Domino Day spoilers won't be found in this spoiler-free review.
The likes of Buffy only come once in a generation, yet the impact of Sarah Michelle Gellar's show, aka The Greatest Series Ever Made™, has been felt across TV's landscape ever since.
Fantasy horror had been done on the small screen before, but in the wake of Buffy, American shows like Charmed and True Blood continued the slayer's legacy while homegrown favourites such as Misfits, Being Human and In the Flesh proved the UK could compete in this vein too.
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Yet with the rise of streaming and the 2016 mothballing of BBC Three, home to those latter two hits, British fantasy horror shows haven't been as high-profile as they once were. BBC Three is back now though (online only), and a new series from Gangs of London writer Lauren Sequeira looks set to recapture the glory days of fantasy horror on terrestrial TV.
Domino Day stars Siena Kelly as the titular protagonist who gives off antagonist vibes, especially at the beginning. That's because Domino's main drive seems to be sucking the life out of terrible Tinder dates using what looks like demonic magic and a whole lot of impressive hand-ography.
Meanwhile, a local coven starts to sense something is amiss in Manchester, so the witches begin to investigate the truth behind Domino and the men impacted by her "feeding".
Like the show's namesake, Domino Day isn't black-and-white in its approach to morality, blurring the lines between who's "good" and who's "evil" from the start. Because let's be honest, some of these men suck, and it's easy to root for Domino when their misogyny and racist tendencies pull into focus.
Domino herself isn't a saint though, even if she never asked for any of this, and the witches who hunt her down aren't heroes in a traditional sense either.
Like many other British horror success stories, Domino Day is more grounded in reality because of this approach. Yes, there's some magic and incantations, but no-one's flying through the air on broomsticks.
It's the characters who are key here, although that means the show doesn't really soar (like one of those old-fashioned witches) until the halfway mark when Domino and the coven begin to cross paths more directly.
That's also the point when the show's wider lore becomes more apparent, but things never get too muddled because the focus is always on Domino and how her problems have become a problem for others.
That naturally demands a lot of Siena Kelly in the lead, yet you wouldn't know that from watching her because the Adult Material star is effortlessly charismatic here, whether she's dealing with Domino's past trauma or using her dance background to embody the character's otherworldly movements.
Poet, playwright and actor babirye bukilwa also impresses in the role of Sammie, an empathic witch who reaches out to Domino, along with Call the Midwife's Alisha Bailey, who leads the coven through some tough decisions.
In fact, the casting as a whole deserves praise because of how it circumvents the usual white, male faces that still dominate this genre in favour of Black and Asian women who bring a new voice and perspective to the coven's sisterhood. Sadly, this kind of inclusive casting remains the exception rather than the rule still, especially when it comes to fantasy fare.
Series creator Lauren Sequeira is of British Caribbean heritage, and she's also bisexual, so queerness is integral to the show, be it through Sammie's relationship or the LGBTQ+ metaphors that connect the coven to safe spaces and conversely, the dangerous notion of conversion therapy.
Like in shows such as Buffy, direct representation and these kind of metaphors compliment each other by resonating with both universal and also very specific experiences that can appeal to more people at once.
Another aspect of Domino Day that should appeal is the show's approach to sex. It's integral to the premise, but never in ways that objectify Domino herself. It probably helps that this is a BBC Three venture because that's where these kind of fantasy horror shows were once able to get a bit grittier and more mature than their counterparts on BBC One.
There are still some growing pains: some characters in the coven are far more developed than others, and there's a sense that Domino Day is still finding its feet, much like Domino herself.
Yet even if the series isn't up there with classics like Buffy or Charmed or even Being Human just yet, we hope the show's success can help lead a resurgence of British fantasy horror on TV after recent fan favourites like The Bastard Son and the Devil Himself and Lockwood & Co. were cut off in their prime.
Domino Day premieres on Wednesday, January 31 on BBC iPlayer with all six episodes, and will also broadcast weekly from the same evening, starting at 9pm.
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After teaching in England and South Korea, David turned to writing in Germany, where he covered everything from superhero movies to the Berlin Film Festival.
In 2019, David moved to London to join Digital Spy, where he could indulge his love of comics, horror and LGBTQ+ storytelling as Deputy TV Editor, and later, as Acting TV Editor.
David has spoken on numerous LGBTQ+ panels to discuss queer representation and in 2020, he created the Rainbow Crew interview series, which celebrates LGBTQ+ talent on both sides of the camera via video content and longform reads.
Beyond that, David has interviewed all your faves, including Henry Cavill, Pedro Pascal, Olivia Colman, Patrick Stewart, Ncuti Gatwa, Jamie Dornan, Regina King, and more — not to mention countless Drag Race legends.
As a freelance entertainment journalist, David has bylines across a range of publications including Empire Online, Radio Times, INTO, Highsnobiety, Den of Geek, The Digital Fix and Sight & Sound.
