TV Review Humans Series 2

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Spoiler alerts Season one of Humans was terrific, dealing with synthetic androids and their impact on the human society, especially as a small number of the synths develop their own artificial intelligence and human feelings. The stories largely focussed on the impact of the synths on a typical middle-class English family, especially after the father figure almost wrecks his marriage trying to initiate an affair with their synth servant. The synths themselves were under threat from a group of government officials seeking to destroy malfunctioning (sentient-aware) synths. Season two takes up where season one left off. The creator of the synths deliberately generated consciousness in a small number of synths who are now fugitives, and attempting to spread their awareness to other synths. Most are keeping a low profile, especially now they have killed a man who was hunting for them. One synth has however returned to the family who found themselves at the heart of the first synth crisis, hoping the lady-lawyer of the family will help her go public to be tried for murder as if she was a human, rather than a machine for deactivating. Riveting story with a sense of pending revolution and explosive repercussions but a strong sense of human rights with androids who have passed the Turing Test – this test, suggested by mathematician Alan Turing, says that if a computer or robot or alien can convince you that t is human, then it must be regarded and treated as human. Arthur Chappell