A sci-fi series has taken the number one spot on IMDB following the release of its second season - despite the show's'disappointing' debut in 2022. The first season of the video game adaptation was deemed a'one-hit' wonder' by viewers who felt the story was written by a'high schooler' and the graphics were'low budget CGI.' But Halo season two, released this month, now sits at number one in IDMB's list of top sci-fi TV series. The Paramount series has 7.2 stars and more than 81,000 votes - overtaking popular shows like Netflix's Stranger Things and Black Mirror. Halo also has an 89 percent on Rotten Tomatoes - a jump from season one's 61 percent rating.

And so, after 17 years of false starts, numerous failed attempts at feature films (including a Peter Jackson venture), more than 265 drafts, a reported budget of $200m and a production schedule in Hungary decimated by the pandemic, we are finally set to see a TV series of the video game Halo. Will it have been worth such perseverance? Since the release of the first video game in Microsoft's crown jewel franchise – 2001's Halo: Combat Evolved – the series has sold more than 81m games, generating in excess of $6bn. If a network sticks the landing, a Halo TV show could be a significant weapon in its arsenal. For the uninitiated: Halo takes place at a time of intergalactic war between humans and a collective of quasi-religious alien species known as the Covenant.