Dark? There's no moving paintings, Hermione isn't brilliant, Hagrid's hardly in it, nor are the Dursleys... Nor is Voldemort, come to that. It's very focused. Properly lit night scenes are properly dark.
Jim Broadbent is fabulous, of course.
So I think my favourite bit still is: Harry and Ginny are about to kiss when there's an attack on the Weasley house. Harry races out, hotly followed by Ginny, who charges unheedingly through a wall of flames the guys are trying to put out. We can hear Bellatrix chanting 'I killed Sirius Black' (which is really funny), then there's an expertly lit and edited sequence of racing through reeds (Onibaba, anyone?) and wizard duel.
Actually I also like the bit in the subterranean cave, though there's a couple of niggles - one minute Harry's surrounded by what look like Gollums, then only one of them drags him below the water? And Dumbledore seems so weak, begging for water, when the next minute he's produced this glorious maelstrom of fire (which, particularly after almost black and white photography, looks amazing)?
When you compare it to the 'Whoah!' factor of 1 & 2, it seems like a different series altogether.
Young Tom Riddle is rather well played by Hero Fiennes Tiffin (!) and Paul Ritter's in it somewhere.
Production design Stuart Craig, visual effects Tim Burke, James Mather supervising sound editor, fabulous end titles by Fugitive Studios.
Funeral of Hagrid's beloved spider is almost a John Ford moment...
The third episode in a row to end on a shot of that fucking Loch...
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