BBC Radio 4, July 22, 2022 and available on BBC Sounds

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Rose seems to have bonded with Gulliver, her small charge, which is just as well, as she seems to have some issue with impulse control – a bit not good when you’re a vampire.

She’s also winning friends and influencing people as an exciting but dangerous frisson sparks between her and Delphine, a nanny with another family. Despite Rose’s best efforts, she can’t keep her at arm’s length, and the feeling’s mutual. I’m already rooting for them.

There are some extra-curricular activities that her employers, Austin and Maya (in point of fact it’s more Austin) have mandated. You’d think it a good thing to be ordered to attend parties, but there’s a disgusting catch to this ‘benefit’. Austin in all his egotistical glory pushes this to the limit and by the end of the episode you’ll be revolted by his attitude.

This is possible because we are with Rose and in her heart and mind through the first-person narrative… so, while she is capable of deadly and immediate revenge, we’re given a deep understanding of how the events feel from the point of view of the victim. Now I’m not condoning the actions of a hangry vampire but by ‘victim’, I still mean Rose although you could quarrel with that – but if you live by the sword, you expose yourself to the risk of dying by it.

Verdict: Has Rose bitten off more than she can chew? 8/10

Claire Smith