THEY may be able to fly, teleport through time and space, heal from any injury and read minds, but now the Heroes are facing their most dangerous enemy yet: sceptical fans. After being a smash with its first series, the US sci-fi drama wobbled badly with its second, which spent ages on ill-conceived plotlines such as sending Hiro to low-budget ancient Japan or the tedious twins whose tears of black blood made viewers cry tears of boredom.
Things were only just getting exciting again when the writers' strike hit, leaving the show's creator making a public apology and vowing that their next run of episodes would be better. So are they?
Well, this opening to the next "volume", Villain
s, certainly aimed to hit the ground running. Having ended on a cliff-hanger with politician Nathan's shooting, the mystery assassin's identity was immediately revealed: his brother Peter. Not the Peter standing next to him at the time, but another one from the future, who wanted to stop him revealing all about their abilities. I wonder how that defence would play in court: "It wasn't me, at least not yet?"
The writers of Heroes are a bit over-reliant on showing us dystopian destinies, and this is at least the fourth or fifth "future imperfect" (to borrow the episode's title) and it's hard to keep track. Teleporting geek-turned-tycoon Hiro also had a peek ahead, where he found that his best friend was going to turn against him. But is this the same future that Assassin Peter comes from, or another one entirely?
There's potential in Nathan's miraculous recovery leading him to an evangelical awakening and possible presidential bid, which, in the light of the current US election campaign, could be an interesting storyline. They've also tried to fix useless Mohinder and whiny Maya by giving him new superpowers and hinting at a romance between them.
So some good steps, but it feels like the show is just making things up as it goes along, trying anything to recover its position with the hypercritical internet fanbase – especially with the new revelation that all the superpowers are based on adrenaline, which doesn't really make any sense. The thing is, once your cool's gone, it's gone – those fans may already have moved on to Fringe (the new series from Lost creator JJ Adams), or True Blood (a forthcoming vampire show from Six Feet Under's Alan Ball). Though this was a positive start, Heroes will have to sustain the pace or they'll face the biggest bad of all: apathy.
Silent Witness wrapped up its two-parter last night, which had been trying to infuse the oddly cosy forensics series with some earnest social relevance, in a story of gangs and knives set among disaffected black youth on a London estate. Professor Leo has been getting down with the kids as community service for a drink-driving offence, which probably seemed a light punishment until he realised this involved hours and hours of listening to noble youth worker AJ proclaim he "just wants to give them a chance".
The plot followed the usual pattern of these things, with Leo winning grudging respect, while coincidentally investigating local gang-related murders. The high death count did, mind you, ensure that the drama didn't exactly end unrealistically happily, with four youngsters dmeeting gory ends.
For all the ugliness of the programme's corpses, there is whimsy too, in the relations between the pathology team, including Emilia Fox's Nikki, a fragrant flower amid the carnage.
BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE
BBC2, 9:30pm
I'm really not sure about this brash new sitcom based on the novel by Simon Doonan, creative director of Barneys of Madison Avenue, New York. Each week we are treated to a flashback to his anarchic and dysfunctional Reading childhood. Sure, there are some laughs to be had but, despite a decent cast that includes the likes of Olivia Colman, Meera Syal and Aidan McCardle, the writing just isn't as sharp as it really needs to be to carry off such a quirky premise with style.
NEVER MIND THE BUZZCOCKS
BBC2, 9pm
The pop quiz returns with host Simon Amstell, and regular team captain Phill Jupitus, but sadly not Bill Bailey, who has stepped down to be replaced by a weekly guest captain. Harry Judd of Mcfly, Ralf Little, Tim Minchin and Mark Ronson guest.
THE GRAHAM NORTON SHOW
BBC2, 10pm
Completing BBC2's new-look Thursday night comedy line-up is loveable Oirishman Graham Norton's bawdy chat show. Among his guests here is Spinal Tap star and Simpsons voice artist Harry Shearer.
CHATEAU MONTY
Channel 4, 8:30pm
Like the biodynamic wine he is hoping to produce, this little series has matured nicely into something fun and fruity. It's harvest time, and Monty and Brummie helper Linzie need to squeeze out enough grape juice to produce at least 6,000 bottles of red. Again, they turn to the local villagers for help.
ESCAPE TO VICTORY
ITV4, 10pm
Forget the incredible premise and the atrocious acting, this is entertaining stuff. Michael Caine is Captain Colby, a PoW in Nazi Germany who is spotted playing football by one of the camp commanders (Max Von Sydow) and offered a match against the German national team. Looking to improve morale in the camp, he accepts, and he's fortunate enough to be able to call up the likes of Pele, Bobby Moore and Ozzie Ardiles, while Sylvester Stallone tends goal.
TEAM AMERICA: WORLD POLICE
Film4, 9pm
South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone unleash their anarchic brand of satire in this no-holds-barred tale of schlock and awe. The plot, enacted by Thunderbirds-style marionettes, follows a team of international crimefighters as they tackle terrorism across the globe, uncovering as they go a dastardly alliance between Kim Jong Il and Alec Baldwin. Contains violence, swearing, puppet sex and a very funny song about the film Pearl Harbor.
Matt Brereton
IAN HISLOP GOES OFF THE RAILS
BBC4, 9pm
A night of locomotive nostalgia centres on this wistful film about the 1963 Beeching Report, which led the Government to "modernise" Britain's rail network by shutting half of it down.
The full article contains 1035 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
