Don’t miss The Fades on BBC America this weekend

BBC America will begin airing the six-episode first season of The Fades on the evening of January 14, 2012.

The show already aired for British audiences last year, but this will be the first network broadcast of the program in the US – though they were previously available for a few days at a time on the BBC Three website.

The depth of the mythology and the dynamics of the character interaction in these mere six episodes are outstanding. Perhaps it is some of the best television to come out of the UK last year, and I’m including the recent season of Doctor Who in that lot.

The show kicks off with the story of Paul, a boy who learns he has strange powers over life and death in a world where the spirits of the dead, the Fades, are learning to interact with the physical plane. 

Initially, it seemed like the plot line may have hit a familiar formula, however, it’s anything but formulaic. Each episode, Paul learns something new about what he can do with his strange powers, but as a sci-fi loving geek, his super hero reality is nothing like the stories he’s read and the heroes he’s pretended to be.

The episodes are each nearly feature length, making it feel more like a series of films, and the power of each episode is there to support the format.

To read the rest of my reviews of The Fades go here, but be forewarned of massive spoilers therein.