Blu-ray Review “The Fades: Season One”

Created by: Jack Thorne
Starring: Iain de Caestecker, Joe Dempsie, Natalie Dormer, Tom Ellis, Johnny Harris, Daniel Kaluuya, Lily Loveless, Sophie Wu, Daniela Nardini
Distributed by: BBC
No. of episodes: 6
MPAA Rating: Not Rated
Running time: 360 minutes

Series: 3 out of 5 stars
Extras: 3 out of 5 stars

“The Fades” is a new supernatural thriller from Jack Thorne creator of well known series “Skins”. This six-episode series is aimed for the horror genre, though its isn’t scary at all. The show started off good in the first two episodes but then it really took a dive in the middle till end. The show wants to act like a zombie show ala “The Walking Dead” but ends up playing more like an a teenage comedy/drama with some heavy religious aspects.  The show isn’t a total let down though but it definitely fizzles out quickly.

The show follows Paul Roberts (Iain De Caestecker) who is plagued with apocalyptic dreams pending the end of everything. Paul finds himself seeing strange spirits outside of his dreams called Fades. With the help of Neil Valentine (Johnny Harris), he finds out that he is one of the Angelics, a special team of people, and that he will lead them in the battle against the Fades.  When his friends and family are pulled into this mess, Paul needs to find a way to prevent this apocalypse from happening.

The video resolution on the Blu-ray is only 1080i but still looks good. The sound includes a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track but would have been better with 5.1 though. The special features include some behind the scenes footage, a few deleted scenes (nothing special) and outtakes that are spanned over two discs. There are also a few interviews with cast members Johnny Harris and Natalie Dormer. “Mac Explains” are the intros from each episode where Paul’s best friend fills us in. Overall decent but nothing special.

The Fades Season 1 available on Blu-ray & DVD on 2/21 at http://bit.ly/yproj3

Written by Jack Thorne (“Skins,” “This Is England ’86,” “Shameless”), “The Fades” is a coming-of-age fantasy drama showcasing the supernatural skills of a reluctant teenager named Paul (as played by Iain De Caestecker, formerly of “Coronation Street”). His best friend, Mac (Daniel Kaluuya, “Johnny English Reborn,” “Skins”), as well as his therapist, are completely stunned by the apocalyptic dreams that he’s been having. His twin sister Anna (Lily Loveless, “Skins”) is also unsympathetic of his socially awkward behavior.