Sunday Telegraph
This
slickly produced Bewitched-meets-90210 drama series comes to a thrilling season
finale tonight, demonstrating it's strength in storytelling and simple
characterisations. Shannen Doherty stars as the focussed older sister
Prue, with Holly Marie Combs as the earthy middle sister Piper and Alyssa Milano
as free-spirited Phoebe. For the uninitiated, the three "charmed"
sisters each have a unique power - Doherty's Prue can levitate and move objects;
Combs' Piper can freeze time and Milano's Phoebe can see into the future.
The three of them are guided by The Book Of Shadows, the witchy version of an
old family recipe book from which the three study spells,incantations and
charms. A somewhat highbrow version of Buffy, the series has the requiste
high-kicking confrontation with all manner of zombies, beasties, demons and
devils to pass muster as a "cool" show of the 90s. Occasionally the
seires dips into noble space delivering a quick sermon to the viewer while yet
another netherworld nasty is tossed carelessly aside.
An example of this is the episode in which Prue learns the very valuable lesson
of reminding her sisters how much she loves them. Awwww, shucks Shades of the
Brady Bunch, though not so saccharine that you choke with your first mouthful.
The best performance is, suprisingly, Doherty's, proving she's grown up in more
ways than one.