Manifest

A flight lands after an apparently ordinary journey, but years have passed for the people on the ground. Manifest begins with the passengers trying to return to lives that have continued without them.

That is an effective emotional problem before the wider mystery arrives. Families have grieved, relationships have changed and familiar roles are no longer waiting to be resumed. The passengers' strange experiences then pull the programme towards a larger speculative explanation.

The continuing revelations did not hold me well enough to stay with it. There is a considerable amount of melodrama between developments, and the series asks for investment in the ensemble as much as curiosity about the flight.

It may suit viewers who enjoy a network-style mystery with a strong emotional and spiritual component. Lost is the more compelling recommendation for a large group caught inside an unexplained situation. Manifest is most distinctive when it stays with the uncomfortable business of coming home after everybody has had to learn to live without you.