The Haunting Of Bly Manor: 5 Ups & 4 Downs Review

The need for diversity and inclusion in drama has never been greater and modern global audiences demand a far greater level of representation than has been afforded in the past. That said, the initial couple of episodes of The Haunting Of Bly Manor occasionally feel as if a game of diversity bingo is being played out.

Luckily, this is very much not the case here and creator Mike Flanagan and the nine other writers, excluding Henry James himself, have seamlessly taken themes that are relevant to a 2020 audience and woven them into a story first written in 1898, now set in 1987.

Love stories are natural and relevant, especially the sub plot involving Dani's reasons to flee the States and her subsequent relationship with Jamie, the female groundskeeper of Bly manor. If this series was made 15 years ago, the part surely would have been male and almost definitely would have gone to Sean Bean, as she reads like the Lady Chatterley-esque bit of northern rough and a grounding influence for the traumatised Dani.

Furthermore, Flanagan's treatment of mental health issues is tonally spot on and approached with great care and sensitivity, in a way that fully appreciates the value of our greater understanding and importance of such issues - Bly therapy is gratefully rather healthy and high on the list of priorities in its overall tone.