State of Decay is, like the King Vampire, a strange beast. Beloved by most fans, when watching this story, I felt like I had to enjoy it. And I did. Well, kind of.

Although this serial has many great moments, it has faults. And some of these faults overshadow the highlights of the story.

Speaking of the story, our villains here are the Three Who Rule, who, tying into the E-Space arc, came from our universe but fell into E-Space, and somehow ended up becoming vampires, who want to free the King Vampire. I think. To be honest, I really can’t remember much of the plot of this story, only the set peices.

Aukon, who seems to be the main vampire out of the three, is played by Emrys James. The way he chose to play the character really irritates me, but apart from that, most of the acting is good.

Visually, this story is a real treat, the sets are beautiful, and the costumes are incredibly well designed.

It also has some wonderful sound design, with a stunning soundtrack.

But, a good atmosphere does not make up for an unintersting plot, which sadly, this story has.

Overall, State of Decay has great direction from Peter Grimwade, great acting from the regulars, but very middling writing from Terrance Dicks.

6/10