The Returned

Series one, episode eight
It’s been established that leaving this unnamed, undead French village isn’t easy. So might we have a basic ‘Lord of the Flies’ scenario here, as this captivating series reaches its end? Predictably, it’s not quite that simple – too many people have a foot in both camps. However, the village is beginning to split, even as it coalesces around the Helping Hand organisation. Clearly, there are wider allegories to be read into this suspicious, fearful new apartheid.

The result is a climax that’s simultaneously sinister, ugly and strangely ceremonial. Oh, and if it doesn’t exactly explain where we’ve been, it does give a fairly good idea of where we might be going. This series has sustained its mysteries with real poise and subtlety. We can’t wait for the next helping, due next year.