Its been a while , actually a long while since I found a TV show that I started and finished within the same 24 hour period. But no matter how long its been. The latest show that I have done that with is Talamasca: The Secret Order which I recently added to my bluray collection. Talamasca:The Secret Order is part of AMC’s Anne Rice television universe that currently also consists of Interview with the Vampire, and Mayfair Witches. I have seen both seasons of Mayfair Witches and really enjoyed that show and soon ill venture into the first couple of seasons of Interview With The Vampire but for now lets talk Talamasca:The Secret Order.

Set in modern day, spanning New York City and also London, England, the main character in the show and the audiences ‘guide’ into the storyline is Guy Anatole (played by Nicholas Denton) who we meet headed to a job interview with a prestigious law firm. After completing the interview and leaving with a great job offer, Guy bumps into Helen (played by Elizabeth McGovern) who offers Guy $5000 just to sit down and pitch him for a ‘better job’ Guy is interested in the money and agrees to meet up for the chat. We soon learn and Guy soon learns that Helen works for an agency called Talamasca (latin for animal mask) and that Guy is destined to work for them and be opened up to a whole new world.

I wont go into any further story details so that I don’t spoil things for you but will say that I had a blast watching Talamasca:The Secret Order. My original plan for the week was to watch an episode a night for the next six nights and complete the show just after the weekend, however I have ended up watching the full run of the show plus the extra features in a single day. I watched the first three films last night and the final three episodes this afternoon. Talamasca:The Secret Order is a great production, wonderfully filmed, great acting and the story had me hooked. It felt more like a 5 hour movie more than a six episode television show. Im glad that with the bluray I was able to watch them at my own pace rather than wait a week for the next episode.

A couple of things worth pointing out are that you don’t need to have seen any of the other Anne Rice universe shows, you can go into this as a gateway show to that multi series project. There are a couple of crossover characters in the show but you don’t need to know who they are from the other shows. You can be introduced to them in Talamasca:The Secret Order and youl’l be fine. From what I can tell, all the Anne Rice shows are standalone shows but with subtle references to the other shows which is great. Unlike many of the Marvel projects which rely on ‘homework’ to be able to enjoy the others.

One sad thing is that we aren’t getting a second season of Talamasca:The Secret Order as it hasnt been renewed for return. However Talamasca:The Secret Order works very well as a single limited season. Yes it does reference things that I’m sure would have gone into season two but thankfully season 1 (or its only season) does complete the story it sets out to complete so we arent left with one of those annoying super cliffhangers that so often shows dangle in front of our eyes at the very end of the final episode.

I do definitely recommend the show, its different than I thought it would be. I figured it would be wall to wall vampires and be a blood soaked blood sucker frenzy but its not. It certainly has its gruesome sequences and several of them but to me the show felt more like a mystery thriller with out main character Guy trying to get to the bottom of a mystery that he finds himself in. It felt very DaVinci Code or even something like The Bourne Identity. Less Blade and more spy thriller that just so happens to be set in a real feeling world that’s also populated by vampires and watches. The thriller drama feel of the show was what made it more engaging and left me with the ‘ill watch one more’ episode feeling at the end of every episode. Great stuff!

Once id finished all 6 episodes I delved into the special features menu on each disc and ravaged my way through those. For each episode there is a featurette that takes you behind the scenes of that particular episode and those were fun. However the best extra is on disc two and is a 40 minute making of documentary which covers the whole show and features interviews with all the cast, many of the crew and also a fascinating look into the make up effects by Howard Berger. I do love these lengthy making ofs’ and this was a great one.

So if you want to see something different. Then I do highly recommend you grab the bluray of Talamasca:The Secret Order and treat yourself to around 6 hours of viewing fun! I loved it and cant wait to leap into Interview With The Vampire next.

Talamasca:The Secret Order is out now on 2 disc bluray from Acorn