I've finally been getting to watch the pilots for a handful of the upcoming American series which will launch in the US later on this year/ early next year and so far, the best of the bunch (I'll come back and report on a few of the others) in my opinion is V, a contemporary update of the classis 80s miniseries of the same name. For those of you not familiar with the original, here's the Wikipedia entry on it, but frankly I think it's probably a whole lot more fun the less you know.

Check out the trailer for the new show here:


Following a brief but intense quake, a number of large spaceships appear all across the planet. After causing an initial disturbance, the beings on board, who refer to themselves as The Visitors, announce to everyone on Earth that they are peaceful, mean no harm and simply require some water in order to get back to their planet. In return for this, they will share their technological advancements with Earth, leaving it better off.

While many people are fascinated by Vs message of hope and peace, encouraged by their ability to heal, undoubted physical attractiveness and headturning spaceship tours, some are sceptical. Key amongst these are FBI agent Erica (Mitchell) and man of the cloth Father Jack Landry (Gretsch), who preaches caution. Even ambitious news anchor Chad Decker, at first delighted to secure an exclusive, career-advancing interview with the stunning V leader Anna begins to distrust them when realising he cannot ask anything which could portray the Vs negatively.

It is only through investigating an apparent terrorist sleeper cell that Erica and Father Jack uncover the truth behind the Visitors' arrival, and what that means for humankind...

I thought this was a gripping, atmospheric pilot with an excellent cast - Elizabeth Mitchell excels as a sceptical FBI agent, and Morena Baccarin is beautiful and creepy as the leader of the Vs. The slow build up of tension as to what is the Vs true agenda is just the right side of creepily intriguing, before the deftly handled reveal, with a great twist (one which I gather is new to this remake). Plus, as reportedly one of the more expensive pilots, V looks stunning on screen. I will definitely be watching this one - they're clearly hoping for a Battlestar Galactica-style success story from this reimagining, and based on what I've seen so far, this could be a potential winner. I'll be back in the next day or so to let you know what new teen drama The Vampire Diaries is like, as well as DC Comics-based Human Target too.