So What Are The Fades?

They’re the supernatural beings at the heart of a new BBC Three show, and part of the fun will be discovering their mythology

The Fades is a new BBC Three show premiering this Autumn, written by Jack Thorne. Previously bets known for his TV work on Skins and This Is England ’86 (which he co-wrote with Shane Meadows), he is now the sole creator of The Fades , a show which he claims began life 30 years ago when he was a kid creating monsters in his imagination. There’s a full feature on the show in SFX 113, out next Wednesday, and here’s a little taster, with producer Caroline Skinner giving us a little insight into the show’s eponymous, etheral stars:

“The thing I found so exciting about working with Jack on developing the mythology of the show is that they’re Fades, and you’ve not seen Fades before. They’re not ghosts, they’re not werewolves, they’re not vampires, and although I think a lot of fantasy shows draw on people’s received ideas of monsters and how those things work, actually this is completely new. They are the spirits of the dead who are trapped alongside us in this world, and they’ve found a way to break back through.

“I think one of the really exciting things is that over the course of the seriesn that mythology will develop and turn in every episode. Just when you thought that you know what a Fade is, you’ll find out something else. Hopefully we’ve created something that’s a bit new.

“I hope that it’s going to be one of the scariest things that people have seen on TV in a long time.”