Da Vinci's Demons (2013)

I think Tom Riley is in his element here as he enthusiastically portrays a flawed but inspirational genius in really quite an entertaining fashion. He’s helped along by his two stalwarts “Nico” (Eros Vlahos) and “Zoroaster” (Gregg Chillin); by some really good visual effects that illustrate some of the mathematics and science behind his inventions and by a soupçon of sarcastic, caustic even, wit as he firstly has to earn the trust of the Medici then keep that trust as they find themselves constantly at odds with Pope Sixtus IV (a hammy James Faulkner) and his henchman “Riario” (Blake Ritson). It ran for three series, but it’s really the first one that provides us with an original and potent mix of lust, adventure and political intrigues. Elliot Cowan’s Lorenzo juggles wife Clarice (Lara Pulver) with his mistress “Lucrezia” (Laura Haddock) who also takes a shine to our ambitious young artisan whilst he tries to avoid falling foul of the short tempered “Giuliano” (Tom Bateman), malevolent guards captain “Dragonetti” (Ian Pirie) and even his own father (David Schofield). The stories are solid, based (loosely) in actual history and delivered in a lively fashion as Leonardo has to live on the edge of his wits. To that end, Riley successfully marries the manic with the magic to give us a sense of just how tortured this creative fellow was. It’s essentially a family show, so though brutality and sex are never far away, they are never presented particularly graphically rendering the emphasis more on the substance of the frequently quite earthy and humorous writing. The first season deals with the introductions and the skirmishes with the Pope; the second starts to see that emphasis morph more into the mystical elements of the “fountain of memory” and his search for his long lost mother before the final season which sees the earlier dynamic change into something more of a vehicle for Riley and the now over-used Ritson, and for my money it rather loses the quirky focus of a plot that worked well at the start and replaces it with a sort of hallucinogenic haze of weaker stories around the reputed Papal secret archives. It does run out of steam, but series one is well worth a few hours if you like your drama sharply written, quickly paced and well made.