May the force be with you

Not so long ago people would be excited by a new Star Wars show or Lord of the Rings saga squeezed on to the small screen. The faintest whisper of the forthcoming Harry Potter series would have set the internet ablaze. Now some of the most untouchable franchises are in trouble. Luke Holland asks, is there any route back for them?

- LUKE HOLLAND

Since HBO announced its new, apparently very exciting and definitely necessary adaptation of JK Rowling's books, starring John Lithgow as Dumbledore, Paapa Essiedu as Snape and Nick Frost as Hagrid, reaction has been more muted than was perhaps hoped. Despite that excellent cast, and even putting aside the author's own personal journey from Hufflepuff to Slytherin, it isn't hard to see why.

Since the film series ended in 2011, we've had three Fantastic Beasts movies, a perennial stage play, more video games than you can waggle a Horcrux at, a cartoon series and, for reasons no one adequately explained, a baking show. If there is to be a tipping point that sends the wobbly house of cards toppling over for good, a pointless TV reboot could be it.

The solution: a transmogrify spell!

In order to justify its own existence, Potter the series needs to be recklessly brave, utterly unrecognisable from that which came before. Imagine a full-blown supernatural horror, set in the scariest haunted house imaginable: a creepy old school in which Dick Solomon from Third Rock from the Sun has a distressingly large beard. Every episode should be directed by a different horror auteur. Children may be traumatised. This could prove to be a costly failure. But imagine if it wasn't. Imagine it.

Star Wars The problem: it finds your lack of faith disturbing