What We Do in the Shadows, BBC Two review: the vampires of Staten Island are back – The Arts Desk

The first series of What We Do in the Shadows, Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititis mockumentary about vampires in Staten Island (a TV spin-off from their cult New Zealand-located film) was a joy, and although its a hard act to follow, its delicious to be reacquainted with these timeless Transylvanian transplants and their mission to conquer the Americas. At least, thats what their master, a crumbling vampire baron, has told them to do. Trouble is, as Laszlo (plummy-voiced Matt Berry; Toast of London, The IT Crowd) noted in the last series, the New World is fucking massive. Best stick to Staten Island, then.

Living in dusty splendour in New Yorks most unglamorous borough are raven-haired Nadja (Nastasia Demetriou; Staph Lets Flats), her lustful husband Laszlo and heavily accented Nandor (Kayvan Novak), relentless conqueror of thousands, now mainly reduced to dealing with Sean the human neighbour and council meetings about zoning ordinances.

The household includes Colin Robinson, always known by his full name, who is a beige-clad energy vampire (dont we all know one of those?) played by a superbly funny Mark Proksch (pictured below). He bores the people at the Department of Motor Vehicles so thoroughly that they end up just giving him a license. And there's plump put-upon familiar and would-be vampire Guillermo (Harvey Guilln).

Its faithful Guillermo, in his buttoned-down shirt and patterned cardigan, who takes centre stage in the first episodes of the new series. He has his work cut out protecting his ungrateful master Nandor from an influx of malignant killer vampires. Nandor barely notices them because Guillermos a dab hand with a wooden stake (he keeps a bunch of them, ordered from Amazon, in his fridge) and sees them off before you can say garlic. Strange, for such an enthusiastic acolyte, that hes so gifted a vampire slayer. Except we know from the last episode of series one that hes descended from Van Helsing. He remains in denial about the significance of this.

Some new characters come on board. Topher (Haley Joel Osment, pictured below with Harvey Guilln as Guillermo) is Nadja and Laszlos new familiar (seven others have died in quick succession over the summer). Hes a spoiled little hipster, endlessly high-fiving people, and he doesnt take the whole turning-into-a-vampire thing seriously enough for Guillermo's liking, but Nadja and Laszlo are enamoured by his resum. Hes proficient in Excel and he went to Lehigh, says Laszlo, while admitting that they havent a whores notion of what any of that means.

Topher soon electrocutes himself in the pond, in the tradition of his predecessors, but his employers are so fond of him that they get Nadjas old pal Wallace, a necromancer (Benedict Wong), to resurrect him from the dead. Wallace keeps getting distracted by text messages while hes casting the spell, and the result is not a success.

Clement and Waititi attract celebrity drop-ins: Tilda Swinton, Evan Rachel Wood and Wesley Snipes featured in an episode in series one, and Beanie Feldstein was a scene-stealer as student Jenna, the newly minted, deeply confused virgin vampire (Nadja bit her). Sadly shes not in the new series and theres no one who quite takes her place, though Mark Hamill appears as Jim, a visiting vampire with an ancient grudge against Laszlo, whos so threatened that he runs off to Pennsylvania, chosen because it sounded like Transylvania. Its distinctly unsettling to see him in a new environment. Whats more, hes a volleyball coach.

The winning combination of the mundane with ancient vampire lore (John Likenss graphics are inspired) never fails: Nandors fondness for the Tide to Go pen, so handy for cleaning blood stains; Nadja's despair at the toxic masculinity of the Ottoman empire; the vampires terror at a chain email that appears in Nandors Hotmail account and has to be sent to ten friends or foes by sunrise; and the Superbowl party at neighbour Seans house (Nandor and co are under the impression that its a Superb Owl party in honour of their favourite noctural bird). May they stay forever young. Oh, thats right, they will.

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What We Do in the Shadows, BBC Two review: the vampires of Staten Island are back - The Arts Desk

Reviewed and Recommended by Erik Baquero