UltraViolet
A six part series made by World-Productions of London about vampires in the modern world. Unfortunately (or fortunately) there are no plans to make more stories based upon this excellent background due to the creator, Joe Ahearne, feeling that he has mined the idea for all the really good shows possible. (Personally I would like to have seen more, as it ends with a number of things unresolved.)
No spoilers for the series, but the basic premise is that vampires are real and they are getting organized. It is thought that they are doing this to protect their food supply. They are reacting to the fact that humans now possess the capability to wipe themselves out, threatening the existence of their predator.
In the United Kingdom a program of study, control, and eradication is being funded by the government as a public health measure. This is, of course, not out in the open and the operatives work without the usual restraints of the police forces. In fact they are The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, a Roman Catholic institution with a rather infamous history.
This all helps to make it rather unclear if the vampires are entirely bad. One of them points out that vampires are not the first group that the Church has demonized, and implying that people are just afraid because vampires are different. On the other hand there seems to be more than a little underhanded dealing being done by the vampires. Big questions are raised as to which side is the "right" one to be on, if any.
Some of the features of vampires as portrayed are that they fail to show up in mirrors or any recording device. They cannot use phones, either. A vampire can be staked by carbon bullets, and when a vampire is staked he spontaneously combusts into a fine reddish brown powder. Sunlight harms them as does an active ingredient in garlic. However holy texts and crosses are not 100% effective. Vampires can come back, but the exact method is a mystery. The component of sunlight that harms them is the ultraviolet part of spectrum, giving the show its name. Ultraviolet lights are also used to find the infected but healed over bite wounds.
A very interesting and edgy show with good production values. In particular I liked the mood setting title music used as an accent throughout episodes.
It stars:
- Jack Davenport as Michael Colefield, a police detective that gets sucked into involvement
- Susannah Harker as Angie March, the congregation’s chief doctor
- Idris Elba as Vaughan Rice, an ex-military operative
- Philip Quast as Pearse Harman, the priest that leads the squad