We meet lawyer Claudia (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) when she is called into an emergency meeting. Someone their firm represents in Jamaica has died, and his son Oliver (Jonny Lee Miller) appears to have been cut out of the will at the last minute without any explanation. Aiming to get to the bottom of things, and thinking that Claudia’s biracial identity will give her some kind of step up on the situation, her boss sends her out to understand what’s gone on. Canny to the fact that she’s being used, Claudia quips, “That sounds like a job for a partner”.

So far, so legal thriller. But things quickly take a turn for the weird. Possession, as its name suggests, leans far more into the supernatural. There’s much more than just a changed will at play here, something Claudia discovers early on as she is exposed to obeah, an African diasporic spiritual practice.

The show’s title is also a double meaning, examining the ongoing impact of colonialism and slavery in Jamaica. Some of the story takes place in the past, following the story of Eugene Desfriene (Richard Dillane), Oliver’s ancestor, his daughter Charlotte (Bel Powley) and his illegitimate son Matthew (Sheldon Shepherd). There are some devastating scenes here, real brutality that can be hard to watch. 

The two timelines slowly tie together as the series goes on, past and present colliding and highlighting the generational trauma, socioeconomic reverberations and lack of resolution to these events. It’s all interesting stuff, but the delivery is, unfortunately, quite dull. The magical elements of the story feel like props rather than anything meaningful, and the characters have little to endear them.

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Claudia has the bones of a great protagonist, but she is given little depth. Being brought up by her white father, she has no real connection to her mum’s heritage or family – and her dad has some choice statements about Jamaica that drum in the idea that she has grown up with an undercurrent of discrimination. This could be an engaging thread to follow, but the attempts to do so are so blunt as to be laughable.

Claudia seems to be finding out about the horrors of slavery in real-time, her ignorance about Britain’s compensations to slave owners almost unbelievable. A few times, the mark is hit. There’s a gorgeous scene where Claudia’s aunt, Mercy (an excellent Nadean Rawlins), braids her hair. It’s a tender moment between a previously unconnected aunt and niece that doubles as Claudia reconnecting to her maternal heritage, the audience only hearing snippets of their conversation. It’s a very human moment.

Possession is not a bad show, but despite its rich ideas, strong cast and important messages, it falls before it can walk and leaves a shadow of the impact it had the potential to have.

Streaming on Sky from August 6th / Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Jonny Lee Miller, Richard Dillane, Sheldon Shepherd, Bel Powley / Created by Karla Crome / Sky

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