Who has escaped the explosion at Ravenhill? That's the question on everyone's lips as we delve into the second series of Psychoville on BBC Two. And answers were given more or less immediately. The opening scene of the first new episode, showing the Funeral Of A Clown, was a great indicator of what we should expect from the coming weeks. Once again, the darkest, strangest and most enthralling comedy thriller in recent years has me hooked.
If you've not seen the first episode go here now, catch up, then come back and read the rest of this post. If you saw it then you'll know that all our old favourites are back - well, most of them... Well, some of them.
Mr Jelly is back, trying to come to terms with the events of at Ravenhall, as are Mr Lomax and Tealeaf - although it would seem that it's not only his eyes that Lomax is having trouble with now, after the blast left both his eardrums perforated ("No, it's just Mellow Birds!").
And Joy is back, as disturbing as ever. I never thought I'd have bad dreams about Dawn French, but I have done recently. Still, I'm not sure she deserves what she gets in the closing scenes of episode one! Likewise, David and his mother have returned - though, as murderous and twisted as they are, there's a touch of sadness to their tale this year too!
But it's one particular new character that has grasped me by the scruff and forced me to wonder if this whole thing is worth the hilarious nightmares (answer: yes it is!)... Jeremy Goode, the librarian - a man who will stop at nothing to assure a book is returned on time.
That is, if the hauntingly disturbing Silent Singer leaves him alone to do his job! It's not really clear yet what the nature of the visions are, but something here is not right at all. Think of the most uncomfortable and unsettling thing ever, then imagine Reece Shearsmith playing said thing in a blonde wig while miming into the bottom of a walking stick... That's just how creepy Silent Singer is. All in all, old characters and new, the inhabitants of this weird little world are on top form once again!
But where will the story go? Letters are arriving again, deaths and confrontations are all around and there's a dwarf missing. But the first thirty minutes of Psychoville 2 offered little in terms of explanation. We are, like last time, on a Ghost Train travelling into the unknown...
...and what an odd assortment of fellow passengers we have! Psychoville 2 is brilliant, as I knew it would be. Thursdays, 10pm, BBC Two. Please don't miss it.
