The following contains spoilers
So, episode one then. Was it any good?
It's not the greatest TV drama you'll see all year, but as a mid-August slice of escapism it wasn't bad, even if it featured all the usual trappings of a Stephen King-inspired tale.
Such as?
Members of a small, affluent American town affected by an extraordinary event.
Which was?
A large hemisphere which appeared out of nowhere and left most of the population trapped inside.
A bit like the plot of The Simpsons Movie?
Kind of. Only this was an energy field, rather than something made of glass.
So there's no chance of the trapped staging a daring escape on a motorbike then?
Doubtful.
Based on a story by Stephen King. That's good though, right?
To be honest, most SK-inspired TV dramas have been a little disappointing since Salem's Lot in the 1970s, but this could buck the trend.
What are the best bits?
A cow sliced in half when the dome first appeared, and a truck which smashed up against the force field. Oh, and a man's pacemaker exploded in his chest. That was nothing if not original.
How about the worst?
The moment a light aircraft collided with the eponymous structure in mid-air. The alleged hero, Barbie, didn't look shocked enough. In fact he looked like that sort of thing happened every day.
The hunky hero's called Barbie?
Yes.
Who plays him and where have I seen him before?
Mike Vogel. He was that guy in Cloverfield, The Help and Poseidon.
Is he a genuine good guy, or like so many heroes on TV, does he have a skeleton in his cupboard?
A bit of both. On the one hand he's a Special Forces operative, but on the other he was seen burying a man in the woods in the first few minutes, so the jury is still out on whether his moral compass points true north.
Sum up the plot in less than 50 words
One day the residents of Chester's Mill wake up trapped inside a huge transparent dome which acts as a force field, with no way out and no way in. Isolated from the rest of the world, they struggle to survive as panic escalates, and resources rapidly dwindle.
Is it the new Lost?
Hopefully it takes a lot less time to tell the tale, and fingers crossed there's a satisfying conclusion instead of another maddeningly annoying finale.
When can I see the next episode?
Under the Dome is on Mondays at 10pm exclusively on Channel 5.