The first episode of 'The Luminaries' is a nugget of pure bingeability!

'The Luminaries' has been in the works for quite some time so it made me as cheery as the sun on a June morning to find the whole series available to watch on BBC Iplayer! If you have ever been anywhere near any bookshop in the last few years you will be familiar with the front cover in its book form. It is a series based in 1865 New Zealand where hundreds of people are flocking to benefit and set themselves up for life from the goldrush that is occurring there at this time. We get into this story through the viewpoint of Anna. We meet her in the darkness of night. She is disorientated and her pink dress is tattered, yet glowing like she is somehow bleeding gold. She is being followed by two men. The situation is ominous and there is a dead body close to where she was. She is arrested and is assumed a prostitute and taken to jail where she watches what then happens to the body.

The episode changes pace and the setting switches to a brighter, more beautiful day. Anna is now free and wearing a reasonably pricey striped Edwardian dress looking out at beautiful landscapes of the kiwi coast. There is a man splayed out on the deck who wakes up and walks up to join her. He introduces himself and they hit off and the flirtation in the air is thick, and innocent. It is both of theirs's first sea voyage. There is a level of virtue to both of them yet it almost seems like they both have secrets that suggest this is not the case. They are both bound for New Zealand to dig for gold. Anna gives him a button for his vest which has lost one. He is impressed by this kindness and they arrange to meet at his hotel to get to know each other later in the day.

We are then back to just following Anna and the mystery shrouding her as she embarks in this new place - travelling alone, unmarried, illiterate yet has some means in the form of money and clothing. Her purse is stolen by a thief as soon as she gets onto land.  A woman named Lydia Wells played by Eva Green stops him and makes him drop it. Eva Green maintains her feminine powerhouse type of character that can install fear yet slithery trust in any character she takes under her wing. She is fantastic as that, but equally fantastic is Anna's mistrust of her. She discovers that Lydia reads fortunes and obviously does well looking at the embroidered dress that she is wearing.

People gather in the town square as nuggets of gold are valued and counted. Anna watches on in total curiosity and we are gently reminded of the ominous way her dress had twinkled in the flashbacks. Anna then goes on to try to wait for Emery at the hotel she thinks he is at but is she is cornered and intimidated by men who ask her if she is buying or selling in a classic sexist vulgar way of the decade. We see Emery having funny conversations with his friends who are mocking him for wanting to meet Anna and his sweetness of his character is revealed further by when compared to Romeo, he says "I'd rather be Juliet. Way better lines." He is not a typical man of the period especially due to the colour of his skin, unfortunately. 

Anna escapes to the only contact she has made apart from Emery who is obviously Lydia. Lydia offers her a room. A room her husband clearly is never there to stay in. She has many quirky, expensive items related to planets that Anna looks at in admiration. There is a lot more to Lydia than meets the eye and Anna realises that in these moments that she might be a dangerous but good asset to have.  These are two starkly different women in their outlook, yet deeply similar at the same time. There is much to learn about both of them and the episode does well at portraying that. 

It definitely seems like a stylishly generated show that has potential to hook you in if you love a good period drama.

I will share more TV goodness with you very soon readers!

The Serial Television Watcher