Season 3 of A Discovery of Witches brings the trilogy to a thrilling close

First of all, forget everything you ever thought you knew about vampires. Things were much simpler in the days of Hammer Film Production Ltd (mid-1950s to 1970s) when Count Dracula could swirl his cape and disappear in a cloud of bats. He had no reflection in mirrors, daylight would kill him, and a crucifix or bulb of garlic could keep him at bay at least until sunrise.

These are the terrors that haunted my childhood nightmares, long before the advent of the vampire as a sex symbol.

Today, film and television makers play fast and loose with these myths, mixing and matching to suit their purposes – which are to entertain a wider audience. Nosferatu just won’t hack it anymore. In A Discovery of Witches, vampires walk freely in the world, day and night, and are even devout Catholics. They wouldn’t be caught dead sleeping in a coffin, and for the most part, they don’t feed on human blood if they can help it. They have morals.

In this world, witches are born, sometimes of witch parents, sometimes to daemons. According to the official website for Deborah Harkness’s All Souls Trilogy of books (on which the series is based), daemons “are creative, artistic creatures who walk a tightrope between madness and genius.” The site elaborates: “[Daemons] live life in a chaotic fashion, yet show great affection for those around them who share their ideals.”

These are the three creature species at the core of this sprawling saga which, when stripped to its essence, is about finding an ancient book, whose secrets will either unite or divide them. A lot of other stuff happens along the way (really, a lot), and a very important fact is that interspecies mating is forbidden by a covenant, upheld and enforced by the Congregation – a representative group of the creatures.

Spoilers abound in the following review – watch A Discovery of Witches Seasons 1 to 3 on Showmax before you start reading.

In Season 1, vampire Matthew Clairmont (Matthew Goode, Downton Abbey) meets and ultimately falls in love with Diana Bishop (Teresa Palmer), a witch who was spellbound as child (her natural powers curtailed) and who is only now beginning to understand her true power, when she manages to access a book in an Oxford library that has been missing for centuries. 

Although an uneasy and frequently acrimonious relationship exists between witches and vampires, Diana manages to win over both Matthew’s parents – his mother and sire Ysabeau de Clermont (Lindsay Duncan) in Season 1, and his father, Ysabeau’s husband, Phillipe (James Purefoy) in Season 2, when they time travel back to 1590 in the continued search for the book as well as to find a witch to teach Diana how to use her magic. Fabulous costumes, especially for Diana, are a bonus. The couple meets the Queen of England and the King of Bohemia, because that’s how they roll.

In the third and final season, Matthew and Diana return to the present, married and with child, to be confronted with all the drama that’s been happening during their absence: a spate of vicious killings by a mysterious vampire which show signs of blood rage, a disorder linked to the de Clermont family; Matthew’s son Marcus (Edward Bluemel) has a new human girlfriend; and the bad witch Peter Knox (Owen Teale) murders one of his own kind.

He’s a thoroughly unpleasant character, from the moment he arrives in the first season, and he gets worse so it’s gratifying when he meets his end, in a suitable act of retribution.

There are more threads than Diana can weave into a spell, and there is much to tie up in Season 3, with even more action piled onto the existing crises, as well as a deep scientific dive into creature DNA.

“The big questions hanging over these three seasons – what is Blood Rage, who is the prophecy about and how do these races come together in harmony – are all explored and explained, meaning fans should be satisfied with the way A Discovery of Witches concludes.

“Of course, the big focus here is on love and romance, which is ultimately the drive for A Discovery Of Witches,” says Review Geek. “If you’re going into this expecting any differently then you’re bound to be left disappointed. A Discovery Of Witches has never pretended to be anything but light, fluffy entertainment – and season 3 delivers that in abundance.”

It’s “seven binge-worthy episodes full of stunning displays of magic and mysteries to solve, with a satisfying (if a little too neat) resolution that marks the beginning of a new era for our beloved protagonists,” says Loud & Clear Reviews. “There’s a lot to be loved in A Discovery of Witches‘ Season 3, from the warmth of its performances to the universality of its themes.”