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'Demons' S01E01: 'They Bite'

Published Saturday, Jan 3 2009, 20:18 GMT | By Ben Rawson-Jones | 37 comments

Funnily enough for a series about vampires, Demons seriously lacks some bite in its opening episode. Admittedly that's the kind of hackneyed cliché that pompous television critics love to wheel out, but it's plain to see that the muddled plotting and stale pacing ensure that the show feels very flat and stale.

The modern incarnation of Doctor Who successfully managed to introduce a colossal mythology in its debut story 'Rose', while rolling out a gripping self-contained plot. Conversely, 'They Bite' buckles under the weight of attempting such a balancing feat as the revelations about Luke's family history and Rupert's vocation and underground lair only elicit shrugs of 'so what?'. The problem is that the narrative doesn't manage to give the characters enough appeal before unleashing all the backstory and intrigue. As a result, it's hard to care for their plight. It would have been far wiser to gradually tease out Luke's extraordinary nature over a longer length of time and concentrate on making him an endearing chap by doing more than displaying his torso.

Why oh why did Philip Glenister choose to go American for his role as vampire smiter Rupert Galvin? It was probably an attempt to distance himself from Gene Hunt, but the accent feels too incongruous at times and some of the one-liners are very much delivered in the blunt Hunt style. On the flipside, the use of Mackenzie Crook as the villainous Gladiolus Thrip is a masterstroke, with his creepy, energetic performance injecting some much-needed tension into the latter stages of the episode.

The visual texture of the adventure is undeniably impressive, nicely using some of the creepy London backstreets to sinister effect. Yet the direction doesn't do it justice in the action sequences, most notably when Luke and Ruby are accosted by some hooded beasties. It simply lacks any immediacy or adrenalin and suffers hugely in comparison to punchy, slick US counterparts like Buffy The Vampire Slayer. The second episode had better be a good one, or else Demons has effectively staked itself in the heart at a ridiculously early stage.

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Kate l'pool, on January 10th, 2009
The thing that set Buffy apart was its brilliant writing the thing that most new British shows lack is even half decent writing. I think I counted about 7 Buffy rip offs but sadly without the wit, tension,drama,plot, creativity, likeable characters, intimidating baddies, good fight scenes and sheer fun. Zoe Tapper was good as usual shame it wasn't a show based around her character. That American accent is ridiculous.

Anselm London, on January 10th, 2009
Dreadful rubbish,Little or hardly any plot,an awful accent which straight away puts the viewer off and awful 'dramatic 'music which tries to pull you in and get your heart beating faster and faster....but fails miserably,another example of ITV 's master of drawing you in with dramatic advertising but failing miseraby to deliver a good enough show that lives up to the hype.

Leigh, Cleveland, on January 10th, 2009
Just laughable.

alex Catford, on January 9th, 2009
Utter Crap from start to finish,and that accent is awful,lame tedious stuff,hardly any story and they try to hook you in with dramatic tunes when something 'scary' happens only its embarrising because nothing does happen,so many people have slagged this show off -even before it began..and it will continue...because the show is just plain crap.

LLoyd London, on January 9th, 2009
BRILLIANT STUFF

Ricky Coventry, on January 8th, 2009
Come off it would anyone really stand half naked in the winter in his flat and not be bothered that some little monkey looking thing attacked him while some creepy dude watched you prance about through the window. this was stupid at best.

Jason, Eastbourne, on January 8th, 2009
Wasn't the show origionally meant to be called 'The Last Van Helsing?' I'm sure it was. And if they'd stuck with that, then much of the back story would have been explained in the headline. As it is with Dr Who.

Chris from Manchester, on January 7th, 2009
The worst crime of all - the corniest use of incidental music in a drama EVER. Was the female character named "Ruby" just so the Kaiser Chiefs track could be played every time she is in trouble?! Yes, it's a pity - full marks for trying ITV, but you really should look at why the shows you are copying were successful in the first place! This was disappointing despite the best of intentions... With the word "Slayer" swapped with "Smiter", and the production team directly stealing the titles font, incidental music and basic set-up from Buffy, they somehow neglected to copy all the essential ingredients that made Buffy a smash hit - chiefly the sassy banter and situational comedy that goes hand in hand with being a demon-slayer. The pilots of Torchwood and Primeval may have their flaws, but in terms of characterisation and sheer joy de vivre they launched with much stronger starts than this.

darryl, worsley, on January 7th, 2009
Watched it a second time, and remembered what the episode was called, "They Bite", the cockney american guy said to the luke skywlaker/buffy vampire slayer guy, "don't forget they bite" Who bit anyone in that first episode, who was in danger of being bitten? We the viewers were in danger of being bitten by your grans false teeth as they fell out of her mouth in the first 5 minutes when Phil Gleinster opened his mouth. This was utter crap, no doubt about it, crap titles, crap storyline, a timline which manages to stretch a night over a week and that ending? Will give it another chance next week but me thinks Phil Gleinster will be re-dubbing his speaking parts for the rest of the series. Showtime! (In dodgy american/cockney accent)

Chris Exeter, on January 7th, 2009
Sorry....I just could not get 'past' that terrible fake American accent...it jarred with me....Gene Hunt chasing vampires...............YES!!! Pretend American Philip Glenister................NO!!! I might watch episode 2...but I'm not really bothered if I forget. Is it too late to get Gene Hunt in to dub his own voice over that fake American accent.

Dave from Hinckley, on January 7th, 2009
I thought it was an ok start, but everytime I saw Glenister I kept expecting to hear the line "Let's fire up the Quattro"

Ian Fleming - Hollyoaks Village, on January 7th, 2009
Much the same as all-ambition-poor-execution ITV1 primetime warrior Primeval ... dire, dire, dire. Yet another wasted opportunity by ill-budgeted, ill-written, dreadfully directed Brit Tv fare. How can they even begin to imagine this will compare to any slick US TV show of similar ilk??? Casting was good - though 'Gene' Glenister the yank was entirely questionable. I was hoping for 'appointment to view" TV, but alak and alas ... one to avoid. 0 stars.

Dinky, Bournemouth, on January 6th, 2009
Well this is British TV? WE cant compete with the Americans at this sort of TV Can we? But to be fair im not a huge fan of these types of programmes but i thought it wasnt that bad! Early days yet, ill give it a 2nd chance next week but it could yet become a cult programme!!

davebav50, on January 6th, 2009
Totally agree with the comments. The America accent was dire, cinematography was good, storyline very poor. A waste of Philip Glenister's potential. I have already deleted the series link on my box.

Jonathan from Cambridge, on January 6th, 2009
I thought it was pretty much ok apart from the Glenister role; there was some good scary stuff.

Natalie, Teignmouth, on January 6th, 2009
Just loved it, you just want to keep watching

Sasha, Salford, on January 5th, 2009
It might have worked if they decided not to put it in the Doctor Who slot but the later slot and made it scary. It failed. It was awful. Philip G's accent, wtf? I'll give it another episode, but that's it if it's rubbish. But saying that, I said the same about Merlin (though it wasn't so bad) then ended up loving it.

chris london, on January 5th, 2009
i'll watch again in the hope that it will improve however, i found it lacking!

sophie london, on January 5th, 2009
I really wanted to like it however, I must agree with the previous comments. I found it to be disappointing as I expected so much more. The family history story could have been drawn out a bit longer to create mystery and intrigue. I really liked the demons, especially the nose and the dog-like things as they were weird looking but still human like. I HATED Philips corny American accent though!

Erin, on January 5th, 2009
Dire stuff. Appalling acting and Glenister's american accent was laughable. What the hell was going on with that fake nose on Crook! Script poor, weak acting from the younger cast members. I could go on. A typical second rate ITV show

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