STACK 132 October Issue

54 / 120

Vikings just keeps getting better every year. Who really
cares that historical accuracy has been ditched in the
name of entertainment; this rousing series continues to
enthrall with its power struggles, well drawn characters,
and epic battles. This season, a deal with King Ecbert
to farm land outside of Wessex leads to betrayal and
bloodshed, threatening the alliance between the Norsemen
and Saxons; Ragnar Lothbrok broods like never before;
Christian and Pagan beliefs clash during a bloody fertility
ritual; a mysterious stranger (who may be Odin) visits
Kattegat; Floki commits an act that Ragnar can never forgive; and a
climactic attack on Paris results in a spectacular siege of Game of Thrones
proportions. Most of the characters suffer physical and/or emotional scars
and not everybody makes it out alive. You have been warned.
A Norseman in Paris.
VIKINGS: THE COMPLETE THIRD SEASON
Release Date: 21/10/15 Format:
If you suffer from coulrophobia (a fear of clowns) you'd
best avoid the fourth season of AHS. Ryan Murphy
and Brad Falchuk's creepy and campy anthology series
is back to its nasty best after the disappointing Coven,
relocating to a carnival freakshow in Florida, circa
1952. The regular cast are all freaked out, with Kathy
Bates sporting a beard, Evan Peters lobster claws,
and Sarah Paulson two heads (possibly the most
disturbing use of CGI to date). But it's Jessica Lange
who steals this freaky show as a Marlene Dietrich-
like dame who performs anachronistic Bowie covers. The episodes
screened on Eleven were cut to meet broadcast standards, but this
R-rated version presents AHS Freakshow in all its gory glory. The fifth
season, Hotel, featuring er, Lady Gaga, premieres October 12.
One of us. One of us.
AMERICAN HORROR STORY: FREAKSHOW
Release Date: 08/10/15 Format:
David Attenbrough's latest series is one of the BBC's
most ambitious Natural History programmes to date,
and the first to be shot in HD. Life Story, a companion
series to Life (2009), chronicles the journey from birth to
parenthood in the animal kingdom, and the challenges
and obstacles different species face at each stage of their
lives. Whether it's insects, humpback whales, cheetahs,
arctic foxes, or those kiddie favourites the meerkats, the
need to procreate and populate is what keeps the circle of
life turning. Told with the attention to detail we've come to
expect from the great Sir David, the footage is extraordinary and up-close-
and-personal. A word of caution though: the sequence involving goslings
in Greenland, who take a literal giant leap from 400ft cliffs to ensure their
survival (or sometimes not), could prove distressing for some viewers.
Many lives, one epic journey.
LIFE STORY
Release Date: 08/10/15 Format:
The living dead continue to invade television. Now it's
Australia's turn, with this six-part drama that takes its cues
from French series Les Revenants rather than The Walking
Dead. In the Victorian country town of Yoorana, lawman
James Hayes (Patrick Brammall) discovers a group of mud-
caked naked folk wandering in the cemetery one night – one
of whom is his wife, who passed away two years ago. As
James and the local doctor (Genevieve O’Reilly) attempt to
keep a lid on this apparent "miracle", a snooping cop from
the neighbouring town gets closer to the truth, while the
resurrected attempt to discover who they are and why they've returned.
Creepy and thought-provoking, this innovative new entry in the zombie
genre will hook you in from the very first ep. As usual there's no clear cut
explanation, but the promise of a second series will hopefully reveal more.
Back from the dead.
GLITCH: SEASON ONE
Release Date: 01/10/15 Format:
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054 OCTOBER 2015