A Discovery of Witches (Sky Vision)

It begins with absence and desire. It begins with blood and fear. It begins with… a discovery of witches. Author Deborah Harkness was involved in the production of this series based on her trilogy, which is probably why it is quite a faithful adaptation. American academic Dr Diana Bishop, who specialises in the history of science, is in Oxford to research old texts on alchemy. Traumatised by the death of her parents when she was a child, Diana denies her heritage as a witch and tries to ignore her powers. She finds an old book that may explain the origins of the three magical species and finds herself the target of large numbers of witches, daemons and vampires, including charismatic ancient vampire Matthew Clairmont. This is the start of an epic love story and a search for The Book Of Life, with plenty of violence, politics and magic to spice it up. Teresa Palmer and Matthew Goode are well cast as the leads and most of the support cast is great, only Alex Kingston as Diana’s Aunt Sarah and Lindsay Duncan as Matthew’s mother Isabeau not quite filling the bill. The former’s American accent just doesn’t cut it and the latter is too old for the part. The array of characters and locations may prove confusing for those who have not read the books and it is not really made clear what daemons are and how they are different from vampires and witches. But like the novels the series builds momentum with each episode to become just as addictive. Roll on series two.