Wolfblood: Season One

Although its premise brings to mind the Twilight series, this hit BBC-TV show doesn't feel overly derivative of Stephenie Meyer's novels; instead, it smoothly blends paranormal elements with gritty, non-patronizing YA drama set in present-day England. Attending a forest-bordered rural school, 14-year-old Maddy Smith (Aimee Kelly)—along with her cheerful working-class parents—are secretly “Wolfblood,” i.e., a shadowy ancient people with a pack mentality and heightened senses and powers, who shape-shift (clothing and all) into wolves. Maddy recognizes brooding transfer student Rhydian Morris (Bobby Lockwood)—abandoned as an infant—as a Wolfblood who is ignorant of his heritage. As the pair navigate an adolescence made even hairier by lycanthropy, Maddy and Rhydian support each other through crises of lupine self-control (during the full moon), family turmoil, and suspicious classmates getting near the truth. Wolf scenes (clearly digital f/x) are actually quite sparse in this well-written, realistically cast, and superbly acted Celtic riff on I Was a Teenage Werewolf. Compiling all 13 episodes from the 2012 debut season, extras include behind-the-scenes featurettes, and interviews with the cast. Highly recommended. (C. Cassady)