NO PLACE TO HIDE? 'UTOPIA' IS HERE!

A dark future looms for our runaway young heroes, pursued by the mysterious and brutal Arby (Neil Maskell), in UTOPIA. Image: CHANNEL 4.

Being a devoted fan to a one-of-a-kind graphic novel can be fatal to your health, as five young and diverse background heroes (a fifteen year old slum housing tearway, a student nurse, an isolationist living in his dad’s basement, and a successful IT hothead) discover in the fascinating and uniquely different continuing drama series UTOPIA, of which its second episode (of six) on the UK’s CHANNEL FOUR continues tonight after an intriguing feature-length opener.

Created by Dennis Kelly, the series initiates a mysterious set of circumstances and a trail of bloody murder linked to a mysterious and lost graphic novel manuscript, conceived by its scientist creator who seemingly went insane with predictions of the end of the world and the birth of a strange new one: The Utopia Experiments. A small group of internet forum members, enthusiasts of the seemingly one and only first issue, are drawn into this terrifying world made real, embarking on a fugitive, perhaps revolutionary, course of future action whilst pursued by a mysterious agency of evil called The Network, whose two vicious agents (one a raisin eating babyface, Arby (played by Neil Maskell, who wouldn’t look out of place in a Harry Enfield sketch if he wasn't so cruel, the other his torture loving colleague) begin their brutal and sadistic hunt for them and the presumed lost second issue manuscript, whilst simultaneously mopping up any traces of their presence wherever and whenever the clues, and their victims, take them.

Beyond their killing associates, The Network also have equally shady links to the pharmaceutical business, influencing and corrupting British government and society through a weak willed Civil Servant, Dugdale (Paul Higgins), in a way that the comic book’s almost Nostradamus-like predictions have foretold…but can they be stopped before dark dreams take their ultimate form?

Trailers: Utopia - Features - Utopia Trailers - Channel 4

Best described as a conspiracy thriller meets urban fantasy, with a little twist of sci-fi (are The Network even human?), this is the kind of series format that will surely capture the attention of audiences who enjoyed such fare as alternative superhero drama MISFITS and the sadly one-off BBC 3 youth horror THE FADES. With a likable young cast of rising stars, the show weaves a visually inventive and atmospheric spell, too, intriguingly mixing a dark and twistedly surreal take on modern London and the UK as a whole, within a glossy colour palette that itself could literally have leapt from the pages of a graphic novel. Director Marc Munden mixes a little bit of David Lynch impressionism with the glossy bite shown by other Brit newcomers like Matthew Vaughn. Most importantly,though, the script stays dominant over the style, with UTOPIA surely revealing further plot twists that will keep viewers riveted (though, by the end of it, I'm not expecting all of the plot questions to necessarily have been answered).

In spite of the show’s often incredible amount of realistic violence- which left me feeling a little bit queasy after the premier episode: so be prepared new viewers!- and the obvious press controversy it will court, UTOPIA has on its side a bold and different story to reveal, standing out in a current sea of bland modern television as a genuinely intriguing and unique new series worth following, and thus making it essential KOOL TV.