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In the climax of Series One Alison collapsed and nearly
died during a seance in which she made contact with Robert's
son. Sceptic Robert witnessed this and starts to question
his disbelief as he turns to Alison to try and make sense
of it. Now recovering, Alison realises that she will never
be free of the spirits and decides that her life's purpose
is to help the dead resolve their problems with the living.
She is deeply disturbed when she learns of a terrifying presence
from the past tormenting her life and has to confront it before
she loses her sanity...
Series
Two of Afterlife continues shortly after the end
of Series One. Alison has, until recently, been in
a coma since the seance in which she reunited Robert with
his dead son. While it's not essential that you've seen Series
One, it will help to give you more of a background to
the Alison/Robert relationship.
Episodes
in this series include:
Warning!
The synopses below contain spoilers on the episodes.
Roadside
Bouquets: Alison Mundy is still recovering from the traumatic
seance that put her in a coma. She realises that she has dedicated
her life to helping the spirits and when she sees one on the
roadside, she is determined to find out what has happened.
Before long she is entangled in a story that involves a car
crash and some friends. But this time, she won't be able to
help everyone.
The
Rat Man: Alison and Robert visit a prison after a series
of mysterious suicides take place behind bars. There they
encounter a serial killer, who blames a malevolent spirit
called the Rat Man on his own murderous spree. As Alison strives
to banish the evil from the place to help the other convicts,
she puts herself in terrible danger.
Lullaby:
A father comes to Alison to ask her about a baby monitor that
whispers to his child. Alison is sure it is a spiritual event,
but the mother isn't so sure. Alison herself, is being contacted
by her own mother's spirit and Robert doesn't believe that
it's happening. Just when everything seems to have been organised,
it gets worse.
Your
Hand is Mine: Alison visits a woman who starts exhibiting
symptoms of the disease that her fiancé's first wife
was killed by, and realises that she is possessed by the dead
woman's spirit. Meanwhile, Robert's sudden scepticism baffles
Alison, who is unaware of his fatal illness.
Mirrorball:
A woman called Gemma comes to Alison, asking for her help,
after her best friend was killed by a ghost. Alison is sure
Gemma knows more about the spirit than she is letting on.
But Alison has other things to worry about - her mother's
spirit is still around and still cleaning. In the mean time,
Robert comes clean to Jude about his tumour.
Mind
the Bugs Don't Bite: With the household being taken over,
Alison is unable carry on, and gives into her mother's spirit.
Robert decides to contact the psychic's estranged father,
who Alison is reluctant to talk to. But sooner or later, she
has to deal with her own past, and the death of her mother.
Things
Forgotten: When a teenager, who has been haunted by a
young boy, claims a psychic he visits is an impostor, Alison
tries to sort things out. However, she find that on this occasion,
she can't contact the spirit world. Robert still hasn't told
Alison of his tumour, but will he ever get the chance, before
it's too late?
A
Name Written in Water: With Robert in a coma at the hospital,
Alison rushes to his bedside, finding Jude there, who is less
than happy to see her. Whilst in the hospital, waiting, the
psychic witnesses a strange nurse wandering the corridors.
This is confirmed by many of the workers, who have heard rumours
about this unusual being. Why is she there - and does she
mean the end for Robert?
The
episodes in this series are fairly hit and miss. The opening
episode, Roadside Bouquets, helps to drag in
newcomers to the series. Although, I can't believe that I
fell for the biggest cliché going. In my defence the
twist in this episode is very cleverly concealed.
Similarly,
Mind the Bugs Don't Bite has an equally satisfying
twist - one that you'll kick yourself for not spotting earlier.
I
started to wonder what it was about Bristol, where this series
is set, that meant that everyone seemed to have '60s/'70s
wallpaper and decor. This was most noticeable in Alison's
house, as well as the family in Lullaby. It was only
at the conclusion of Mind the Bugs Don't Bite that
I realised why the writer wanted us to feel at ease with this
style of decor - originally I thought it was someone's idea
at being arty; trying to make the series appear timeless and
not of this earth. Only after Mind the Bugs Don't Bite
did I realise it was a cheap trick - but one that works incredibly
well.
Mirrorball
and Things Forgotten are fairly mediocre episodes.
It's not that they are particularly bad, just that they aren't
strong enough to carry the bulk of the episode - both feeling
like b-plots to something else. And, as though realising that
there's not much you can do with this series other than Sixth
Sense style plots, the writer quickly constructs a couple
of story arcs to try and tie everything together. First we
have Alison's dead mother who is haunting Alison and then
there's Robert's illness - which stretches on until we have
a conclusion that takes elements from Close Encounters
of the Third Kind, E.T., Ghost and Always,
and mixes everything up to provide us with something that
feels more American in style (i.e. slushy pap with a sickly
sweet conclusion).
The
only extra on this three disc collection is a 45 minute Behind
the Scenes featurette. While this is interesting, I couldn't
help but feel a little cheated. An audio commentary on the
opening and closing episodes, as well as a couple of features
on the music and look of the show (two elements that set it
apart from other shows) would have been interesting.
While
Afterlife is enjoyable entertainment, I couldn't help
thinking that if the BBC had made it it would have been a
lot darker and grittier.
Pete
Boomer
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