The Fades

""The Fades are coming... It's inevitable.""

The Fades is a 2011 British Series about a young boy, Paul, plagued by pants-wettingly scary dreams of the world covered in ash and ruin. While searching for materials for his best friends' amateur horror movie in an abandoned shopping centre, he stumbles upon much more than he bargained for: a crazed, dirt-covered man pointing a gun at him, a creepy girl only he seems to see and much more worrisome, a ghoul-like being that really doesn't look very friendly. As he ponders if his sanity has finally decided to fully leave him, he unknowingly involves himself in a struggle that may very well end with his dreams of the apocalypse becoming reality. The Fades are coming... It's inevitable

"Anna: Paul is having sex with my best friend and when I found them and shouted at him he did a magic spell on me.
 * A Date with Rosie Palms: Paul fantasising about Jay. With quite interesting *ahem* results...
 * Adorkable: Paul and Mac take it to new levels.
 * All There in the Manual: The official BBC website gives additional infos about the premise and the characters, introducing and explaining certain concepts before their appearance in the series proper.
 * Alpha Bitch: Paul's twin sister, Anna.
 * Anti-Hero: Just about everyone.
 * Anyone Can Die: Established with the deaths of in the very first episode. Though seeing as this is a show about ghosts, death doesn't necessarily mean a character's departure from the show.
 * Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: Anna screams "[to Paul] You're mad,[to Mac] you're mad and Jay's a library monitor!"
 * Asshole Victim: Sam Griegson and Greg Taylor.
 * When Paul gets angry with Anna taunting his relationship with Jay, accidentally using his powers to temporarily sew her mouth shut.
 * Badass Preacher: Helen (her first act is to appear in Sarah's room stealing her gun)
 * Black and Grey Morality: While cannibalistic, vengeful undead are hardly sympathetic characters, the Angelics don't exactly live up to their names...
 * Black and Nerdy: Mac
 * Black Best Friend: Also Mac
 * Blind Seer: Eric, the ancient Angelic visited by Neil and Paul in the second episode.
 * Bottomless Bladder: Averted. Quite audibly.
 * Break the Cutie: An ongoing one for Sarah,
 * British Brevity: One season, six episodes.
 * Butterfly of Death and Rebirth: Butterfly motifs are quite frequent in the show, from the moth puked out after a healing to
 * Comically Missing the Point: Paul's mother, repeatedly.
 * Butterfly of Death and Rebirth: Butterfly motifs are quite frequent in the show, from the moth puked out after a healing to
 * Comically Missing the Point: Paul's mother, repeatedly.

Mum: You're having sex with Tracy?

Anna: The other one.

Mum: Jay? Oh... I'm quite impressed with Jay."

"Mac: I'm not ready to die, I haven't decided what my last words will be yet."
 * Dark Messiah: John, who is seen as a saviour figure by the Reborns -- though his idea of a better world involves everyone either becoming a Reborn or Reborn food.
 * Dawson Casting: Paul, his twin sister Anna, Mac and Jay are A-level students, so probably aged somewhere around 17 (Mac turns 18 in episode 3). Lily Loveless (Anna) is 21 and Daniel Kaluuya (Mac) is 22, so the casting isn't too far out, while Iain de Caestecker (Paul) is 24. Sophie Wu (Jay) is 28. Thank goodness...
 * Deadpan Snarker: Mac, again.

"Neil:"
 * Death by Origin Story:
 * Design Student's Orgasm: The Title Sequence may even give the one in True Blood a run for its money.
 * Disappeared Dad: Paul.
 * Downer Ending: Episode 6:
 * Evil Counterpart:  to Paul.
 * Evilly Affable: John . Ever so pleasant and polite, when not
 * Eye Scream: Neil. Twice, on the same one - though the second one was to try and scrape the poison out.
 * Eyes of Gold: "Polus" the ghoulish fade
 * Gender Blender Name: Jay
 * Genre Blind: Sure Sarah, go check out the creepily groaning man in the dark corner right after you've had visions of impending doom...
 * Although until then, Sarah knew that the Fades couldn't touch anyone, unaware that now they can.
 * Hannibal Lecture:  delivers one to Paul, highlighting their similarities as the chosen ones of their respective people and claiming that while his killings bring life through the resurrection of the dead,
 * Healing Hands: One of the Angelics' abilities.
 * Heroic BSOD: Neil, already under a lot of stress, loses it after
 * Paul may have slowly become more heroic, but with an ever-increasing toll on his life,
 * He Who Fights Monsters: The Angelics - at least some of them - are shown to go quite far in their war against the fades, from Neil  to Sarah
 * Hollywood Nerd: Both Paul and Mac
 * Horror Hunger:
 * I Am a Humanitarian:
 * I Did What I Had to Do: Neil's justification for  and
 * Idiot Ball:  in the second episode. Only topped by Paul   It did not end well.
 * I See Dead People: The Fades can only be seen by Angelics . Mac even talks about The Sixth Sense based on this.
 * It Got Worse:
 * It Got Worse:

"Paul: I'm an Angelic Swiss Army Knife!..."
 * It's Personal: While  always intended to kill all Angelics and especially The Chosen One, he takes it to a new level with Paul after he , and vows to make him feel the same pain before killing him.
 * Kill'Em All: By the end of the first series,
 * Light'Em Up:
 * Monster Sob Story: "Polus"  the Fade has quite the tragic past,   However, he relishes far too much in his destruction to count as Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds.
 * Mood Whiplash: The show runs on it, being a Buffy-esque merry mix of horror, fantasy, adult drama and teen comedy.
 * My God, What Have I Done?: Paul understandably reacts this way after
 * New Powers as the Plot Demands: Paul, lampshaded as this is unusual even for an Angelic.

"Paul: This is a bad idea.
 * No Except Yes:

Mac: Correction. This is a good idea with bad possibilities."


 * Oh Crap: Neil's reaction when he realises
 * Our Ghosts Are Different
 * "Previously On...": Hilarious ones by Mac, in character.
 * Ravens and Crows: Dead ones.
 * When the dead ascend they explode into flocks of bright birds.
 * Red Sky, Take Warning:
 * Refusal of the Call: Even though Paul is curious and wants to make a difference, he can't resolve himself to leave his old life behind.
 * Screw Destiny: Well, let's just get that in order for this show to have a happy ending, the whole "it's inevitable" better not be. However, at the end of series 1 we see that
 * Secret Identity: Instead of abandoning his old life, Paul tries to go with this.
 * Ship Tease: Anna/Mac at the end of episode 5
 * Shout-Out: Boy, does that show love them...
 * Ghostbusters
 * Indiana Jones
 * Neo, sooner or later you'll realise that there's a difference between knowing the path and walking the path.
 * Healing with glowing hands while the surroundings shake, then spitting out an insect.
 * Terry Pratchett
 * Alan Moore
 * A Nightmare on Elm Street
 * Some twelve year olds overhearing Paul sees things: "Am I a rabbit? Am I a rabbit though?"
 * Your friend is quite the mercenary.
 * Twilight
 * ET the Extraterrestrial
 * Smoking Is Cool: Paul tries to impress his crush, who smokes herself.
 * Take a Third Option:
 * Taking the Bullet:
 * They Do: Paul and Jay, in Episode 3, in quite possibly one of the most adorable ways depicted on television.
 * Villains Never Lie:  has some interesting revelations to make to Paul about how the Angelics decided to tackle the problem of ascension being "broken" and their subsequent treatment of the fades. Paul decides to temporarily trust him.
 * Wham! Episode: Episode 3.
 * Wipe That Smile Off Your Face: Episode 3. Paul uses his new-found power to seal his sister Anna's mouth shut.
 * Wham! Episode: Episode 3.
 * Wipe That Smile Off Your Face: Episode 3. Paul uses his new-found power to seal his sister Anna's mouth shut.

''Now... who's seen my Back to The Future Boxset? Nanu-Nanu!''