I liked the "Interview with The Vampire" series from a few months ago and decided that I'd give the Anne Rice shared universe another go with "Mayfair Witches" that is on the BBC IPlayer in the UK. Whilst not totally without merit, it's slower and duller than "Interview", though knowing me I'll probably come back for the second season.
Rowan Fielding (Alexander Daddario) is introduced to her birth family following her adoptive mother's cancer diagnosis. The Mayfair family are a dynasty of witches, but who are tied to Lasher (Jack Houston) a shapeshifting entity who's darkness and power they fear. Lasher is currently bound to Rowan's biological mother Deirdre (Annabeth Gish) who is kept in a catatonic state to deaden his powers. However, a new family doctor is secretly cutting the medicine and allowing Deirdre and Lasher to recover.
There are a lot of performers that I quite like in this. Alexander Daddario is perhaps doing stuff similar to what we've seen her do before and Jack Houston too, but they're fine. Annabeth Gish is good for the brief part she's awake and Beth Grant is effective, though again it's not a wild departure from what she's played before. Harry Hamlin is interesting casting as I'm not sure I've seen him in anything since "Clash of the Titans".
I guess my problem was that I found the series dull. It's like "True Blood" but with all the campy fun dragged out of it and it progresses at a snail's pace. I struggled a lot of times with the motivation behind characters actions and to understand (or occasionally remember) what they actually wanted from a situation. There are other elements though that are thrown in when perhaps they could have been layered in a bit better - I'm thinking particularly of the witch hunter storyline that comes out of nowhere and becomes pivotal to the conclusion.
I'll probably watch the second season, I'm in it now, so can't do much about it, but in terms of a recommendation, I'd say there are better shows to invest your time with.