Da Vinci’s Demons Series Two
Leo goes all Indiana Jones
Release Date: 27 April 2014 | 15 | Blu- ray/ DVD Creator: David S Goyer Cast: Tom Riley, Laura Haddock, Elliot Cowan, Gregg Chillin, Blake Ritson
The first
series of Da Vinci’s Demons introduced the idea of the young Leo being some kind of Renaissance MacGyver with personality issues, helping the Medicis defend Florence from a dodgy Pope with his elaborate mechanical miracles. It was very silly, and, on the whole, decent enough escapist fluff.
Perversely, season two decides to separate Da Vinci from the Medicis for the majority of episodes, sending him off to the New World to act like some bipolar Indiana Jones, searching for lost treasures, and hallucinating feverishly every other scene. Lorenzo de Medici, meanwhile, is in the midst of Game Of Thrones- style intrigue and politicking, with gruesome death only ever a betrayal away.
The latter is far more interesting than the former, leaving the show in the odd situation of having its star stuck in the scenes you’re least looking forward to. It doesn’t help that Riario, the delightfully devious papal henchman of the first series, is also stuck in South America.
The Italian- based plotlines may be a little heavy on “parent issues” and people festering in cells but Elliot Cowan is superb throughout as the beleaguered Duke Lorenzo. And when Leo does make it back to Europe, out- going showrunner David S Goyer leaves his successor one hell of a cliffhanger.
Four short featurettes. Dave Golder Two episodes this season were helmed by Charles Sturridge, the man who directed TV landmark Brideshead Revisited.