Studio Canal, out now on digital download and on Blu-ray/DVD on July 31

Neil Gaiman’s epic, Hugo-winning fantasy novel about the battle between old and new gods on American shores finally reaches the screen in a truncated but impressive first season, courtesy of main showrunner Bryan Singer.

After an aborted attempt at HBO, there was a real sense that Gaiman’s opus might just be unfilmable. But proving the naysayers wrong, Bryan Singer stepped off Hannibal and into this huge undertaking, which premiered on Starz in the US and on Amazon Prime in other territories. The only frustration is that two of the episodes ended up being condensed into one and that another was lost to finance these changes. As such, by the end of the first season we’ve only seen 8 hours of television and things (to a large extent) have only just got going.

We’ve covered off each episode as it first aired and as a whole have been very encouraged by the show’s visual style and daring nature. Ricky Whittle is Shadow Moon, a convict preparing to be released at the end of his sentence to the welcoming arms of his wife Laura (Emily Browning). But then the bottom falls out of his world and Shadow finds himself as the bodyguard to Mr Wednesday (a splendidly on-form Ian McShane) in the middle of a battle between the old guard and the new, with great supporting performances from Bruce Langley, Gillian Anderson and Crispin Glover.

Right from the outset we were promised that the show would be loyal to the original text – Gaiman has continued to support the project – while also recognising that some of the characters needed fleshing-out further. This fine line has been beautifully trodden, as has the handling of some very adult material, in every sense of the word; Yetide Badaki’s Bilquis consumes her lovers in a most inventive manner!

Perhaps more surprising is the show’s willingness to devote an entire episode to a flashback or to focus its hour on a folk story. That’s something you usually save for a show that’s well-established, and not one that’s still finding its feet. It’s a risky gambit and just about pays off, though there’s a frustration that we might have been further along the road by now if the gods had been favouring us.

There’s a smattering of special features across the four discs, serving both as introductions to the characters and picking up on points that are revealed during the run; my recommendation is to save them until after you’ve watched the entire run. A 53-minute panel from 2016 San Diego Comic Con is enthusiastic, if not a little cautious, and I enjoyed Neil Gaiman’s travel around Reykjavik in American Gods Origins, a 15-minute trek around the Icelandic capital. Elsewhere, the leads share some insight into their characters in 4-11 minute segments and you can’t help but think they would have been better served in a single, more cohesive documentary.

You can watch our exclusive interviews with Ricky Whittle and Bruce Langley at the European premiere here .

Verdict: An impressive, stunning and loyal introduction to the gods and monsters of Neil Gaiman’s opus. The running time might be slightly compromised, but when the output is this good, give me quality over quantity any time. And as for the fairly slim extras, I have no doubt that a far more exhaustive selection will follow at the right time. 9/10

Nick Joy