Not even the little ones are what they used to be.

In any case, in Midwich, a well-groomed spot near London – a lawnmower can be seen on the coat of arms of the town – the youngsters are driving the population to despair.

He dominates their existence in a way for which only terror is the right word.

Gummy bear armies?

Marzipan tanks?

Strawberry ice cream for life?

No way: the uniformed elementary school students who came to power in Midwich spread fear and terror.

They calculate very carefully what they do.

The question is where is this leading to in the British horror series Midwich Cuckoos - and how many viewers will stay tuned to the end.

This third film adaptation of the novel of the same name by John Wyndham ("The Triffids" 1951, "When the Kraken Awakens" 1953, "The Chrysalids" 1955, and "The Midwich Cuckoos" 1957) does not exactly invite you to binge-watch.

With its ghost train flickering stage lights and the fixed children's eyes, it is more of an invitation to revisit Wolf Rilla's classic "The Village of the Damned" from 1960.

But one thing has to be said about the Sky series created by David Farr ("The Night Manager", "Hanna"): it starts off strong before it fades away.

We meet a couple in love named Zoë (Aisling Loftus) and Tom (Ukweli Roach) moving from the big town to the small town expecting a harmonious chapter in life, a single mother family therapist named Susannah Zellaby (Keeley Hawes), a serious cop named Paul Haynes (Max Beesley) and several more.

They are all knocked out of their everyday lives by a mysterious event announced by startled flocks of birds, nervous horses, crackling overhead cables and defective traffic lights.

Beware of the Immaculate Conception

A power outage, you could say.

But that doesn't reflect the drama of the situation.

Because during this "blackout" everyone in the vicinity of the local elementary school and even the horses faint to the ground, and when they wake up again like the Sleeping Beauty court of yore - we skip the appearance of the military helicopters flapping in the twelve hours in between - all women feel in the childbearing age unexpected life in itself.

Without sex.

One thing is certain: the women are pregnant, and they are being condemned to absolute silence and constant scientific scrutiny by government officials, who seem to be no strangers to the phenomenon.

Excitement everywhere, tears in some places.

Susannah, the therapist, and Paul, the police officer, see more of what's going on through their professional and personal lives than ordinary Midwich citizens do.

And then the kids are born, which takes the worry lines out of Midwich for a while.

It's only when they start school that things start to get tricky: the kids act like they're connected, and if you fool them - they can do dangerous things with the power of their minds.

In a tantrum, a girl directs her mother's hand into the hot steam over the saucepan.

Two boys drop a classmate who was conceived normally from the swing.

And they all stare around in the way that children normally only stare at screens.

Under these circumstances, life in Midwich soon seems like life in an occupied country to the families concerned.

Unfortunately not for the viewers.

"Midwich Cuckoos" runs out of breath halfway through, and even British artist Hannah Peel's sinister synth soundtrack can't stop it.

The question of whether this story really knows what it is getting at becomes more and more pressing.

And the characters remain indifferent to us, which is surprising given the total of seven episodes.

Each episode of The X-Files felt more under your skin than the first six episodes of Midwich Cuckoos, which were previewable.

Parents are still allowed to secretly giggle here and there.

The Midwich Cuckoos

, airs on Sky Atlantic from Thursday.