Following the tragic death of their mother, sisters Mel and Maggie go their separate ways as they try to get on with their lives. But the appearance of their hitherto unknown half-sister precipitates a series of strange events that see them finding the truth about their destiny and heritage.

Cards on the table – I never watched the original Charmed, so I come to this reboot with no expectations or baggage from that previous incarnation. All I can comment on is the show as it appears to me, a newcomer who is a fan of the genre.

First of all – this isn’t a show that’s especially shy or subtle about its politics. From the vehement angry feminism of Mel as she campaigns loud and proud with ‘Time’s Up’ banners against the reinstatement of a professor who stood accused of harassment, to comments about the current US President being one of the three signs of the impending apocalypse, this is a programme that wears its heart firmly on its sleeve, and if its politics aren’t to your taste, I don’t think this is a show that you will enjoy.

If, like me, you’re more of the bleeding heart what-the-hell-is-going-on-with-the-world persuasion, this will feel like just the sort of thing that you have been waiting for on so many levels. It’s great to have a same-sex relationship front and centre with one of the leads, not least because not one single other character bats an eyelid about the fact. It’s lovely to have a sex-positive representation of a young woman able to just want sex without it needing to mean anything and without there being any judgement on her of that from anyone else. Most important, it’s nice to have a show where all the leads get to be women and their simple mission is to save the world because they’re literally the only ones who can.

In terms of plotting, there isn’t much that’s hugely original here. The girls discover that mum was a witch and that they too have powers – bound by her for their protection until they came of age – that she didn’t get the chance to tell them about before she was killed. That they decided to make her a feminist studies professor will either feel on-the-nose or perfectly logical depending on your own personal viewpoint, but it does lead to an interesting development regarding her replacement later on.

Mainly, this opener is about getting the band together, introducing Macy to her newfound sisters, having a (British, of course) companion appear and explain to them their powers and destiny and giving them the imperative to actively ‘choose’ to be witches (witchcraft is a very ‘pro-choice movement’, explains one character, as the show determinedly thumbs its nose at a certain kind of viewer) and then giving them a nice obvious starter villain to cut their teeth on. It ends with a nice little cliffhanger to dump us straight into the next instalment, and by and large it’s by-the-numbers stuff wrapped up in contemporary politics and some very nice visuals.

It’s so determined to get its politics across though, that it will undoubtedly alienate a certain amount of potential viewers. My guess, from what I know of the original fanbase, is that it’s shooting firmly for what it believes is its ‘core audience’, but in binary times like these, I can’t help but wonder if it isn’t going to end up shooting itself in the foot by limiting its appeal. If it does, it’ll be a real shame, because this feels like exactly the sort of show that audiences generally, and young women in America particularly, need right now.

Verdict: Bold, aggressively political and shamelessly progressive. I like it very much, but it’ll be an acquired taste for some. 8/10

Greg D. Smith