The first two episodes are firmly in the realm of fantasy. Notes I got while watching include “Patton Oswalt is crow?”. It’s that kind of show, and it immediately immerses you in its world, setting Sandman on a journey of discovery. It begins in 1916, when Lord Morpheus, or Dream, or Sand, or Lord Morpheus, Dream of the Endless, to give him his pedigree (a ragged Robert Smith, played with breathy blur by Tom Sturridge) , is accidentally arrested. by Charles Dance’s sinister – and Dance is very good at sinister – Magus. Sinister … Charles Dance as Roderick Burgess in the first episode. Photo: Ed Miller/Netflix The sorcerer wants to harness the power of Death to indulge in a spot of necromancy and revive his beloved son, who was killed in a time of war. Instead, he ends up with Dream and traps him naked in a glass sphere in his basement. For a while, the period setting feels a bit darkly Downton Abbey, but it soon becomes clear that this is too expansive to stick to one era or genre. Throughout the series, time moves and slows down, and we jump through different periods and cities and kingdoms. It looks like a lot, but it works well. In part, this is because the pace is meditative, not frantic. Once the setting and world building is complete, he has the confidence to take his time on the big stuff. I’m sure many viewers will love its more fantastical elements, from a fantasy battle with Lucifer (Gwendoline Christie) to a cute mythical creature named Gregory, but I found its best moments in the more human, conversational, emotional strands. Jenna Coleman is strong as the messy, tough Johanna Constantine, a contraction of John and Johanna into one (or two) character, whose nightmares are matched only by her exorcism duties. Nothing out of the ordinary… Sanjeev Bhaskar as Cain in Sandman episode two. Photo: Netflix The large cast is largely excellent, with an impressive ability to deliver lines that could sound overly literary or convoluted, or both, in ways that sound neither corny nor unnatural. Vivienne Acheampong as Dream’s right-hand man Lucienne, Boyd Holbrook as the gruesome walking nightmare Corinthian, and Kirby Howell-Baptiste as an empathetic, big-hearted Death are all fantastic. I spent some time mildly irritated at the idea that Joely Richardson, 57, could play the mother of David Thewlis, 59, until I remembered that in this world where teeth can replace eyes and putting sand in your eyes it’s much more annoying to you. from your typical trip to the beach, something as trivial as age is bound to be explained eventually. It is, and my rage subsided. Thewlis is brilliant as John Dee, naive and tough and earnest and cynical, and manages to lead the best episode of the lot. After an eerie car journey that plays like its own movie, Dee spends a day and night in a restaurant, experimenting with its staff and patrons, pushing them towards a policy of honesty. Each person’s emotions are teased to the surface, and it’s gruesome and thrilling and exciting, with a weird Twin Peaks feel. This is definitely a contender for the best episode of any TV drama of the year, and the point at which The Sandman really finds its feet. However, it is exciting from the start. It’s metaphorical, playful at times and definitely majestic. Above all, however, it is darkness. Bodies explode, limbs are severed and demons crawl out of the mouths of professional footballers, punch first. Among its more grotesque spectacles, however, is an emotional depth that goes beyond the usual “let’s see what we can throw at the CGI budget” fantasy fodder. Given the source material, this is not surprising. For fans, it may well prove to be worth the long wait, but for newcomers to the Sandman world, there’s a lot to discover.
