Witches Of East End Season One
Charmed and dangerous
Release Date: OUT NOW!
2013 | 12 | DVD Creator: Maggie Friedman Cast: Julia Ormond, Mädchen Amick, Jenna Dewan, Rachel Boston, Daniel Di Tomasso
A couple of years back, the team behind The Vampire Diaries created a new show about witches called The Secret Circle. It was fairly dire and the axe fell swiftly. It’s difficult to believe that the same team isn’t behind Witches Of East End.
In modern- day New York state, a witch cursed with immortality and repeatedly giving birth to the same two girls ( they always die in their early thirties) tries to protect her latest brace of daughters by casting a spell that’ll stop them realising that they’re witches. That all goes predictably pear- shaped in the pilot, and the girls are soon enmeshed in centuries- old schemes and dating problems. One of them even has to choose between a “good” brother and a “bad” brother. Sound familiar?
The plots may have a depressing whiff of familiarity ( at times the series also channels Charmed, Hex and Switch) but the show’s saved by some Buffy- esque, self- mocking dialogue and spirited performances, especially from Twin Peaks’ Mädchen Amick as the girls’ free- spirit, frequently clothes- dodging aunt.
The fact that the season’s big bad looks like Vanessa Feltz is a little off- putting, though.
Extras: A bland featurette ( seven minutes); two minutes of dull deleted scenes; a minute of gag reel footage ( mildly amusing); and a two- minute clip showing how difficult it is to get a performance out of a cat. Dave Golder
Buffy The Vampire Slayer’s Tom Lenk ( Andrew) has a recurring guest role as a gay librarian.