As a massive fan of the Alex Rider book series by Anthony Horowitz, when my older sister told me that there was a TV series based on the books, I couldn't have been more excited.
Alex Rider Season 3 (the final series) was officially released on the 5th of April 2024 and announced to be the last series of the franchise featuring the present cast, and I feel like it definitely hasn't received the media attention that it deserves.
With the book series coming in at the top of the bestseller's list it seems surprising that the TV series unfortunately never really took off, however that is certainly not down to its execution.
Spanning across three series' with eight episodes each, Alex Rider follows the life of an orphaned teenager who gets recruited by the British Government's Secret Services department, and it combines story lines from the first five of Horowitz's young adult fiction novels.
My personal favourite was Season 2, which was absolutely action-packed from the start, and Damian Cray (Toby Stephens) was such a convincing mentally challenged villain throughout that it's hard to believe Stephens isn't Cray in real life.
The acting across every season was especially strong from Otto Farrant (Alex Rider), Brenock O'Connor (Tom Harris), Thomas Levin (Yassen Gregorovich), Vicky McClure (Mrs Jones) and Stephen Dillane (Alan Blunt) who I cannot now picture as ever playing anybody else because they portrayed their characters so well.
It was a lovely mix of remaining true to the original plot of the books, and also the producers adding their own elements to the series which provided a fresh viewing for those that have adored the books and those that are yet to read them, while still keeping life-long fans happy.
One criticism I have is that it felt a little bit like they stripped their characters of personality and made them more of a blank slate – a nice addition would have been a moment where Mrs Jones is seen to be sucking on peppermints, a defining feature of hers in the books, or if they'd placed Alex in a Chelsea football club shirt for a day; something that stays true to their characters, but builds them up to be more multi-dimensional. In fact, it felt like Tom Harris, Alex's best friend from Brookland School, was the most developed character, and Brenock O'Connor played him to perfection.
I also loved the relationship created between Tom and Kyra (Marli Siu) in Season 2 as they became a friendship threesome with Alex, however I wasn't keen on Kyra and Alex's relationship taking a turn into a romantic nature in Season 3, as from a fan's perspective it just felt like Alex was cheating on Sabina!
The editing of the scenes together is not the cleanest, with the screen often going completely black for multiple seconds in between location changes giving it a bit of an amateur look but I actually love this and I think it fits well with the series, matching the feel of a teenage spy drama – Alex isn't quite a 'professional' yet, but he's an epic 'apprentice'. It's refreshing to watch something not one hundred percent perfectly polished which gives it that raw feeling of intrigue.
Thomas Levin's accent as Yassen is a highlight for me – he is so incredible in the role, I genuinely have such a new-found love for the character due to Levin's portrayal, and Otto Farrant is the perfect Alex Rider.
It often takes a couple of slower-moving episodes to really get into the plot, however once you do it is well worth the wait, with lots of action, stunts, and suspense that will have you on the edge of your seat – be prepared for some heart-racing moments; this series is not for the weak-hearted.
Overall it's a brilliant series, and aging the actors up has nothing but a positive effect in my opinion, especially as Farrant and O'Connor pull off the teenage attitude wonderfully – there are few things funnier in life than insolent Alex Rider at the Point Blanc Academy in Season 1.
I'm bitterly disappointed that the franchise has been brought to a close for the present, but if they ever decide to bring it back, I am definitely here for it, and you should be too! It's a brilliant TV series with something for all ages to enjoy, and I couldn't recommend it to you enough.
Alex Rider Season 3 can be watched on Prime Video here.
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