Dallas, DVD review - Telegraph Dallas is not a slow burner. The 2012 reboot blazes with the intensity of a flaming oil barrel, sticky revelations and betrayals spilling out of every episode. For those who've grown used to the glacial exposition of character popularised by HBO, this will be something of a departure - but this pacy, slick series has an addictive quality of its own. Rather than rehash the original, this is a continuation set 14 years after the last episode aired, picking up on the lives of the original cast - many of whom feature - and introducing a new generation of Ewings. Jesse Metcalfe is the smouldering twentysomething Christopher Ewing and adopted son of Bobby. He has been researching alternative energies in Asia, returning to the family ranch to get married. His arch rival is John Ross Ewing (played by John Henderson), the son of JR and a man made in the image of his greedy father. The characterisation isn't too complicated. Christopher - one of the good guys - is keen to turn his back on the mucky oil industry, and thinks he has discovered an alternative in the form of frozen methane hydrates. John Ross, meanwhile, wants to drill, baby, drill - and he's as bad as his dad. The plot follows the feuding families as they battle over the Southfork ranch and the potentially lucrative oil reserves contained within it. The rolling green hills and tanned faces lend a glossy Hollywood sheen to the series that helps smooth over the hammier moments (an embarrassing French-speaking scene 20 minutes into the first episode springs to mind). Dallas is not about to win any Golden Globes, but it has its own playful, pantomime charm. It introduces 21st-century concerns to the series that might raise the hackles of a few purists, but at its core this is an uncomplicated soap opera whose pleasure stems from its abundance of dark secrets.