The temptation of Tom Clarke…
The drama steps up a notch in this episode, from the pen of Joseph Lidster. The characters are now firmly enough established that we don’t really need setting up scenes, and can jump straight in.
Tom is facing problems on all sides: he’s no longer the coolest guy in school, partly because of his friendship with Benny, but he’s envious of his geeky friend. His dad is on his back because his grades are slipping; his gran wants him to take the magic more seriously. So when a young Martin Shaw clone arrives and appears to offer him a guilt-free life, using magic to get whatever he wants, it sounds very enticing.
And of course the Nekross are waiting: their scenes are more restrained than we’ve seen so far, and work all the better for it. We even get some backstory about the royal family and their Borgia-like relationships, begging the question whether the King was once “humanoid” in form and what turned him into the fat head that we’ve encountered.
The acting is getting stronger by the day; if WvA can maintain this steady level of improvement, then it’ll deserve its second series.
Verdict: A good set up. 7/10
Paul Simpson
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