True Blood: Season 1(Boxset) (DVD)

The basic premise of this show is pure genius and quite unique. Based on a series of books this show is more addictive than crack! Vampires have 'come out of the closet' and live among humans. Japanese scientists create a synthetic blood (True Blood) so that they don't have to drink from humans. Obviously this doesn't stop some of them but the big surprise is that humans can also drink from them and their blood is a drug known as V.

Sookie (pronounced largely as Sucky!) Stackhouse is a waitress with a talent - she reads minds. Unlike most portrayals of such "gifts" she struggles to switch off the voices in her head in order to live a normal life. When Bill walks in to her restaurant she and all the patrons know immediately that he is a vampire. She's instantly drawn to him as she cannot read his mind and therefore finds peace in his company.

What follows is not for the faint hearted so be warned that this contains massive amounts of sex, nudity, some really bad language (the "c" word is used in the first episode) and graphic violence.
For those reasons I adored it but if you're the type of person who finds Sex and the City to be too full on then steer clear because within the first few minutes this show will shock you!

Alongside some other plotlines is an ongoing murder mystery. Someone's out to get Sookie and Bill vows to protect her. The writers aren't scared of killing off central characters and you'll be left guessing up to the last minute who the killer is.

The main reason to watch this is the amazing acting. Anna Paquin won a Golden Globe for her depiction of Sookie and you can see why. This is a bold and courageous choice for her and her wide eyed innocence is beguiling if a little twee at times.
Personally I loved Ryan Kwanten who has really proved himself as Sookie's older brother Jason. His accent is spot on and he tackles the role with enthusiasm which is just as well as he's naked most of the time! I have gotten all my friends to watch this show based solely on my description of the events leading up to Jason being found with a T-bone steak firmly held to his groin. Classic moments.
Another mention has to go to Rutina Wesley who plays Tara, Sookie's best friend who has a major chip on her shoulder and a huge crush on Jason. Tara takes her frustration out on those around her and her put downs are classic! I was laughing so much throughout.
The only person who can match her is Lafayette her cousin played by Nelsan Ellis. A few friends have said that his portrayal of the gay cook is cliched but I thought he was hilarious and terrifying in equal measure.

All in all if you like your sex full on, your laughs loud and your violence shocking then you will be hooked from the 1st episode. I can't praise the writing enough and the direction is perfect.
The only shame is there are only 12 episodes and you'll be waiting for the 2nd season with baited breath!

I am a fan of Charlaine Harris and love the series of books that this show is based upon. Bear in mind that it is produced by HBO the channel that brought you 'Deadwood' so this is definitely adults only. Be prepared for lots of swearing, sex and drugs. A whole lot more than the books ever had. Several themes and characters from the books have been expanded upon to make the show racier so it is fair to say that the show is 'inspired' by the books. That said this is high quality beautifully produced television and I am so glad that they have gone for a second series. All the characters are authentically drawn and not always sympathetically so, book fans will probably be disappointed with the portrayal of Jason Stackhouse. Definitely worth importing the series on blu-ray - the presentation is 1080p full screen with a DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack that has a superb soundfield. With a good system you'll hear every little swamp sound coming from where the director intended it.

Ignore the rather simplistic synopsis: 'True Blood' is to 'Twilight' what 'The Wire' is to 'CSI Miami' - in other words, there is no comparison. 'True Blood' takes the wonderful Charlaine Harris books out for a spin, races them down the highway at 100 mph, throws out some of the padding, but also enlivens and enlarges some of the lesser characters in the book - notably Lafayette, who is one of the best characters in the show. Alan Ball also uses the allegorical possibilities of vampire mythology to very great effect. In the redneck smalltown of Bon Temps, people's prejudices are laid bare and the loathing, hatred and enmity towards the vamps (together with their 'exoticism' and tourist value) could be equally applied to lesbian and gay people, transgender people (the 'two spirit' shifters) and, of course, people of colour. Ok, there is lots of sex and some incredibly visceral violence, but this is HBO's stock-in-trade, so no surprise there. What is a surprise is the way in which Alan Ball takes what are already excellent books and creates an alternative set of storylines - staying close enough to Harris's narrative for avid readers of her books, whilst making the narrative arcs sufficiently different to produce a few surprising and unpredictable plot twists - even for those of us who know the stories really well. One other point: the casting is inspired: who else but Anna Paquin could play the plucky, sexy and slightly deranged Sookie Stackhouse, whilst other characters (Lafayette, Eric Northman, Bill Compton, Tara) are also excellent. The best vampire TV show ever? Maybe, although 'Buffy' is still the best at the moment because it ran to seven unforgettable seasons. Perhaps if 'True Blood' lasts as long (and I really hope it does) and maintains this high level of quality, then it could be a case of 'True Blood' rules (or should that be 'drools'?). Buy it - you won't be disappointed.

What a brilliant show. I was hooked immediately. I've only read the first book and can say the show has a lot more sex in it than the book, sex sells I suppose. Bill is also potrayed alot nicer in the show, than in the book.

Not comparing it though I think this show is excellent and had me wishing for the next one immediately. More more more, I can't wait for the second season to start. Along with it being suspenseful, it is also hilarious. Since I love to laugh, I think it's brilliant.

The latest cult tv series, which has just started to air in the UK, arrives on Region 1 DVD and is it worth the hype that's been generated about it? Is this really the greatest fantasy series since Buffy?

For the first three episodes I wasn't sure. It took a little while to get into it, partly because of the way it was filmed; lacking the glossy image of film, it almost seemed cheap. The local Louisiana accent seemed somewhat stilted to me too. Then, of course, there's the introduction of a whole new bunch of characters and for a while I sometimes got confused between two of the male leads. It also seemed a lot darker than the books (or so memory tells me) while remaining quite faithful. I was enjoying it certainly, but it didn't click home until around episode 3 and then-

Wow, this is really good!

It also makes Buffy look like the Sarah Jane Adventures -tea-time viewing. True Blood is rough stuff. The violence alone will earn it an 18 rating when the UK DVD is finally released. But then so will the explicit sex which verges on being soft-core porn with its nudity and positions other than the missionary one. And also the language which, if not quite as frequent as Goodfellas, is nevertheless frequent. Put together this series is not for the sensitive and squeamish.

Gore and sex alone, however, do not make for a good program. Though they don't hurt either. The characters, once you get to know them, are strong and interesting and well played by the leads with excellent support such as Sam, the sympathetic bar owner with a secret, and Tara, our heroine's best friend and motormouth and my favourite character. There are more, in particular Lafayette, Tara's cousin, cook at Sam's bar, and also tough guy, effeminate gay, and drug dealer -I like him too. Then there's also Josh, Sookie's black sheep brother. These are the key characters but then is also a large supporting cast with important roles to play.

I'm deliberately not going to write too much about the plot because it's best enjoyed with as few preconceptions as possible. I will tell you that it's likely to go in directions you don't expect including people you thought would be in it to the end. There's much more to it than just a supernatural love story. There is a very blatant subtext which two items make explicitly clear. A sign that reads: God Hates Fangs. Remove the 'n' and what have you got? Then there's the news item where Vermont makes vampire marriage legal. And that Alan Ball, the talented creator of the series, is himself openly gay. Vampires have always been a commonly used metaphor for the outsider figure but here the metaphor is very specific. By the way, this isn't a criticism, I like the very pointedness of it. It gives the series an extra resonance.

At the end the ongoing serial killer thread is resolved and elements have been put in place for season 2 and, I've since learned, there's going to be a lesbian vampire Queen of New Orleans appearing. And I've got to wait a whole year to see it. God dayum.