Demons

Demons is a British six-part supernatural television drama series produced by Shine Productions, which premièred on ITV on 3 January 2009. It is produced by the same company that made the Sky1 supernatural drama Hex and the BBC One fantasy series Merlin.

The plot follows the adventures of a London teenager Luke Rutherford, who learns that he is the last descendant of the Van Helsing line by the sudden arrival of his American godfather Rupert Galvin. Luke is charged with the role of smiting the gathering dark forces of the world whilst trying to live an ordinary life of exams and parties. Rupert Galvin helps train Luke with the assistance of Mina Harker, a blind concert pianist and authority on half-lives (i.e., vampires, demons, zombies, and werewolves). Luke's best friend Ruby also joins in on the action.

Notable demons
Gladiolus Thrip: A preening, narcissistic and ruthless hit-man, Thrip is a Type 12 entity, the most powerful type of demon there is. He has a cockney accent and speaks in a very pompous, verbose manner. He possesses superhuman speed and strength and is immune to most forms of attack. Nevertheless he possesses an arrogant belief in his invincibility which leads to his apparent destruction at the hands of Luke in the first episode. Thrip had no nose and wore an ivory beak in its place which survived the apparent destruction of his body. He later returns in the final episode, working to drive Luke and Galvin apart; however he is ultimately slain by Mina, who awakens her vampiric nature by drinking a vial of her own blood. Thanks to her vampiric sense, Mina realises that Thrip is a vampire (explaining why he did not die previously and why he was so difficult to kill). She later tears out his throat, as the only one who can kill a vampire is another vampire, causing his body to liquify. Thrip's superhuman speed was a hint to his true nature, as vampires bear the same kind of superhuman speed as seen in 'Suckers'.

Gilgamel: An ancient and powerful demon with an affinity for graveyards and churches, Gilgamel is a Travesty, a demon that can impersonate an angel. He feeds on the lifeforce of children who become his slaves after he devours their souls and help lure others into Gilgamel's clutches. While hunting for fresh victims, he appears as an ethereal white light; however his true form is that of a hideous, gargoyle-like demon, complete with cloven hooves, taloned wings and a skull resembling a Romanesque helmet. Luke easily dispatches him with a sword belonging to St Anselm (who had previously tried- and failed- to kill Gilgamel).

Mister Tibbs: A psychopathic genius, part man, part rat. Mister Tibbs is the demon responsible for the death of Rupert Galvin's wife and so Rupert hates him most of all demons and will stop at nothing to kill him. Tibbs however doesn't appear to be remotely afraid of Galvin and enjoys taunting him over the death of his wife.

Quincey: A power-hungry vampire and the son of Mina and her husband Jonathan, Quincey views humans as an inferior species and thus believes that vampires are perfectly justified in hunting and killing them, viewing it as no more evil than humans killing and eating chickens. He wants Mina to join him because she possesses the blood of Dracula, the most powerful vampire who ever lived, with which he seeks to make himself invincible so that he can conquer the earth. Mina is reluctant to let him die, but he is eventually killed by Luke. Like Mina, Quincey was a character in Bram Stoker's Dracula, being mentioned at the end of the novel and named after another character called Quincey Morris.

Alice: A 3000 year old harpy with a taste for human flesh and a predilection for preying on young men, Alice stalks her prey by taking the form of a beautiful young woman, which she uses to hunt Luke by posing as his girlfriend. When she so desires (or if forced by an external stimulus), she takes a more bestial form, becoming a winged beast that appears and behaves more like a dragon than the harpy of classical legend. She desires to kill Luke as revenge for one of his ancestors murdering her sisters, but Luke grudgingly dispatches her after learning her true nature.

Genre : Science fiction/supernatural drama
Created by : Johnny Capps Julian Murphy
Written by : Peter Tabern Howard Overman Lucy Watkins
Starring : Philip Glenister Christian Cooke Holly Grainger Zoe Tapper
Opening theme : Starlight Mints - Eyes of the Night
Composer(s) : Jack C Arnold
Country of origin : United Kingdom
No. of series : 1
No. of episodes : 6

Original channel : ITV
Picture format : HDTV (1080i)
Audio format : Dolby Digital
Original run : 3 January – 7 February 2009