Harry and June both struggle to wrap their heads around what is happening, the former wondering exactly what he has got himself into, the latter merely terrified. Meanwhile, their parents notice their absence, and their mysterious pursuers are still on their trail.

It’s difficult to know exactly how to take The Innocents. There’s an instinctive part of me which feels as if the show is answering a question nobody really asked – what if a young girl experiencing the emotions and messiness of becoming a young woman had the added complication of also being a shapeshifter? But on the other hand, whereas that central premise could so easily have devolved into schlocky parody, The Innocents has an earnestness about it – a seriousness of purpose and a thorough grounding in the real world, which elevate it.

Credit to Percelle Ascott, who here has to play really quite a nuanced part with Harry. On the one hand, here is a young man clearly already older than he needs to be, having spent time looking after his father. On the other, he’s still a young man, experiencing the first blush of true love. His responses and actions are appropriately contradictory, from his immediate reaction to June looking like a middle-aged man, to his private agonising over whether to stay by her side, to his commitment to do so. All of it is exactly how you would imagine a young man of his age in his position responding.

Sorcha Groundsell deserves equal praise for her portrayal of June, a sixteen year old girl rebelling against the strict upbringing she’s experienced, but confronted with a terrifying new reality about herself. June feels appropriately ephemeral in her feelings, one moment bursting with joy at the idea of being free and in love, the next overwrought with terror as to how she will cope. The pair of them strike the perfect tone.

As for their pursuers, Jóhannes Hauker Jóhannesson’s Steinar is the perfect mix of earnestness and terrifying. The intensity of his expression works well with the suddenness of his action, and the show keeps us off balance as to exactly how we should feel about him. He’s clearly doing what he feels to be the right thing, but he’s not exactly winning any charm contests while doing it. His companion is clearly way out of his depth, and maybe not the best human being, but also seems to have some basic decency about him.

Meanwhile, back in Norway, Professor Ben (we still don’t know his surname) is continuing his work with other shifters. What exactly he hopes to achieve (and why his lover was ready to throw herself off a cliff at the opening of the first episode) remain unclear, and, much like Steinar, whereas it’s clear he believes he’s doing what he does for good reasons, his methods leave the viewer distinctly uncomfortable.

It’s certainly a very different type of genre show, given the subject matter. There’s no glorified violence, over-the-top special effects or extreme characters. There’s a subtlety, a quietness and a determination of pace here which promises much. I was unconvinced by the end of the pilot, but now I have to admit it’s dragged me right in.

Verdict: An intriguing execution of what could easily have been a cliched idea. This feels like it’s going to be something special. 8/10

Greg D. Smith