The Reluctant Vampire

Introduction

I hadn't intended to watch this; in fact, I was completely unaware of it, but I caught the last few minutes of episode one on Sunday, 4th October 2026.

I had seen Lenny Rush, who plays Val, as a streetwise gamer in the current series of "Slow Horses", so my interest was piqued.

If you have access to the BBC iPlayer, you can watch it here:

So Why Did It Grab Me?

While I loved Eric Morecambe, I was unaware he had written any books, but after catching the finale of the first episode, which includes some great talk between the two gargoyles played by Bill Bailey and Ross Noble and Val's overbearing father, Victor (Tom Davis), who is like a cross between Nandor and Lazlo from "What We Do In The Shadows".

The problem is that Val is actually human, rescued by his mother, Valeeta (Sian Clifford), from a fire, which leads to lots of shenanigans as they try to hide it from Victor.

Conclusion

With episodes only half an hour long, I will definitely be seeing this through to the end, and may even check out the books.