Twin Peaks (2017) [Showtime/Sky Atlantic] [** Spoilers **]

Holy hell.

Unconstrained by the artistic limits of early 1990s television, Lynch and Frost go all in. This is a follow-up to Twin Peaks, but equally to Mullholland Drive, Inland Empire and Eraserhead. It is a relentless, unnerving nightmare, the two-hour premiere a delirious machinegun fire of surrealism, terror and of course a good few laughs. It's hard to tell how all of this will come together, but really the question is whether it even should - if it manages to sustain this level of visceral quality, it could just be a completely random selection of scenes for all I care (slight exaggeration - there is plenty plot to grab onto amidst the crazy).

Hard to tell how this will play to a wider audience - it's unfiltered Twin Peaks / David Lynch, what with its . There's fan service amid mystifying new stuff. In terms of its visual imagination and impeccably disturbing sound design, it's second to none but also made me feel genuinely stressed and uneasy throughout. It is as pure a directorial vision as television has ever seen, highlighting the only ever limited success of previous efforts at abstract, experimental television narratives.

I loved it, but I'm glad I have to wait until later to dig into episodes 3 and 4. There's a lot to digest and some nerves to settle in the meantime