I suppose it can be comforting to imagine the ensuing chaos of our lives being dictated by a shadowy cabal, with objectives known only to them, a lot of times, these organisations are nefarious and well-organised. But if there was a mysterious society, would that always be the case? In 2022, a silly gag in a seldom-thought-of film would be the launching bed for a shadowy comedy, The Pentaverate.

The Pentaverate are a centuries-old secret society (except they are pretty benevolent, wanting to tackle climate, and cure disease). Inside this conspiracy is an even deeper conspiracy, and it is up to mild-mannered, local news anchor, Ken Scarborough, to battle this corruption. Luckily too, as he is looking at the prospect of retirement, unless he can score a big scoop for his ratings, and the see-it-to-believe-it society might just be his ticket.

Mike Myers is fully behind the project, and you can tell that beyond his hallmark of playing multiple characters. Effects work has progressed since the mid-90s, so when he is playing one of his eight different charters you can hardly recognise him as his voice work and makeup would fool the most discerning observers, let alone me. The humour is pretty consistent too, so if you liked the likes of Austin Powers or some of Myers’s other work in the past, you’ll know what to expect. From the humiliating way that new imitates are depicted to have died, to the interesting introductions provided by Jeremy Irons. Conspiracy is the operative word in this series, as moon landing scepticism to a whole plethora of video-site-hosted paranoia, is spoofed too. A fascinating reflection on the times we live in, as opposed to the relative calmness of 1993.

It does give Myers an excuse to display his impressive character work, rivalling Peter Sellers, taking on eight roles, from the protagonist, Ken to Australian media entrepreneur, Bruce Baldwin. Of course, Mike is not alone (although a one-man miniseries might be a blast to watch). Lydia West has found some time away from working on Russel T. Davis projects to go and assist Ken. The Pentaverate’s talents include Keegan-Michael Key, who seems like he’s always up for a comedy cameo, who teams up with the likes of Ken Jeong. Jennifer Saunders shows up as a character or two, with the majority of the filming taking place in the U.K. The soundtrack by Orbital helps round off the Britishness of this American-produced Canadian miniseries.

It is pleasing that a throwaway line, from a moderately-received film, can now spawn a miniseries. Whether it is the sign of brilliance or the pressure for more content at the drop of a hat, Myers still strikes with his brand of crowd-pleasing comedy. Netflix’s own Inside Job would try to run with the baton of conspiratorial comedy. Yet, there’s something about the do-gooding cabal, its ensemble cast and silly gags that works better than you would expect a throwaway gag from two decades ago would do. Whether written in the stars or orchestrated from behind the scenes, maybe tonight, you should leave your fate up to the powers that be.

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