.

After Thrip is disposed of in episode one, the series follows the familiar formula of “demon of the week” episodes which see the team fighting assorted demons while Luke tries to come to terms with his slightly odd work/life balance.

ITV were obviously keen to replicate the Saturday evening success of it’s other lighter-drama series Primeval by thrusting more high quality special effects into this new show, and certainly spent a lot of money in marketing it.
I can’t comment on Primeval personally as I have never seen the show (but am told it’s very good), but Demons is a fun enough romp because unlike the truly attrocious Bonekickers that was shown on BBC 1 last year, it knows it’s not taking itself too seriously.

By donning the slightly bizarre accent, Glenister manages to shake off his Gene Hunt persona slightly but his character is still somewhat loud and obnoxious, minus the charm and wit of the character he will always be known for.
CG special effects are impressive for a TV show, used sparingly they blend in well and are up to the standard of BBC’s Torchwood (though nowhere nearly the complexity of Doctor Who).

Demons is enjoyable filler TV, it’s completely daft and the characters are all rather one dimensional but it is a decent enough way to pass 45 minutes.  It doesn’t have the thrills and spills of a Doctor Who (and a lead character who doesn’t even come close to the charisma of David Tennant) but you could do far worse than this.  Like watching Bonekickers.

Audio Visual
Demons is released day and date on both DVD and Blu-ray, and I was intrigued by it as the show was never broadcast on ITV HD.  Reason?  Well it’s not actually shot in HD so what we have here is essentially a presentation that is slightly better than an upscaled DVD.

This 1080p MPEG4 transfer has clearly come direct from the regular SD broadcast master and no effort has been put in to make it pop and shine and it really notices.  Watch a show that’s shot in HD such as Torchwood and the quality is leaps and bounds better than what is on display here.
The episodes do look better than an upscaled DVD though, but the image is rather flat and as a lot the action takes place at night it can look rather muddy at times.

There’s nothing actually bad to say about the picture other than it’s not proper HD so to be honest I can’t really see why the series has been granted a Blu-ray release.

Sound is also two channel stereo, not even Dolby Digital.

Bonus Features
Nothing.  Nada.  Zip.  Subtitles and that is it.

For what is like to be the only series of Demons, this presentation on Blu-ray has left me somewhat baffled.  Would you want to pay the extra £5 or so this Blu-ray release c0sts over the regular DVD?  Perhaps, it does look better than an upscaled disc but there are no special features and a lacklustre soundtrack.

The show itself is actually rather fun provided you plant your tongue firmly in your cheek throughout the duration, so it’s worth a look if you like light hearted TV drama.

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