I can’t sleep after watching TV’s most chilling show

Peter Capaldi’s Gideon is one of TV’s most terrifying characters (Picture: Amazon)

I never thought I would be afraid of a middle-aged man called Gideon but this is the predicament I’ve found myself in.

Sorry – I’m going to have to introduce you to him now too: he’s the central character in Amazon Prime’s excellent series The Devil’s Hour, played with a quiet intensity that chills you to the bone by Peter Capaldi.

Gideon looks exactly like Peter Capaldi if he was deficient in vitamin C and lived in a windowless basement. There are no prosthetics, wigs, blood or gore, but Gideon’s death-eyed stare has been haunting me.

It’s a testament to Peter Capaldi, one of Britain’s finest actors, that the mere presence of Gideon on screen has left me unable to sleep. I was given just the first two episodes of season 2 to review and my heart rate is thanking me for it.

If you are not familiar with The Devil’s Hour, Gideon is a shadowy Dexter figure – who travels through time living by his own moral code in which he murders people, even children, to save innocent lives.

He is linked to Lucy, a mother struggling with her troubled son Isaac (Benjamin Chivers), played with such raw reliability by Jessica Raine that you could mistake her for your neighbour, a feat in a show that transcends time and space.

The Devil’s Hour season 2 manages to sustain the high concept (Picture: Amazon)

Every night at exactly 3:33am Lucy wakes up and is disturbed by terrifying visions which leads her to Gideon. Along with DI Ravi (Nikesh Patel), she puts an end – at least for the time being -to Gideon’s murdering rampage by helping to put him behind bars.

However, season 1 ends with Gideon escaping from prison, while Lucy is seen slowly suffocating in a house fire, while a different Lucy from another time period, working as a police officer, watches on.

The first two episodes pick up immediately from where the last season ended. But what is Lucy’s fate and what’s up Gideon’s sleeve? It would be no fun if I told you, but I can promise you the answers are satisfying.

There’s a risk with shows that are high concept that they can become an unsolvable puzzle, overly confusing for viewers and a frustrating watch – particularly on a second season. But The Devil’s Hour manages to keep it slick with a focussed script, compelling performances and a clear vision.

The Devil’s Hour is a thriller worth losing sleep over (Picture: Amazon)

It doesn’t feel like season 2 was an ill-thought-out renewal to bulk out Amazon’s library: clearly, the writers had plotted beyond season 1 and had more to say. As can often happen in new seasons, The Devil’s Hour never gets flabby and sustains its conceit. I never once got lost in the show’s maze.

It’s also a refreshing take on an overly saturated genre: the thriller. I’m bored of alcoholic detectives battling their demons as they investigate the brutal murder of a young girl. The Devil’s Hour manages to make a tired genre feel new again and more shows should take note.

We need more murky anti-heroes like Gideon who with a raise of an eyebrow can inflict terror in your soul and more every day, and I’m loathe to say it but ‘authentic’ characters like Lucy rather than caricatures. It’s also time for true originality rather than sticking to the formula.

For that, you shouldn’t overlook The Devil’s Hour: trust me, it’s worth losing sleep for.

The Devil’s Hour season 2 will be available to stream on Amazon Prime Video from tomorrow.

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