True Blood: Trailer, certificate and where to watch
Steamy vampire drama series set in the Deep South starring Anna Paquin and Stephen Moyer
Year: 2008-2014
Certificate: 18
Vampires, mystery and passion fill the swamps of Louisiana as waitress Sookie Stackhouse (Anna Paquin) finds herself falling in love with brooding 174-year-old bloodsucker Bill (Stephen Moyer). Across seven spooky and steamy series, this show marries the supernatural and the dramatically romantic to excellent effect, creating a world where the existence of vampires is known to the general public, as the vamps - now able to sate their thirst with an artificial drink named Tru Blood - try to live among them. The HBO show took full advantage of its fantasy setting to give us plenty of boundary-pushing bedroom moments, including one memorably shocking scene in which Bill and Sookie became very friendly with each other in a cemetery after he'd just risen from the grave. You don't get that in Twilight.
Smart and steamy, the show trades initially off the chemistry between the excellent Paquin and Moyer, but it swiftly expands its scope to other folks in the small town of Bon Temps, and the wider supernatural world in general. Fans of The Vampire Diaries as well as the Twilight movie franchise will find lots to sink their teeth into here and, when it comes to matters of the bedroom, True Blood feels keen to go one step beyond its competitors in what it will show on screen. (Seven series)
