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Eric opens with a police press conference, looking for Edgar, the son of Vincent (Benedict Cumberbatch – Spider-Man: No Way Home More Fun Stuff Version) and Cassie (Gaby Hoffmann), who’s gone missing, with the titular character being the lad’s monster whom he created in his comic and used to draw regularly.
Alas, Edgar was allowed to walk to school on his own at the age of 9, but he never came home.
But then it goes back 48 hours, when life was better, and Dad Vincent could concentrate on his job as a puppeteer on a popular children’s TV show, Good Day Sunshine. However, the ratings are on the slide, and the bigwigs suggest they need to bring in a new puppet. Can Eric be the answer? Well, there’s soon to be more pressing matters at hand, as we know.
The basic premise sees the hard-drinking man believe that, somehow, bringing Eric off the page and into the show will not only boost ratings, but also serve to bring his son home. Let’s hope the booze doesn’t go straight to his head too much, since Vincent has a bit of a self-destructive nature, similar to BenCum’s character in Patrick Melrose. That said, without giving spoilers, it doesn’t take long before our lead realises he really shouldn’t drink so much…
He’s also plagued by the fact his fatheris a real estate mogul, of whom he’s poorly thought.
Meanwhile, cop Mikey Ledroit (McKinley Belcher III – Ozark) has recently transferred from Vice to Missing Persons, and is tasked with looking into Edgar’s disappearance, but for someone who used to uncover internal corruption in the NYPD, he’s still obsessed with an old case which his boss considers closed, but for which Ledroit’s still raking over old ground.
There’s also welcome roles for Dan Fogler (Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them) as Vincent’s colleague Lennie, and The Wire‘s Clarke Peters (also Truelove) as building janitor George.
So far, I’ve seen the first two episodes, and as well as it being brilliant, it’s difficult to know what to say without giving spoilers. Not just for what would be obviously big spoilers, but for those little moments which catch you unawares and should only really be known at the moment the drama decides to tell you.
But it’s safe to say there’s a lot going on with twists and turns, and at least I can say I heard Orange Juice’s Rip It Up in the opening episode, way in the background, which is from 1983, with the second episode featuring 1980’s A Forest by The Cure, but the drama is set in 1985, against the backdrop of the ’80s AIDS epidemic.
On a technical note, the image has been graded to look a few decades old, although it does look more to me like the ’70s, than the ’80s, but then I remember the ’80s as clear as it is now.
Additionally, unlike the usual 2.00:1 aspect ratio for Netflix dramas, this one is filmed in 1.66:1, a ratio which feels more ’50s and ’60s to me, than the ’80s.
Thanks to our friends at Netflix for the screener prior to release.
Eric is not available to pre-order on Blu-ray or DVD, but is on Netflix from May 30th.
Detailed specs:
Cert: 
Running time: 50-60 minutes per episode (6 episodes)
Release date: May 30th 2024
Studio: Netflix
Format: 1.66:1
Director: Lucy Forbes
Producers: Howard Ellis, Darren Goldberg, Adam Goodman, Holly Pullinger
Writer/Creator: Abi Morgan
Music: Keefus Ciancia
Cast:
Vincent: Benedict Cumberbatch
Cassie: Gaby Hoffmann
Lennie: Dan Fogler
Mikey Ledroit: McKinley Belcher III
Edgar: Ivan Morris Howe
George: Clarke Peters
Yuusuf: Bamar Kane
Sebastian: José Pimentão
Costello: Jeff Hephner
Tina: Erika Soto
Jerry: Donald Sage Mackay
Cripp: David Denman
Misha: Ioachim Ciobanu
Cecile: Adepero Oduye
Ronnie: Roberta Colindrez
Ellis: Chloe Claudel
Jackson: Simon Manyonda
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.