Give me Outlander but gender flip it – sort of.

As on-screen adaptations of time-travelling historical romances go, Outlander must be the king of the crop. It is surely worthy of a tiny sprinkle of kudos from being born out of a classic Doctor Who episode. Fantasy Island tries to go one better with this instalment, with welcome positive representation of an LBTQ+ relationship, beautifully depicted.

There’s a touch more spice in this one too, if you squint – both from our two heroines and from Elena’s heated flashbacks. It looks like her rendezvous with Javier might have to be written off as a hit and run, but I suspect it’s just narratively convenient poor communication on the part of these lovebirds. The finale will tell… We can but hope.

I do have a technical problem with this episode though, despite the satisfying ending it has. If you’re going to set up a fantastical world with weird and wonderful rules, the first rule is: do not break your own rules. So a person’s fantasy can be made permanent, can it? How may other island guests would have longed for the same? Elena, you shouldn’t have kept that under your hat… or there should have been a better explanation, even if my romantic heart did love the result.

If this isn’t breaking the established rules of the show, then at best it’s a bit cheeky leaving it until the penultimate episode of the series to drop this new element on us with so little in-story justification. I’m deducting 5 points for that. However, it gets a couple back for the heart-warming LBTQ+ romance.

Verdict: I’m a sucker for a bit of romance and inclusivity. 7/10

Claire Smith