The Fades is a BBC six part sci-fi horror that’s about to hit Sky Tv subscriber’s screen this Tuesday night. Primary protagonist, Paul Roberts still wets his bed, despite being 16 or 17. He’s apparently quite nerdy – although to be fair the only distinctly nerdy thing I could ascertain about his character was his best friend – the highly entertaining comic relief movie referencing Mac played by a light-speed mouthed Daniel Kaluuya. Oh and he can see dead people.
More to the point, he see spirits of the dead who have no yet gained access to the afterlife. Obviously, this makes him a bit special – but he happens to meet some others like him – called Angelics, and gets involved in a conflict between them and The Fades, who have developed a way to re-enter the physical world.
While many US series have at least 12 hour long episodes to spread their narrative across – which can lead to some pretty special TV – The Fades only has six hours of screen time to get to the point – and, pleasingly, episode one doesn’t spend too long setting the scene. But while it’s fast paced; it doesn’t feel rushed – each episode being compelling enough to look forward with some anxiety to the next.
Fades was created by Jack Thirne who has written episodes of Skins and co-wote This Is England 86 and This Is England 88 and won the BAFTA award for best drama series in 2012.
UKTV – Tuesdays from 10 July, 9.20pm
