Labyrinth

UK miniseries Labyrinth may be so titled for its elaborate storyline set across two time periods of modern-day and Middle Ages France -but it’s also a labyrinthine plot for the viewer to keep up.

This may be based on a best selling 2005 book by Kate Mosse but other dramas have managed similar landscape with far more success. There’s a reason why we’re getting this one in summer, folks (it aired on SoHo a year ago).

Despite its fairly handsome production values, and a cast that includes John Hurt, this is a bit of a hot mess. Even the nudity and Game of Thrones-style sex can’t quite redeem this ambitious drama, but it might leave ABC viewers thinking they had momentarily strayed onto SBS.

Labyrinth is distinct for having not one, but two, female protagonists, each with a foot in their respective time zones.

PhD graduate Dr. Alice Tanner (Vanessa Kirby) is part of an archaeological dig in the Pyrenees when she stumbles onto a hidden cave and an ancient artefact that links her to 13th century France. She blacks out and has lifelike visions of seeing massacres as part of the Crusades. It’s all a little too real but there are some nasty villains, including a very bent priest, who knows she has stirred something from the past.

The other key role is 17-year-old heroine Alaïs Pelletier (Jessica Brown-Findlay), given a book by her father, which claims to contain the secret of the true Holy Grail. While civil war is on the brink she learns to trust no-one, including her manipulative sister, Oriane (Katie McGrath).

As these two parallel storylines unfold, some of which see Alice colliding with the past, there are a myriad of supporting characters that make this narrative a challenge. John Hurt dons the wise elder role here, in a minor role that seeks to add gravitas. He begins to believe Alice’s wild stories about the past while John Lynch, seen recently in The Fall, forms part of the Crusades storyline.

But there are conspiracy theories galore, a romantic interest and plenty of costumed extras heaving under the weight of the plot.

It’s hard not to be reminded by Outlander, which so magically wove a ‘contemporary’ character into the past thanks largely to the chemistry of its two leads. Perhaps if Labyrinth had pitched itself a little more simply, as a teen mythology adventure (think Conspiracy 365) it may have been more successful.

At least as a 2 part miniseries you’re not committing too long to this one. But you may be more satisfied by reading what was clearly a successful novel instead.

Labyrinth airs 8:30pm Thursday January 8 / 15 on ABC.