The Lovecraft Investigations

Well made mystery pod!

I liked this show, but it falls short in all three seasons towards the end. The build-up is too big, the details too many. And all seasons have this one episode with a «history lesson» from the Elena Peck character that frankly becomes almost ubearable in its details as well as sound quality and performance. The omnipotent knowledge from this professor, in all fields, just feels too over the top. Theres basically nothing she does not know, and is sceptical towards, and at the same time portraying mad stories, with no references, is if they were facts. And the patronizing attitude towards Matthew is just annoying. Why they felt the need to use this character in the degree they have is beyond me. It took a great show down to a good show.

As a huge fan of Lovecraft’s writings, I love this modern take on some of his best stories, and the compelling connecting narrative. Your new original characters are well written and sympathetic while realistically humanly flawed. I found myself genuinely worrying about them throughout. The mood is excellent, and the tension, despite what I’ll come to, is mostly great. The performances are also superb. I have withheld one star, and my reasons for that go into spoiler-territory, so let me just make it clear that I recommend this programme, and stop reading now if you’re new. Ok, here we go: The Department of Works needs to go. Kill it or make it powerless in the next series. (But feel free to keep the characters from there that have been introduced, but without their infrastructure.) A lot of tension disappears when there’s a shadowy pseudo-governmental department full of people more competent than the protagonists that can step in at any moment and save the day. Having the forces of good (relatively speaking) being as powerful as the lurking cults run contrary to a lot of Lovecraftian horror and horror in general. I like the conspiracy element of the narrative, but the power-balance is detrimental to the overall feeling of loneliness in the face of adversity so crucial to the genre. Again, apart from this: excellent work.

What a treat! Excellent take on a Classic!