In fear of the ruined and toxic environment outside, a community of 10,000 survivors lives in a giant silo deep underground. After their sheriff breaks a cardinal rule, and residents start to die in mysterious circumstances, a lowly engineer attempts to uncover the truth about how their lives are controlled.

I can’t deny it. The idea of sitting through yet another ten-hours of dystopian post-apocalyptic saga was promising to give me a severe case of the ‘screeeeeaming heeeeebie-jeeeeeebies’. But just when I thought that surely the end of the world has been wrung completely dry, Apple+ serves up a tightly written, excellently executed apocalyptic whodunnit that has had me happily bingeing three at a time – and I’m one of those old fogeys who rarely manages more than a single episode in an evening.

The keys to Silo’s success are arguably counter-intuitive. In many ways it’s as traditional as a country house murder mystery, albeit rather oily, and without the frocks. There are some unexplained deaths and an array of characters who can’t go anywhere, any one of whom could be mixed up in the skulduggery. It also wears its Wild West traditions proudly. Who doesn’t root for a lone Sheriff trying to rally a community of frightened townspeople in their battle against The Man? And all played out in an atmosphere of claustrophobic existential paranoia.

The world of the Silo is built with great skill, avoiding info-dumps for the solid narrative reason that ‘info’ is the precise thing the characters don’t have. It helps that the production design and VFX are beautifully realised and the sweaty interior of the Silo doesn’t just look convincing, it’s brilliantly immersive. You can feel the staleness of the air, and the 140 years of grime on every surface.

Rebecca Ferguson, as engineer Juliette, determined to get to the truth, makes for a rock solid centre to the series, ably supported by a largely British cast – Harriet Walter, David Oyelowo, Geraldine James, Chinaza Uche, Ferdinand Kingsley, Iain Glen. Indeed, there are so many excellent British actors in key roles, I did wonder why they were all being made to speak with American accents.

Perhaps this relates to my other more significant quibble. Silo is full of thoughtful, detailed, committed performances – you can see how much everyone believes in the project – but I’m not sure that Tim Robbins and rapper turned actor, Common, are stylistically quite in the same show. This is a real shame. It undermined my belief in the world that everyone else on screen was working so hard to create. Luckily, neither these inconsistencies – nor a couple of the twists that don’t quite land – are enough to detract from a gripping story that keeps you guessing right until the end.

Verdict: I’m glad I haven’t read Hugh Howey’s original Silo books. Not knowing what was coming next made watching Silo a binge-tastic joy. I predict that many viewers will be tapping their fingers in frustration waiting for new episodes to drop. I’m already tapping my fingers impatiently for Season 2.

Series rating: 8/10

Martin Jameson

www.ninjamarmoset.com