Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles is the eagerly awaited next chapter in the story of humanity’s fight against Skynet. Both explosive and emotive, it breathes new life into the franchise.

24 years ago, James Cameron created a film that would go on to be one of the most loved sci-fi action movies of all time - The Terminator. The story of a cyborg killing machine sent back through time to kill off Sarah Connor, mother of the future leader of a human resistance to enslavement at the hands of Skynet, it was a winning formula that spawned two sequels - Terminator 2: Judgement Day and Terminator 3: Rise Of The Machines.

This series fills in the gap between the later movies, following Sarah and her son John as they stay in hiding.

Taking place in 1999, the two are living as normal life as they can; with the surname of Reese (a nod to Michael Biehn’s character, Kyle Reese), she’s happily engaged and he’s keeping a low profile at school. Fortunately for us, that all goes wrong as another Terminator is sent back through time to assassinate John in class.

He narrowly escapes, thanks to the help of cute but deadly classmate Cameron, a female Terminator sent to protect him. The rest of the episode sees the three heroes hunted by cyborgs and FBI agents.

What was expected to be a bog-standard cash-in turns into a very impressive addition to the saga. It manages to mix some good action sequences (despite a TV budget) with brilliant characterisation. Make no mistake, this is a story and character driven series, with explosions thrown in to drive the point home that Skynet won’t go quietly.

The casting of the three main characters is inspired. Lena Headey bravely steps up to fill much-loved Linda Hamilton’s shoes as Sarah Connor. She pulls off the role as mother and fighter superbly, scolding John when he disobeys and laying her life on the line to fight Terminators. Equally, Thomas Dekker is perfect as the young man with the fate of the world on his shoulders and fills the gap between the John Connors of T2 and T3.

The real stand-out, however, is Summer Glau as Cameron. Where Kristanna Loken was merely a sexy cyborg, Glau is more than just a cute piece of hardware. As she learns from humans, she clearly takes it onboard, even going as far as wearing make-up. Yet, she retains the idiosyncrasies that make her a Terminator -  cold logic and shrugging off shotgun blasts. It’s this brilliant balance that Glau perfects and gives viewers a better insight into the existence and power of Terminators.

Long time fans will be pleased to see the length the series goes to explain Terminator mysteries. “What happened to Miles Dyson’s family?” “Who took over the Cyberdyne work?” “How do Terminators get skin?” are just some of the questions answered in the series, and that last one has to be seen to be believed.

That said, there are issues as to how it will tie in to T3, particularly when dealing with time travel. Some are addressed, such as Sarah’s death at the hands of cancer, but minor details may escape.