After the film adaptation of Lemony Snickets books came out in 2004, fans were let down by the way the film tried – and failed to combine the first three books into one single film. I remember watching the film for the first time and wanting to cry because it was so awful. It was not how I pictured the world to be at all. Then last year, news of a Netflix original television show based on the books came to the surface and fans were weary that it would just end up like the film.

A Series of Unfortunate Events follows three siblings: Violet, Klaus and Sunny Baudelaire after they are made orphans by a terrible fire that killed their parents. They are placed in the care of the menacing and evil Count Olaf who only wants the children for the enormous fortune that their parents left them. As they bounce from home to home, trying to find the right people to stay with so that they will be safe, Count Olaf follows them, disguising himself as many people, so that he can get their money.

The Netflix original of the books was absolutely amazing.

The season is eight episodes long and tells the story of the first four books, each book taking up two episodes. I found that this was a much better way to tell the story because you have an hour and a half to tell one story instead of three like the film did. I also found the casting of the characters to be perfect, Neil Patrick Harris portrayed the role of Count Olaf beautifully and Malina Weissman (Violet), Louis Hynes (Klaus) and Presley Smith (Sunny). Each actor stays true to Lemony Snicket’s description of his characters and we even have Patrick Warbuton himself on-screen, who plays the role of Lemony Snicket and narrates the show.

What makes this adaptation even better is that Lemony Snicket himself (his actual name is Daniel Handler) was one of the executive producers, so you know that you’re getting something amazing if the author himself is playing a huge role.

I felt my childhood come to life whilst watching this and I cannot wait for season two to come out! This is a perfect family-friendly show to watch and if you’ve been a massive fan of the books, you will not be disappointed by this TV adaptation!

10/10