The Mandalorian season 1

Taking a criminally long time to arrive here in the UK when compared to those in the US and other places, Disney+'s highly anticipated Star Wars spin-off series The Mandalorian can finally be enjoyed in full on the new streaming service. With the end of Rey/Kylo trilogy in 2019 and with Disney hoping to continue capitalising on the Star Wars licence, the sky was the limit for Mickey Mouse as he dominated cinemas throughout the last decade and a new TV series seemed like the next logical place to go between the tentpole movies. Sure we've had animated shows about Star Wars until this point but The Mandalorian would be live-action and set far away from the Skywalker family.

Avoiding spoilers, the series takes place following the end of Return of the Jedi when the Death Star has been destroyed and the Empire's forces have been scattered to a dwindling few. It's an interesting idea for any fans of the series and with Pedro Pascal's armour-clad bounty hunter named, The Mandalorian (or 'Mando' for short), we see a darker and seedier side to the galaxy with similarities to Rogue One. The story revolves around a profitable bounty Mando is offered from Werner Herzog's former Empire officer but things take a turn when he discovers it's what is widely now known across the internet as 'Baby Yoda'.

At eight episodes long and with most lasting around 45 minutes at the very most, each episode acts as a short story which Jon Favreau and his team direct with great efficiency. While I'd say some episodes, particularly the second, can be so simply straightforward or not all that necessary to the overall plot, there's something just so watchable about this series that kept me coming back. Visually it's on par with the franchise with a mix of CGI and nice amount of practical effects, while backed with a strong support cast of names including Gina Carano, Carl Weathers, Giancarlo Esposito and Nick Nolte.

The Mandalorian as a show will certainly work for Star Wars fans and reassure those who were left disappointed by The Rise of Skywalker, but for everyone else they might find this lacking a certain pull factor to truly get them engaged. Overall the show is a fun time that's slickly made if a little forgettable and undecided who it's target audience is but I'd still recommend this to fans of the franchise.