Atlantis, Telemon, TV review - The fantasy series takes its cue from The Hunger Games

Much like the Hollywood franchise, there were battles in the arena and a love triangle this week

Queen Ariadne takes over Atlantis after the death of her father King Midas (BBC)

Atlantis gives us its take on The Hunger Games tonight with the Coronation Games, a contest where warriors don’t quite battle it out to the death.

The fisticuffs in the arena are entertaining and predictably a bit cheesy – the old throwing sand in the eyes and hidden dagger move has been done a million times before. But this is safe, Saturday night viewing, after all.

While lacking bloodshed and Jennifer Lawrence, the similarities to The Hunger Games don’t end there. We’re propelled headlong into a love triangle between Ariadne (Aiysha Hart), Jason (Jack Donnelly) and the shady Prince Telemon (Clive Standen). Who will she choose?

It’s all going on in the mythical Greek city: we discover scheming Telemon's jailbird past down the salt mines; Jason’s secret – yes, another one, and it is so secret that even he doesn’t know what it is; Ariadne’s conflict over love and honour. Pasipae’s out of the picture this week, thankfully, otherwise it would all get a bit too much.

With King Minos actor Alexander Siddig departing for the vastly more impressive sets of Game of Thrones, the dynamic of the series was always going to change – and it’s surprisingly a change for the better.

We’ve entered a shiny new era of Atlantis - it’s pacier and more grown up. Newly crowned queen Ariadne is becoming more multi-dimensional and likeable as she matures. The shift in Ariadne is just what Atlantis needed to shake it up and stop it from becoming too similar to the first series.

And judging from the teaser for next week, things are set to get a whole lot more exciting.