Ace Of Wands - The Power Of Atep.

And so we return to the adventures of Tarot and co. in The Power of Atep. (Now there’s a Dr Who style title if ever I heard one). This is the second story of the series, and runs for four parts, as opposed to The Meddlers’ three. This is written by Victor Pemberton, familiar to Dr Who fans as the write or Fury From The Deep, as well as the audio adventure, The Pescatons.

We start off as Tarot and Mikki discover they’ve both been having the same dream - about each other! Not like that, you deviants - they’ve both been dreaming of Egypt. Mind you, from the meaningful glances they keep giving each other, it’s clear that Chas is hanging around less to help out, and more to stop our dandified hero from getting it on with his sister.

They’re both a bit put out by the experience, and Tarot in particular is not himself, acting very distracted. He goes off to see his chum Mr Sweet, while Mikki goes off to see a medium called John Pentacle. Despite his incredibly sinister name, she agrees to sit in on a séance with him and his equally sinister pals. During that, they all start chanting “Kill Tarot! Kill Tarot!” She deduces they may mean Tarot some harm. Doesn’t miss a trick, this girl!

While all this is going on, Tarot tries to research the Egyptian angle, try to drown himself, and keep muttering ominously about his old partner, Quabal - who parted with him on bad terms. Experienced readers will have deduced that Pentacle is indeed Quabal, using the power of Atep - an old Egyptian wizard - to destroy him as revenge for the act splitting up. And you thought Martin and Lewis had it in for each other!

Investigating the Atep angle, our heroes head for Egypt. Or rather, some stock footage and a sand dune, representing Egypt. Fun ensues when the actors run around in skimpy clothes, trying to pretend the heat is overpowering, while looking like they’re about the die of exposure.

Anyway, they decide to investigate the tomb of Atep, and meet up with the archaeologist who discovered it, Fergus Wilson. Together, they hope to uncover the mysteries of Atep and thwart Quabal’s evil plan. Well, I say ‘evil’ - it’s more sort of petty, to be honest. Actually, if Tarot just said he was sorry about the whole breakup, maybe he’d just drop it. But I digress.

The Power Of Atep is another strong entry for Ace of Wands. Whereas The Meddlers was fairly narrow in scope, confining it’s plot to one area, Atep is a lot broader, opening out the world. Mentions of Tarot’s backstory (and more reminders of the previous stars) help sell the sense that the characters have had lives before the events of the series. There’s the return of Mr Sweet - one of the recurring characters from the previous series. The move to Egypt half-way through the story helps a lot with keeping the mood fresh and stops it from getting repetitive.

The mood, which I praised The Meddlers for, is still strong here. Throughout the beginning of the story, we get flashbacks to Tarot and Quabal’s act - before we know that’s what it is - keeping us wondering what we’re seeing. We also get the unsettling séance scenes, and their effects on Tarot - making him try to drown himself while wearing a straitjacket, in a genuinely tense moment.

There’s also a few scenes where Quabal impersonates Tarot and attacks the good guys. We don’t know that’s what’s happening, and it throws the audience for a loop when we see the hero attack his friends seemingly for no reason.

It’s not perfect, of course. Sebastian Graham-Jones is a bit wet as Quabal. Instead of acting as a dark mirror of our hero, he rather seems more like a sulky child. Also, the actor playing Fergus Wilson has such a fake Scottish accent and beard that I expected him to be exposed as a fake half way through. Also - his character didn’t make any sense. Near the end, he pulls a gun on Mikki and Chas, and tells them he’s working for…well, we don’t know who. He’s not working with Quabal - we saw them alone earlier and they definitely weren’t friendly. He just seems to turn evil for no reason to provide a bit of last minute tension.

Anyway, still a very enjoyable piece of fantasy TV. Hopefully the series will continue to be as much fun for the rest of the duration.