Vic makes her last stand against Charlie Manx while Tabitha and Lou solve a riddle.

Picking up directly from the end of the previous episode as the lights went out in Christmasland, Vic takes Wayne back to the real world and then returns to rescue Maggie and face down Charlie Manx one final time. If truth be told, even if this is the conclusion to the novel, there’s plenty of opportunities here to continue the story in a third season.

The final confrontation between Charlie and Vic takes place on the Shorter Way Bridge – the latter’s inscape – and there’s a slight disappointment this makes it a little distant and less one-on-one, with Manx remaining in his Wraith. He had the wind knocked out of him last time, and he’s a shadow of his former self. Have we really seen the last of him? Time will tell.

What’s really laudable is that the makers have not gone for the ‘Hollywood Ending’ – there’s no reset switch so that everyone can live happily ever after. Broken relationships remain fractured and Wayne may be home again, but there’s still darkness in his soul. Let’s hope we get another season to explore what happens to these survivors post-Christmasland.

Verdict: Well-paced and acted, over two seasons we’ve seen Joe Hill’s horror novel faithfully adapted into an exciting battle of good vs evil, and it’s been one hell of a ride. I for one would love to hear the titular Rolls Royce firing up again. 9/10

Nick Joy