With Truth Seekers, you might expect to see some of the tried and tested British humor that you have found in Simon Pegg and Nick Frost’s earlier collaborations, such as Spaced or the Cornetto trilogy. Taking a comedic approach to the horror genre, the show exudes warmth and good vibes in general. While it is generally funny, however, it is not as laugh-out-loud funny as you might have expected out of Pegg and Frost, who wrote the series along with Nat Saunders and James Serafinowicz.
Gus (Nick Frost) works for an Internet provider called Smyle in the UK, installing ‘6G’ internet and investigating haunted places in his spare time. When he is saddled with a new partner named Elton John (Samson Kayo), Gus initially bristles at having to babysit a “clueless millennial mouth-breather”, but soon comes around once he starts running into all sorts of paranormal situations with Elton. Before long, they come upon a strange woman in overalls named Astrid (Emma D’arcy) who joins them on their travels. The three get involved in a sinister plot by conspiracy theorist named Dr. Peter Toynbee (Julian Barratt) who is seeking to use brainwashed people to power his ascendancy to a higher dimension called Eternis.
The best thing about Truth Seekers is that it feels like a riff on Doctor Who focused on horror comedy.
There is an undeniable warmth that grows between the main cast, almost all of whom can be described as being ‘flawed, but affable’. That extends to Elton’s sister, Helen (Susan Wokoma) who’s a makeup Youtuber who struggles with agoraphobia, and Richard (Malcolm McDowell), Gus’s father-in-law who has a habit of wandering around the house without pants.
The show quickly falls into an episodic routine, and with eight thirty-minute episodes, it breezes through its runtime while still establishing its overarching plot. Dr. Toynbee’s ploy almost feels like another riff of the idea of ‘The Greater Good’ from Hot Fuzz, except this is more garden variety evil borne out of selfishness rather than some misguided gatekeeping of one’s neighborhood.
There is a good variety of ghosts and other supernatural phenomena in the show. From a World War 2 soldier trapped inside a machine and malevolent spirits following Astrid, to a ghost of a serial killer inhabiting a doll inside a building that used to be a mental asylum, there are plenty of mysteries for The Truth Seekers to solve. There is a clever twist late in the series, and it ends on a hopeful note for future stories.
Truth Seekers doesn’t always work as a comedy.
It never takes itself seriously- except for moments where the cast interact with their dead loved ones- and that sometimes makes it hard for the viewer to get invested in the story. Still, the cast makes it work, and hopefully, if the show gets a future season we get to see more of their camaraderie. The show is a nice break from the gamut of horror offerings that arrived in streaming sites just in time for Halloween. It’s not exactly scary, but then again, it doesn’t have to be. It’s a decent romp that plays horror completely straight and derives humor from the characters’ reaction to said horror.