Atlantis 5Ariadne seeks Jason’s help when her apparently traitorous brother makes contact…

Once again Atlantis is more interesting when it’s dealing with the political problems of the kingdom rather than the exploits of the three supposed heroes. The dynamic between Sarah Parrish, Alexander Siddig and Juliet Stevenson’s characters is what is holding my interest far more than whether Mark Addy’s Hercules can fall in love with a beetle. (Er, no that’s not hyperbole – that’s what he does in this episode.) The show can’t be as violent or as vicious as Rome or Game of Thrones, but in these portions, at least it’s trying to be something different from Merlin. A shame then that a key “twist” is identical to the one in last week’s episode…

The news that a second season has been commissioned was announced the morning I watched this episode, and you have to hope that the BBC has seen an improvement in the weeks that follow to justify it, particularly when genre shows with much stronger characters and situations have fallen by the wayside. While Addy continues to show his deftness with comedy, Robert Emms is wasted – can we please have an episode that focuses on him to provide some dimensions to his character? – and Jack Donnelly’s Jason has suddenly learned how to swordfight.

Verdict: More politics, less humour please? 5/10

Paul Simpson

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