An American student named Randi Wallace travels to England in order to study mythology under British professor Doctor Ian Matheson. Whilst ghost-hunting out on the moors, she is attacked and bitten by a savage animal. At the next full moon she turns into a werewolf, and manages to convince her new professor of her condition. Together the two of them begin to investigate various supernatural occurences, in order to explore mythology and attempt to find a cure for Randi's curse ...

As you can see, thankfully this series shares very little in common with the dull 1940's movie "She-Wolf of London" from which it takes it's name. It actually seems much more inspired by John Landis' classic 1981 horror movie "An American Werewolf in London", not only with it's very similar storyline but also with it's darkly humorous approach to the standard supernatural horror formula. It certainly showed great promise in some areas, but unfortunately the English financial backers for the show dropped out after four months due to some poorly-written episodes. The creators were brave enough to move the show over to Los Angeles for six more episodes and retitle it "Love and Curses", but after this the series was soon cancelled altogether.

Considering the series is titled "She-Wolf of London", few of the episodes are actually focused on lycanthropy, and some don't feature the werewolf at all. Mostly Randi and Ian just investigate various supernatural occurences, such as ghosts and zombies and nymphomaniac sex demons ... Randi is, however, constantly on the look-out for a cure to her condition, even in the most unlikely places. In the "London" episodes, Ian's extended family provide both comic relief and serve as key characters on occassion, and the "will they, won't they" relationship between teacher and student is prominent all the time, sometimes charming and sometimes irritating. Some have argued that "She-Wolf" was heavily influenced by "The Incredible Hulk" television series, but to me it seems more likely that it was simply following after Frank Lupo's "Werewolf", which was certainly influenced by that show.

Kate Hodge gives a peculiar, quirky performance as Randi, which can become a little annoying at times but for the most part she's good. She seems more interested in the comic aspects of the series rather than the horror or the drama elements. Neil Dickson, meanwhile, is a superb actor who you may or may not remember for his excellent portrayl of every schoolboy's favourite World War One pilot in "Biggles : Adventures in Time". Okay, so you probably won't. But anyway, he's perfectly cast as the stuffy, charming professor (a kind of proto-"Giles" character, if you will -- this series seems a strong predecessor for "Buffy"), and as long as the script is good he is a reliable performer.

The series isn't nearly as good as it could have been, but aside from certain episodes it's certainly not as bad as some would have you believe. The redeeming quality of the series is it's odd and original mix of creepiness and corny humour. Overall it was a promising blend of horror and comedy, with some truly excellent episodes, and it's a great shame what ultimately became of it.

Episode Title	Air Date	Rating
She-Wolf of London	09/10/1990
The Bog Man of Letchmoor Heath	16/10/1990
Moonlight Becomes You	23/10/1990
The Juggler	30/10/1990
Nice Girls Don't	06/11/1990
Little Bookshop of Horrors	13/11/1990	N/A
Can't Keep a Dead Man Down Part 1	20/11/1990	N/A
Can't Keep a Dead Man Down Part 2	27/11/1990	N/A
The Wild Hunt	04/12/1990	N/A
What's Got Into Them?	12/01/1991	N/A
Big Top She Wolf	19/01/1991	N/A
She Devil	26/01/1991	N/A
Voodoo Child	02/02/1991	N/A
Beyond the Beyond	09/02/1991	N/A
Curiosity Killed the Kravitz	06/03/1991	N/A
Habeas Corpses	13/03/1991	N/A
Bride of the Wolfman	20/03/1991	N/A
Heart Attack	27/03/1991	N/A
Mystical Pizza	03/04/1991	N/A
Eclipse	10/04/1991	N/A

The Wolf While she does portray the human counterpart Randi Wallace, Kate Hodge only plays part of the werewolf creature. She endures only the first stage of makeup (see top photo, from pilot episode), which involves hair, fangs, contact lenses and the like, and then the honor passes to Diane Youdale, who dons the entire werewolf suit which involves a couple more hours of makeup (see second photo down, from "The Wild Hunt"). It's surprising that it takes that long to apply, as the costume is actually pretty embarrassing. It often looks like a woman running around in tights and a fuzzy jumper, which is essentially exactly what it is. And at times Hodge looks more like a goblin than a wolf. Here, the werewolf changes exclusively at the full moon. Unless there's artificial moonlight (see third photo down, from "Moonlight Becomes You". Or a satanic ritual (see fourth photo down, from "Can't Keep a Dead Man Down Part 2"). Or a wizard. Or a voodoo doll. Actually, it doesn't seem at all hard to bring the werewolf forward through the use of dark magic, which makes the curse particularly dangerous. There doesn't appear to be any cure, although they do keep searching, except for the standard werewolf cure -- death. At her more depressed moments, Randi does of course contemplate this. In human form, Randi occassionally mentions heightened senses, as well as a strange lust for meat and the thrill of the hunt. In wolf form, she becomes a ravenous beast and has absolutely no control over herself. To deal with this, she and the professor construct a cage in the basement of his London home in which she can be locked during the full moon. It's unfortunate that many of the episodes don't actually feature the werewolf, but in any episode there's generally at least an awkward, out-of-place mention that Randi is a werewolf, in order to justify the title of the series for those who aren't familiar with it.

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