Over the years I've been a sucker for many of those American big budget, slick multi-part continuing series... 24, The Wire, Heroes, Dexter, The Mentalist and Prison Break are just some of the titles that have come and gone at Piley Towers over the years. However these days I'm reluctant to get drawn in, with the addition of Piley Jr, there just doesn't seem to be the time anymore, and I struggle to commit myself to 24 or 26 hour long episodes season after season. I'm still saddled with LOST which is absolute pants now. The trouble is, having invested so much time into it (to date, 103 hours that I'll not be getting back), that I've got to see it through now to the conclusion... just to find out if there really is an ending or it was just 6 series of absolute bollocks. LOST has become a real millstone, and with that in mind I kinda promised myself that I wouldn't get involved anymore. But back in the summer I picked up on all the buzz going around about the HBO vampire series True Blood, and rather reluctantly gave it a go. After a slow start (which to be fair was just some great scene setting and character building) this series exploded into without doubt the most enjoyable debut series I've ever seen.... and as an extra bonus it was only 12 episodes long!
I have to say I was a bit sceptical about the whole vampire thing at first, visions of Buffy and
countless other 'camp vamps' sprang to mind. But True Blood has adopted a really cool angle... It's set in the fictional town of Bon Temps in Louisiana, where two years ago, thanks to the invention of synthetic blood (called 'Tru Blood' which is sold in all the local bars and convenience stores and comes in delicious 'A', 'B', 'AB' and 'O' flavours!), vampires 'came out of the coffin' and are now trying to integrate in the community alongside the living residents! Some locals have welcomed the vampires, whilst others are very hostile, and want to rid the town of their newly acquired neighbours.
The central vamp is Bill Compton... about as un-vampire a name as you could get!! But I think
that's the idea, as apart from the fact he's dead, Bill is a pretty regular guy! As the series goes on you get an insight into his life when he was alive. Born in the early 1800's, he was a citizen of Bon Temps, and fought in the Civil War. You also get to find out how he became a vampire. Bill seems to have an affinity with the humans, and much of the series focuses on his 'on-off' relationship with the leading lady of the show - the telepathic waitress Sookie Stackhouse. However there are a number of story lines all going on, the most sinister of which is a mysterious trail of murders, which one by one are getting nearer and nearer to Sookie.
There is some lovely attention to detail in the series - one that particularly impressed me was that despite hailing from the same town, vampire Bill's accent is slightly different to the Southern drawl of the humans (as is his vocabulary). Bill is more 'Gone with the Wind' Rhett Butler than anything else... it's never mentioned during the series, but it's a nice touch, and as he hails from the 1800's it's probably spot on too.
It's a really quirky show (and I've intentionally not given away any of the main plots, twists and turns), and is complimented by a great supporting cast. It's got everything to keep you hooked and can switch
from dark humour to horror to kinky sex in the flash of a fang!
The oddest thing for me though is the fact that the lead character is an Essex boy! Yup, vampire Bill, or rather Stephen Moyer, hails from Brentwood in Essex, just 20 odd miles from Piley Towers! "gor blimey it's bleedin' taters in them fackin graveyards today init".... well maybe.
I intended getting this post up a couple of week back before Channel 4 started to show the series (Wednesdays at 10pm, repeated on Fridays around 11pm). But as it turned out I've been feeling rather under the weather the last couple of weeks (hence the lack of posts), and didn't quite make it. Still, if you're not already hooked and you have access to all that 'on demand' malarkey, I'm sure you can catch up if you want to!
Why not celebrate Halloween in style with the official Piley and Mondo Podrophenia podcast??!
and just what went on at this place in the 1300's??
Well, once again those good people over at 
