SERIES PREMIERE: Bruno Heller and Danny Cannon, who teamed for Fox’s
Batman prequel series
Gotham, have come up with something even more backward-looking – a pre-prequel. Whereas
Batman focused on the costumed crimefighter, and
Gotham showed a younger Bruce Wayne as he developed into a secret avenger with help from his loyal family butler Alfred,
Pennyworth goes back to London in the swinging Sixties to follow the butler himself – a younger, even scrappier Alfred Pennyworth, played by Jack Bannon. As always with the
Batman franchise, though, the villains steal the show – and in this case, the chief villain is Bet Sykes, introduced as a matronly, sadistic cockney woman played by British singer Paloma Faith. Faith is so into her role here that she makes
Pennyworth a comic-book series to add to your viewing list, just when you thought you didn’t need, and couldn’t stand, one more.
For a full review, see David Hinckley's All Along the Watchtower.