eve-3-1KT forces Eve into a very difficult position…

Co-creator Emma Reeves kicks off this third series of adventures for robot Eve with a story that sets up a number of plotlines that will hopefully get developed over the coming episodes. Some of the threads hanging from series 2 get immediately dealt with – there’s one character definitely dead and another miraculously back around… but not learning from their previous mistakes.

The episode starts with one of those ideas that’s getting slightly overused at the moment – the key dramatic scene from which we jump back in time so that when it comes round in its natural place, it plays rather differently than we expect. Hopefully this is a one-off just being used for the season start, because it very definitely works here, as Eve is surrounded by off-cuts from The Midwich Cuckoos. (And full marks for the eerily accurate rendition of the costumes.)

There’s a lot resting on the acting chops of Ellie Grainger in this episode (and from the looks of things, in the rest of the series), and so far she’s doing very well – the melodramatic moments never are pushed too far, and nor does she come across as quite the spoiled brat that she could. There’s a definite bond between her and Poppy Lee Friar as Eve that elevates their scenes.

Verdict: A welcome return for the CBBC show. 8/10

Paul Simpson