There's no doubt about it, TV wise, we're living in a fantasy golden age from the gritty thrills of Game of Thrones to the glossy Shannara Chronicles, but the States isn't the only place turning out outstanding fantasy.
Enter Zapped.
Zapped is a British fantasy sitcom set in our world and Munty, a town in a fantasy world complete with magic and monsters.
Brian Weaver, James Buckley of the Inbetweeners fame, is our hero, a Walter Mitty character prone to exaggerating and lying about his own success, who blunders into Munty after messing about with a magical bracelet which transports him into a pub, the Jug and the Other Jug, where he meets and bonds with a gang of misfits: Herman (Louis Emerick), Barbara (Sharon Rooney), a useless soothsayer and hopeless romantic who falls for Brian, Steg (Kenneth Collard), a half-giant, half-dwarf layabout and Howell (Paul Kaye),an utterly bonkers wizard.
This gang become Brian's bosom buddies, helping him adjust to Munty while staying clear of the thuggish fairies who police Munty's magic. Unfortunately, Brian's gang are also the root of all his problems dropping him into all manner of mischief in the quest to return him to Middlesex.
There's everything to love about Zapped! The sets in season one are limited to the Jug and Other Jug and Howell's shop, although Season 2 adds a bit more colour by dropping in a few more locations to expand on Munty,but it's not the sets or effects that make the show such a winner, it's the ensemble cast and the writing - which are stellar.
The fairies, brilliantly played by Guz Khan (Skylark), Ricky Grover (Hawthorn) and Tony Way (Chestnut), are frighteningly thuggish preferring head butts and left hooks to kisses and wishes.
But what really makes Zapped shine has to be Paul Kaye's manic, alcoholic and barking-mad wizard, Howell, who is a joy to watch and lifts Zapped well above the competition.
The problem with Zapped is it's just too brief - season 1 has three episodes and Seasons 2 and 3, six each! The problem being, if you watch Zapped you'll become a Munty junky, weeping in desperation for more episodes while cursing the BBC for producing so wonderful, but short, a TV show.
Enter Zapped.
Zapped is a British fantasy sitcom set in our world and Munty, a town in a fantasy world complete with magic and monsters.
Brian Weaver, James Buckley of the Inbetweeners fame, is our hero, a Walter Mitty character prone to exaggerating and lying about his own success, who blunders into Munty after messing about with a magical bracelet which transports him into a pub, the Jug and the Other Jug, where he meets and bonds with a gang of misfits: Herman (Louis Emerick), Barbara (Sharon Rooney), a useless soothsayer and hopeless romantic who falls for Brian, Steg (Kenneth Collard), a half-giant, half-dwarf layabout and Howell (Paul Kaye),an utterly bonkers wizard.
This gang become Brian's bosom buddies, helping him adjust to Munty while staying clear of the thuggish fairies who police Munty's magic. Unfortunately, Brian's gang are also the root of all his problems dropping him into all manner of mischief in the quest to return him to Middlesex.
There's everything to love about Zapped! The sets in season one are limited to the Jug and Other Jug and Howell's shop, although Season 2 adds a bit more colour by dropping in a few more locations to expand on Munty,but it's not the sets or effects that make the show such a winner, it's the ensemble cast and the writing - which are stellar.
The fairies, brilliantly played by Guz Khan (Skylark), Ricky Grover (Hawthorn) and Tony Way (Chestnut), are frighteningly thuggish preferring head butts and left hooks to kisses and wishes.
But what really makes Zapped shine has to be Paul Kaye's manic, alcoholic and barking-mad wizard, Howell, who is a joy to watch and lifts Zapped well above the competition.
The problem with Zapped is it's just too brief - season 1 has three episodes and Seasons 2 and 3, six each! The problem being, if you watch Zapped you'll become a Munty junky, weeping in desperation for more episodes while cursing the BBC for producing so wonderful, but short, a TV show.