Absolute power.

It corrupts absolutely, so we’re told. Y The Last Man may challenge your views on the sacred tenets of democracy as it walks a tangled tightrope of morals in a truly realistic way.

Of course, that depends on your own political views. We pick up the storyline of the more senior US government survivor, now repatriated, who is a member of the party democratically elected by Americans, despite her allegedly more extreme right-wing views. Then there’s our left-wing President who has put the needs of society and its survival at the forefront of all that she does – but she has also deployed government resources to her own end, however altruistic she believes her actions to be in terms of the survival of the human race. The world portrayed here is once again true in its shades of grey and the narrative neatly makes the point that good people can do wrong and vice versa. It makes for compelling viewing.

The episode’s eponymous Mann is another fabulous and colourful character, who helps us understand humanity’s loss from another perspective. A more inclusive one that also recognises the loss of women during the events of day zero and the introduction of her character enables a dialogue that unpicks the debate around gender politics from a scientific point of view. There is no element of the subject that Y The Last Man is afraid to cover and it’s both refreshing and timely to see this explored in dramatic form.

Verdict: Is democracy under threat in the new world order? Keep your brain switched on, this show is no ‘background’ entertainment. 8/10

Claire Smith