Billed as a fantasy horror series, The Fades is in fact a high concept, genre-hopping show that defies such a simple classification.
Written by Jack Thorne (Skins, This is England ’86), it veers from zombie flick, though romantic and puerile teen comedy and back out the other side into supernatural drama.
Following the tale of teenage best friends Paul (Ian de Caestecker) and Mac (Daniel Kaluuya) it begins with a nocturnal intrusion into an abandoned shopping centre.
Paul’s a jumpy bed-wetting teen, geeky and with low self esteem, he is plagued by post-apocalyptic dreams for which he is in therapy until he discovers he has powers including the ability to heal and to see the dead. Mac, his best friend, is a film quoting obsessive who can trip the line from charismatic to utterly irritating in the space of a sentence, especially in his fourth wall breaking episode introductions.
Through the pair, we are introduced to a cast of family characters including Paul’s abrasive, potty mouthed twin-sister Anna (Lily Loveless) as well as Mac’s father, a detective (Robbie Gee).
Paul is introduced to the Angelics, a group seemingly possessed of super-powers who track the Fades: people who have died but not ‘ascended’. Though the terminology seems to imply it, they studiously steer clear of any specific religious connotation.
The Angelics include the embittered Neil (Johnny Harris), vicar Helen (Daniela Nardini) and Sarah (Natalie Dormer) who dies in the opening moments of the show before returning as a Fade.
The Fades, it appears, have been walking the Earth for many years after failing to ascend but more recently have begun to acquire the ability to touch and influence the world around them. This culminates in the rebirth of their leader John (Joe Dempsie), who seeks to lead a revolution at the expense of human life.
With ash-filled landscapes and gory fight scenes, The Fades is both graphically ambitious and visually arresting. The character of Mac in particular provides some smart and incredibly film literate dialogue that sparkles on occasion, though does have the tendency to grate.
Some of the elements of teen drama, though well handled like Paul’s sexual awakening at the hands of the streetwise Jay (Sophie Wu), at times seemed quite at odds with the fantastical tone of the show. Not quite Dawson’s Creek with zombies, but heading in that direction, with an occasional lean towards more puerile Inbetweeners and Skins style humour to appeal to BBC Three’s target audience.
The series delivered some tense sequences and genuine shocks, the best example of which was the devastating end to Episode 3 with Paul’s apparent death and the lead Fade’s rebirth. One shock that seemed unnecessary though was Neil’s murder of Jay. As a way to get Paul to acquiesce to his demands it seemed extreme and unnecessary. Additionally, it was odd that she didn’t instantly become a Fade too. The storyline involving Mac’s father in his Police investigation was a struggle also.
In summary, while The Fades was an ambitious crack at a fantasy horror drama, it seemed a little uneven in tone.
In its favour, some fantastic imagery and effects are employed in this tale of death and rebirth and it was great to see the BBC attempting this kind of genre show. Given the number of unanswered questions left hanging, a second series would be more than welcome.
Extras: Across the two discs, there are feast of short fearurettes that appear to have originated online; café based Extra Scenes for each episode featuring Paul and Mac, as well as a set of Mac Explains where Daniel Kaluuya presents a handy ‘What is?’ guide to the series’ fantastical elements.
In addition, a handful of deleted scenes are presented with justification for their removal from the producer and director, most of which boil down to the constraints of time and story pacing, There is some nice character work on show here though, including a broody therapy scene that would have sat at the top of Episode 1.
Finally, there are a clutch of Behind the Scenes featurettes, including some brief cast interviews and what appear to be series promotional materials. Whilst interesting, there is not much of substance on offer.
Released on DVD and Blu-ray on Monday 26th December 2011 by 2entertain.
Watch the trailer…