Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.5
Overall		3.5

A Discovery of Witches: Season 1 Blu-ray Movie Review

Harriet Potter and the 'Twilight' Zone.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman February 23, 2020

It begins with. . . text cards saying it begins with. . .

The above is a bit of a “meta” joke for those who have seen A Discovery of Witches and have already sat through several sets of somewhat enigmatic and pseudo-poetic musings that start out each episode in this series culled from a series of novels of Deborah Harkness. “Truth in advertising” might have suggested that the first of these text cards might have most honestly stated:

It begins with. . .mashing together copious elements from both Harry Potter and The Twilight Saga.

That may also be an obvious jest, but in this case, it has the ring of truth, since this interesting if unavoidably derivative feeling enterprise deals with three levels of “species” who reside along “normal” humans on Earth: witches, vampires and demons (sometimes spelled daemons in some of the supplements). Diana Bishop (Teresa Palmer, who probably not so coincidentally bears more than a passing resemblance to one Kristen Stewart) comes from a long line of witches which traces back to venerable olde Salem, but who (rather humorously like Samantha in Bewitched) has decided to forsake her powers, for a variety of reasons. That hasn’t stopped Diana from studying various occult texts devoted to things like alchemy as she waits to see if she scores a professorial job at Oxford.

One of the interesting things about A Discovery of Witches, and an element that would have ostensibly set it apart more forcefully from either Harry Potter and/or Twilight had it been exploited more thoroughly, is that fact that it at least dabbles in “real” history, as evidenced by the fact that the texts Diana is studying were ostensibly written by the actual 17th century mystic and astrologer Elias Ashmole. Diana manages to “find” a long missing Ashmole manuscript (as another character states, the manuscript probably “found” Diana) and when she opens the book, all sorts of — well, if not literal hell, at least weird doin’s, break out, leading to the involvement of this series’ “main” vampire, Matthew Clairmont (Matthew Goode), who, like Diana, makes his living as a university professor (hey, it's the 21st century, relax). Need it be said that Diana and Matthew fall in love? And that “inter-species” relationships are forbidden?

A number of other pressing plot points accrue around the central romance, including the fact that vampires may be a dying breed (like, really dying this time), and Matthew’s interest in the book which “found” Diana may be premised on his desire to unlock some secret to insure his kind’s survival. He’s helped along in that regard by his imperious mother Ysabeau de Clermont (Lindsay Duncan, pretty much walking away with each and every scene she’s in). Diana has her own support group, though, her Aunt Sarah Bishop (Alex Kingston) and Sarah’s partner Emily Mather (Valarie Pettiford), both of whom are witches and who attempt to give Diana transcontinental advice since they’re in America (a plot point that actually ultimately plays into the proceedings).

There’s a lot to like about A Discovery of Witches, even if the enterprise can’t help but feel like it’s covering material that has been covered before. The show might have clicked with me better had it hewed to what I might call a “Dan Brown ethic”, meaning that a huge preponderance of “actual” datapoints are deliberately used to create a kind of skewed, alternate perspective on things. Instead, the fitful attempts to bind this story to anything that may or may not have actually happened, at least in terms of the history of supposed witchcraft and especially alchemy, can seem pretty contrived at times.

That said, it’s to A Discovery of Witches’ credit that the series tries to work in some elements that are at least quasi-factual, and there’s an arguably more overall “realistic” tenor to events here than in either Harry Potter or Twilight, albeit a “realism” that should be tempered with an understanding that the whole subgenre the show is a part of is obviously fantasy laden. While there’s intrigue in this first season, there’s also a somewhat rote feeling at times, though there has evidently been enough viewer interest that the series has already been greenlit for two more season.

A Discovery of Witches: Season 1 Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

A Discovery of Witches is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Acorn Media with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.00:1. The IMDb lists the Arri Alexa Mini as having digitally captured the imagery, which I'm assuming was then finished at a 2K DI. This is a rather nicely sumptuous looking series a lot of the time, one which benefits from a number of gorgeous European (and, later, American) locations, with little if any stock footage used to establish those locations (one of the supplements gets into the expense of all the location shooting). Detail levels are routinely quite high despite a somewhat "arty" approach to lighting and framing which can often intentionally offer a somewhat hazy look. Things can be graded toward cool blues at times, especially in some of the scenes featuring Matthew and his vampire brood, but fine detail is typically quite excellent even in these moments. A few passing moments of CGI didn't totally pass muster with me in terms of matching detail levels of the bulk of the presentation, but some of the more practical special effects come off remarkably well.

A Discovery of Witches: Season 1 Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

A Discovery of Witches features a nice sounding DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track that tends to kind of ebb and flow in terms of surround activity. Some of the kind of cool effects scenes, as when Diana first opens the book that "activates" her powers, or, later, a big scene where she lets loose with a kind of ferocious storm, offer good placement of sound effects that create some nicely believable immersion. More "mundane" scenes that take place out of doors, especially some of the various vampires stalking prey (animals, lest it be troubling), also offer some good ambient evironmental effects. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout this problem free presentation.

A Discovery of Witches: Season 1 Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Disc One

• About the Characters (1080p; 14:21) offers brief overviews of many of the main characters, with interviews with the actors portraying them.

Disc Two

• Mythology (1080p; 14:01) gets into some of the underlying elements of the story, including some background information on the various species.


• TV Magic (1080p; 17:25) is a fun behind the scenes featurette which shows how some of the series' effects were accomplishes.

A Discovery of Witches: Season 1 Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

My hunch is those who gravitated more toward Twilight than Harry Potter will probably find the most instant connection to A Discovery of Witches, due at least in part to the "star-crossed" romantic aspect. I wish the series had more artfully integrated some of the real life history that's lurking just beneath the surface here (and which at least occasionally bubbles up to the top), but the series benefits from strong performances and a rather handsome production design. It will be interesting to see where this show goes as it continues to explore Harkness' novels. Technical merits are solid, and A Discovery of Witches comes Recommended.