It is hard to work out the type of audience Sinbad is aiming itself at. From the fun and frantic opening episode that was comfortably in the ‘family entertainment’ category, we have now reached Series 1’s halfway point and there is very little in this instalment that could be labelled as suitable for children. That is not to say that this episode is full of profanities and obscenities, it is simply a case of a more thought-out and mature storyline and very little action to retain the interest of younger eyes.

When Sinbad is taken in the middle of the ocean by an unidentified sea creature, he finds himself away on an island inhabited only by the mysterious beauty, Roisin (guest star Georgia King).

Despite being a complete stranger and having no idea where he or his friends are, Sinbad has instant chemistry with Roisin that is far from subtle and will have some parents of younger viewers tutting furiously, but it is harmless enough. For the audience that is…

Even though Sinbad seems to have found his perfect woman (she is even able to stop Sinbad’s curse in its tracks and allow him to spend more time on land), back on the ship,

Cook examines a supposed claw left behind by the creature that captured Sinbad. He reveals that this is no claw, but a fingernail belonging to a siren, a deadly creature that feeds on good memories of unsuspecting men, which explains all the questions Roisin keeps throwing at an oblivious Sinbad.

But while Roisin is desperate for every good memory of Sinbad’s she can get her hands on, it turns out bad memories do not go down well with her and unfortunately for her, Sinbad has many to tell leaving to Roisin literally cough back up each one in the form of a ghostly figure from Sinbad’s past shrouded in black clouds.

While these spectres look menacing by Sinbad’s standards, they actually do very little. Given that this is supposed to be a fantasy action series, this is a little disappointing as Sinbad is starting to lean away from action sequences and more towards the mysterious stranger plot lines, which although successful with Timothy Spall as Death earlier in the series, here fails to reach the same tense heights as the plot never really generates any great sense of threat and Georgia King as the siren does not have the charisma to carry the episode herself.

Aired at 7pm on Sunday 12th August 2012 on Sky1.

> Order the Series 1 DVD on Amazon.

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