The Fades: Season One

Britain's latest foray into supernatural TV is a mix of ghost story and zombie tale, a spooky, palpably creepy show about: spirits of the dead trapped on Earth (the “Fades” of the title), the humans who can see them (called “Angelics”), and the possibility of apocalypse. At least that's what high school outcast Paul (Iain De Caestecker) worries about when his newfound Angelic abilities manifest and immaterial spirits start devouring people in order to become reborn as physical beings—some kind of mix of vampire, zombie, and immortal. Social anxieties and young love seem rather small next to an end of the world scenario, but try telling that to a hormonal Star Wars geek in love with the best friend of his popular twin sister, Anna (Lily Loveless). Paul winds up becoming a reluctant member of a scruffy cabal of Angelics who are out to destroy the Fades (essentially by condemning them to eternal death), and eventually collides with the Angelics' leader, Neil (Johnny Harris), before proposing a different approach. In some ways The Fades plays like a darker version of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, only with less cheeky humor and more spectral atmosphere. Compiling all six episodes—airing in the U.S. in 2011 on Blu-ray and DVD, extras include a behind-the-scenes featurette, interviews, deleted scenes, and outtakes. Recommended. (S. Axmaker)