Season 1

What a stunning piece of art.

The Dark Crystal was a core film of my childhood, managing to both enrapture and terrify me. The creature designs were nightmarish while also being gorgeous in their own way. The world was a place that just set off my imagination, constantly teasing that there was a lot more to see just out of frame. The plot wasn't as developed as it could have been but it was a story that cried out to be given more depth.

Age of Resistance delivers there. It fleshes out the world of Thra a huge amount and meshes perfectly with the movie. It doesn't attempt to reboot or change anything that was established there and instead just gives us an earlier piece of the narrative* and expands in sometimes new directions. The Skesis are given a reason to be the foul creatures that they are while the Gelfling are given a complete societal structure (and a surprising amount of racism!). Personalities are brought to the forefront, something that was greatly missing in the film (arguably, the Chamberlain and Aughra are the only strongly defined characters in it).

The puppet work is the biggest draw to begin watching. It's just the highest quality work on screen, but it's remarkable how quickly I forgot I was watching puppets and they all just became characters. The Jim Henson crew are just second to none. But it expands to more than just the puppets, because the set designs also bring the world of Thra to life an equally magical way. CG effects are used alongside the practical to enhance everything without getting in the way, and apart from a few overtly cartoony moments I think that they got the balance right.

I'm also pleased that the show continues the spirit of the original in that it doesn't shy away from the darkness or things that could be deemed as "too scary" for children.

Any criticism I have for the show comes down to the storytelling, and even then it's only minor quibbles. There's an impressive voice cast but some actors are definitely better than others. Notably, Taron Egerton in the lead role of Rian didn't quite fit for me and I was taken out of the moment whenever he spoke despite a solid performance. On the flip side, Mark Hamill is just perfect and Simon Pegg does a great job at taking over the iconic role of the Chamberlain. Nathalie Emmanuel and Anya Taylor-Joy make it seem effortless and are two really high points.

The pacing is my main issue. The 10 episodes often feel a bit too stretched out, and there are a few too many scenes of Gelfling sitting around trying to come to terms with what's going on, or the Skeksis just revelling in their disgusting mess. There were moments in just about every episode where I found myself wishing it would get on with things. Plus, the camera can't sit still and the constant swooping/panning/arcing/spinning/dollying becomes a lot to take a bit too often. The excessive shaky-cam in action scenes kind of ruined their flow for me.

The surprisingly emotional punch of the narrative manages to win over these issues, though. Yeah, the Gelfling have stupid faces but they begin to feel like people. There's a real sense of EPIC about it all, and I'm so glad that the decision was made to stick with puppetry in a time when we just don't see them on screen anymore. Without a doubt, this is one of the finest shows to appear this year and I really hope we get more.

Also, Hup is wonderful.

• It doesn't appear to give an exact time frame for just how much earlier this series is set compared to the show, but I'm guessing it's a fairly significant amount of time, i.e. decades.