Da Vinci’s Demons takes a classical approach to MacGyver

DA VINCI’S DEMONS: SEASON TWO (Starz/BBC TV Series, 2014)

Starring: Tom Riley, Laura Haddock, Elliot Cowan, Gregg Chillin, Eros Vlahos

Creator: David S. Goyer

Three Stars out of Five

Combining elements of The Young Indiana Jones, the Da Vinci Code and MacGyver, this series created by David S. Goyer has so many great ideas to work with, it has a hard time focusing on a single one. Not that it really matters all that much, because half the fun of watching this period series is testing your own knowledge of Leonoardo’s achievements. From flying machines to advances in medicine, Da Vinci was more than the famed painter of the Mona Lisa and this series delights in showcasing the genius’s creative legacy. Best of all, it does so using standard TV tropes. In other words, we end up watching Da Vinci (Tom Riley) face one dilemma after another as the warring Pazzi and Medici families jockey for power and status behind the back of the Catholic Church. Fortunately, he’s a genius, and every time he finds himself painted into a corner, he uses his master skills to craft an escape route. The viewer is tipped off about which famous invention he’s inventing scene by scene thanks to the animated sketches, ensuring there’s a genuine educational value to the show, even when the scenarios feel a little forced. — Katherine Monk