‘It: Welcome to Derry’ series review: Sweet, sprawling and shocking

As literature students, we were all taught to respect ‘it’ — the pronoun, not Stephen King’s horrid clown Pennywise from his 1986 doorstopper. We were repeatedly told not to use ‘it’ indiscriminately, to use a clear subject rather than the opaque pronoun. As we grew older, it came to stand for even more frightening things including information technology and income tax.

So there is an innocence to King’s It, which takes the shape of one’s darkest fear with its scariest personification being the malignant clown, Pennywise. It tells the story of seven children in Derry, a small town in Maine, who discover an evil presence in their town that surfaces every 27 years to wreak havoc.

Told over two timelines — from 1957 to 1958 and 1984 to 1985, the novel tells of the children facing their fears to defeat It and returning as adults to confront It again.

In Andy Muschietti’s 2017 adaptation, It, and the 2019 sequel, It Chapter Two, the timelines are updated to 1988 and 2016. The plot remains largely the same, thankfully minus the orgy. Now, in It - Welcome to Derry, also developed by Muschietti, we have a prequel series set in 1962.

The first episode opens with the screening of a film, The Music Man and a child, Matty (Miles Ekhardt), who scuttles away when the usher comes. Ronnie (Amanda Christine) who hangs about the theatre, as her father, Hank (Stephen Rider) works there, misdirects the usher about Matty.    

Matty runs out to the street and when a car with what looks like a traditional American family pulls up, Matty thinks his troubles are over only to realise to his horror that he has jumped from the frying pan into quite the hellish fire.

At first glance, Derry seems to be the model American town but naturally is hiding every kind of awful secret including some heavy-duty ancient multi-dimensional being that preys on children’s fears. There is also racism and gender inequality.

The Cold War is at its height as is the fear of nuclear annihilation. In the picture-perfect streets of Derry where women and girls are prudently dressed in sweater sets, another Derry thrives, appropriately in the sewers.

Fresh from the Korean War, Leroy Hanlon (Jovan Adepo) moves into Derry with his activist wife, Charlotte (Taylour Paige) and son Will (Blake Cameron James). His commanding officer, General Shaw (James Remar), needs Leroy for a special assignment that could use Leroy’s lack of a fear response.

Derry is not kind to its children, as Marge (Matilda Lawler), self-conscious about her large glasses, and Lilly (Clara Stack), grieving her father’s death in a pickle factory accident, soon discover. Rich (Arian S. Cartaya), is shunned for his Cuban roots.

While the beginning and the end of the episode are shocking completely turning one’s expectations on the head, the middle bits skitter about causing loss of focus. The other four episodes follow a similar template with long stretches of build up punctuated by short bursts of undiluted terror.

There are callbacks to the movies — from Pennywise (Bill Skarsgård reprises his role) to Mike Hanlon, the smug chief of police Clint Bowers (Peter Outerbridge), and even Dick Hallorann (Chris Chalk) from The Shining. The excellent production design immerses us in 1962 Derry, while the cast’s chemistry draws us into the thrilling, gory action, all wrapped in a strangely comforting Stranger Things vibe.

It: Welcome to Derry is currently streaming on Jio Hotstar with weekly episodes dropping until December 14