I've seen seven episodes of this series, which starts tonight on Fox in the US but has been screening in the UK for the past couple of months.
It's basically the X-Files with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle taking the "I want to believe!" Fox Mulder position, while arch-skeptic Harry Houdini stands in for Dana Scully. But set in Edwardian-era London, and Houdini always turns out to be right.
It's truly refreshing to watch a series in which "science vs. the supernatural" is taken seriously as the major theme and I appreciate that the writers almost always resist the "maybe it was all true after all" cop-out. The apparently supernatural crimes Houdini and Doyle investigate - involving murderous ghosts, Spring Heeled Jack, poltergeists, vampires, etc. - always have rational, scientific explanations, even if some of those explanations are only just plausible. The Skeptic vs. True Believer banter between Houdini and Doyle echoes every flame war you're ever read on that subject.
Noting that the show is a work of fiction "inspired by" certain historical figures and situations, the writers still manage to work in a good deal of historically accurate detail, including part of the main premise. Houdini and Doyle actually were friends in real life (albeit during the 1920s rather than circa 1900) and each man really did investigate claims of the paranormal, from radically different perspectives.
It's a fun, smart show that deserves an enthusiastic (if niche) audience.
It's basically the X-Files with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle taking the "I want to believe!" Fox Mulder position, while arch-skeptic Harry Houdini stands in for Dana Scully. But set in Edwardian-era London, and Houdini always turns out to be right.
It's truly refreshing to watch a series in which "science vs. the supernatural" is taken seriously as the major theme and I appreciate that the writers almost always resist the "maybe it was all true after all" cop-out. The apparently supernatural crimes Houdini and Doyle investigate - involving murderous ghosts, Spring Heeled Jack, poltergeists, vampires, etc. - always have rational, scientific explanations, even if some of those explanations are only just plausible. The Skeptic vs. True Believer banter between Houdini and Doyle echoes every flame war you're ever read on that subject.
Noting that the show is a work of fiction "inspired by" certain historical figures and situations, the writers still manage to work in a good deal of historically accurate detail, including part of the main premise. Houdini and Doyle actually were friends in real life (albeit during the 1920s rather than circa 1900) and each man really did investigate claims of the paranormal, from radically different perspectives.
It's a fun, smart show that deserves an enthusiastic (if niche) audience.
via International Skeptics Forum http://ift.tt/1OciHY0
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