In recent times, the fantasy genre has blown up on TV and various streaming platforms currently available.
Thanks to recent offerings like “Shadow & Bone”, “The Nevers”, “Fate: The Winx Saga”, “The Irregulars”, “Cursed”, “The Witcher”, “Motherland: Fort Salem” and “His Dark Materials”, to name a few, the appetite grows even deeper.
And networks are exploring all avenues to ensure they meet this growing demand.
In the same way that I’m hugely addicted to crime dramas and horror, I love fantasy.
Of course, back in the day, we didn’t have the option of binge-watching or DStv Catch Up. But I diligently caught every weekly episode of “Charmed”, “Merlin”, “The Vampire Diaries”, “The Originals”, “Buffy The Vampire Slayer” and “True Blood”.
Back then, repeats were welcome in case you missed an episode.
This brings me to “A Discovery of Witches”, which returned for a third and final instalment on Showmax. It reminded me of the shows I used to watch.
It has that genteel charm, mystery, romance and conflicted heroism. And it marries those qualities to the 21st century world of feminism and equality.
The British fantasy series is based on Deborah Harkness’s All Souls Trilogy. And it couldn’t have chosen better leads than Teresa Palmer as Diana Bishop, who is a witch and tenured historian at Yale University, studying alchemy and science at the University of Oxford, and Matthew Goode as Matthew Clairmont, a vampire and professor of biochemistry.
Destined to cross paths, the two first meet when Diana accidentally summons the long-missing manuscript Ashmole 782.
Despite shunning her powerful roots, the incident puts her on the radar of witches, vampires and daemons and, in doing so, reignites her interest in her bloodline of witches.
Fortunately for her, Matthew has honourable intentions and explains that his interest lies in wanting to learn more about the diminishing powers of all the creatures.
Meanwhile, Peter Knox (Owen Teale), who is a member of the Congregation and a high-ranking witch, wants to get his hands on the manuscript to tip the scales of power in his favour. The same can be said for Gerbert d'Aurillac (Trevor Eve), an ancient vampire and a Congregation member.
The Congregation includes several other members: vampire Domenico Michele (Gregg Chillin), Finnish witch Satu Järvinen (Malin Buska) and daemon Agatha Wilson (Tanya Moodie).
While season 1 dwelt on Diana looking for this book with the help of Matthew, her aunt Sarah Bishop (Alex Kingston) and her partner Emily Mather (Valarie Pettiford) as well as Matthew’s mother, Ysabeau de Clermont (Lindsay Duncan), she also stumbled across a few worthy allies.
By the second season, Diana was mastering her craft, evading the Congregation by time-travelling with Matthew to locate the missing pages of the Book of Life, and growing even stronger as she harnessed her full powers as a witch.
The new season opens on a sombre note as Diana and Sarah bid farewell to Emily, who was killed by Peter.
She’s now married to Matthew and pregnant with twins, which is frowned upon by the Congregation.
But with Diana having received Matthew’s father’s blessing while time-travelling, it is a reality their enemies grudgingly accept.
The past and the present collide this season as Diana and Matthew discover the identity of the blood rage killer – their abandoned son.
There are many challenges at work as Diana tracks down the three missing pages.
Lives are placed in jeopardy, old wounds are opened and the past lays bare a few skeletons Matthew would prefer stayed buried.
Also, the old ways are challenged and not everyone is okay with the power shift as old enemies become new allies.
“A Discovery of Witches” is spellbinding. Everything about the show, from the cast, the directing and the backdrop, to the costumes is on point.
“A Discovery of Witches” 3 is streaming on Showmax.