''The Devil's Hour'' is a British

drama Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a g ...

thriller television series created by Tom Moran, and executive produced by Sue Vertue and Steven Moffat through their production company Hartswood Films. The first series consists of six episodes, and premiered on 28 October 2022 on

Amazon Prime Video Amazon Prime Video, known simply as Prime Video, is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming television service owned by Amazon. The service primarily distributes films and television series produced or co-produced by ...

. The series was renewed for a second and third series, and the second series premiered on 18 October 2024.

Plot

Lucy Chambers is a social worker dealing with family and relationship woes. She wakes every night at exactly 3:33 AM, after experiencing terrifying visions during the so-called devil's hour. Her eight-year-old son is withdrawn and emotionless. Her mother speaks to empty chairs. Her house is haunted by the echoes of a life that is not her own. Lucy's name is inexplicably connected to a string of brutal murders in the area, and she is drawn into the hunt for a serial killer.

Cast and characters

* Jessica Raine as Lucy Chambers, a social worker suffering from visions and premonitions, and a DI in another iteration of her life * Peter Capaldi as Gideon Shepherd, a mysterious criminal who "remembers" the future * Nikesh Patel as Ravi Dhillon, a detective inspector with haemophobia * Alex Ferns as Nick Holness, Dhillon's partner, a detective sergeant * Meera Syal as Ruby Bennett, a child psychologist treating Isaac * Barbara Marten as Sylvia Chambers, Lucy's mother who suffers from

dementia Dementia is a syndrome associated with many neurodegenerative diseases, characterized by a general decline in cognitive abilities that affects a person's ability to perform activities of daily living, everyday activities. This typically invo ...

and

schizophrenia Schizophrenia () is a mental disorder characterized variously by hallucinations (typically, Auditory hallucination#Schizophrenia, hearing voices), delusions, thought disorder, disorganized thinking and behavior, and Reduced affect display, f ...

* Phil Dunster as Mike Stevens (series 1; guest series 2), Lucy's estranged husband and Isaac's father * Benjamin Chivers as Isaac Stevens, Lucy and Mike's emotionally troubled son * Saffron Hocking as Sam Boyd (series 2) * Thomas Dominique as Lee Warren * Rhiannon Harper-Rafferty as Debbie Warren

Episodes

Series overview

Series 1 (2022)

Series 2 (2024)

Production

Development

In December 2019, it was announced Tom Moran was developing ''The Devil's Hour'' for Amazon. In June 2021, it was announced Amazon had greenlit the series. The series is written and created by Moran, who also serves as an executive producer along with Steven Moffat and Sue Vertue. The series is produced by Hartswood Films. Johnny Allan and Isabelle Sieb were set to direct episodes of the series.

Casting

In mid-June 2021, Jessica Raine and Peter Capaldi were cast as the leads. Nikesh Patel, Meera Syal, Alex Ferns, Phil Dunster, Barbara Marten, Thomas Dominique, Rhiannon Harper-Rafferty, John Alastair, Sandra Huggett, and Benjamin Chivers were also cast.

Title sequence

The

title sequence A title screen (also called an opening screen or intro) is the method by which films or television show, television programmes present their title and key filmmaking, production and cast members, utilizing conceptual visuals and sound (often an op ...

is a stylised interpretation of a "vortex", featuring kaleidoscopic effects and bright colour overlays. It was made in London by Peter Anderson Studio.

Music

The series' score is composed by the Newton Brothers, and the soundtrack album was released on 28 October, the same day as the series release.

Release

''The Devil's Hour'' premiered on 28 October 2022 on

and consists of six episodes. In November 2022, the programme was renewed for a second and third series. The second series consists of five episodes and premiered on Prime Video on 18 October 2024.

Reception

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

95% of 19 critic reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.1/10. On

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

it has a score of 71 based on reviews from 5 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Lucy Mangan Lucy Mangan (born 1974) is a British journalist and author. She is a columnist, features writer and TV critic for ''The Guardian'' and an opinion writer for '' i'' news. Early life and education Mangan was born in 1974 and grew up in Catford, ...

of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' awarded the first episode four stars out of five, praising Raine and Capaldi's performances. Amanda Whiting of ''The Independent'' gave the first two episodes four out of five stars, dubbing it "haunting". Jasper Rees of ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...

'' gave it three stars out of five, remarking that "There's certainly pleasure to be had from the denouement, and from Raine’s protean turn as the figure trapped in a horror mystery. But some may find that gratification is too teasingly postponed." Martin Carr of the ''

Radio Times ''Radio Times'' is a British weekly listings magazine devoted to television and radio programme schedules, with other features such as interviews, film reviews and lifestyle items. Founded in September 1923 by John Reith, then general manage ...

'' also gave it three stars out of five, stating, "''The Devil's Hour'' fails to concisely pull all its puzzle pieces together and satisfy. There is a sense of kitchen sink in the construction, which may make audiences think twice before investing valuable time in this convoluted premise."

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Devil's Hour, The 2022 British television series debuts 2020s British drama television series British thriller television series Amazon Prime Video original programming British English-language television shows Television series by Amazon MGM Studios Television series by Hartswood Films Television shows scored by the Newton Brothers Television shows shot in London