Bates Motel kicks off tonight

As fans of Alfred Hitchcock’s 1960 flick Psycho – and the three sequels, yep, all three – we were delighted to learn about prequel TV series Bates Motel.

We got a little glimpse into psycho Norman Bates’s back-story in Psycho 4, but that left us wanting to know more about Normal, about his mum and about the motel.

Bates Motel is the answer to our prayers. Starring Freddie Highmore (a grown-up Charlie from Charlie and the Chocolate Family – weird!), the show will hopefully shed a little light on why Normal is a psycho.

Freddie Highmore told Radio Times: “It’s got that instant appeal because people recognise Bates Motel and Norman Bates as a fun idea. What made Norman Bates Psycho?

“But the fact that they kept coming back is obviously good. The idea I guess is what first attracted me to it – solving the problem of when you see Psycho, why is he like this? What made him this way? And it’s that argument between nature versus nurture – is Norman Bates always destined to become a serial killer? Or is it because of this dodgy town he’s moved to and the weirdly intimate relationship with his mum that has made him this way?”

Bates Motel starts tonight at 9pm on Universal Channel.

Images courtesy of Universal.