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Everything You Need to Know About AMC’s New Show The Terror
If you were expecting two hours of The Walking Dead on Sunday night, you were probably surprised to find that the second hour was actually dedicated to the first episode of AMC’s new show, The Terror. Created by David Kajganich (the screenwriter behind the upcoming Suspiria remake) and Soo Hugh (Under the Dome), and executive produced by horror legend Ridley Scott, The Terror follows two doomed British Royal Naval ships on an expedition searching for the Northwest Passage. Before you can even start to hold out hope that the ships’ crews might have survived, the show immediately tells you that they were never seen again, and a chilling prologue reveals that Captain Francis Crozier (Jared Harris) left behind a final message begging those who follow not to come looking for them.
If you missed the first episode of the 10-episode miniseries, you can catch the full two-part premiere on Monday night at 9pm on AMC. The show also stars Ciarán Hinds, Tobias Menzies, Paul Ready and Ian Hart among its principal cast, and is based on the novel of the same name by Dan Simmons, which was published in 2007.
Based on the confused reactions from The Walking Dead fans, it seems like not many people had heard of The Terror before its surprise preview. If you like what you’ve seen so far, but want to know more, here’s quick guide to AMC’s new miniseries.
IS THE TERROR BASED ON A TRUE STORY?
The Terror is speculative fiction – which is to say, it’s based on a true story, but most of the plot is fictionalized. The HMS Terror and HMS Erebus were both real ships, which set out on an expedition from England in 1845, and most of the characters in the show are based on real people. The entire expedition – a combined crew of 129 – was lost, and the wreckage of the two ships was not discovered until 2014 (Erebus) and 2016 (Terror). The series’ prologue, in which an Inuk offers some idea of what became of the lost men, is based on real accounts of searches for the lost ships. We also have some idea of how the men on the expedition died – mainly exposure and starvation, with some cannibalism thrown in. However, there was also evidence of lead poisoning, which led some to speculate that the poisoning had been instrumental in the expedition’s failure.
IS THE TERROR A SUPERNATURAL SHOW?
The biggest twist that Simmons’ novel adds to the story of the lost Franklin expedition is the addition of a monster called the Tuunbaq, which stalks the crew through the icy wilderness. So, while The Terror might just look like a particularly harrowing period drama, it does have supernatural horror elements as well. In the first episode, a dying seaman called David Young (Alfie Kingsnorth) has a vision of ghostly figure that warns him of the expedition’s impending doom. The unnerved ship’s doctor notes that the young man seemed to be clear-headed, and was not suffering from fever dreams or hallucinations. It seems like a safe bet that things will only get weirder from here.
IS THE TERROR WORTH WATCHING?
Yes, if the first episode is anything to go by. The Terror boasts a fantastic cast and wastes no time locking its poor doomed souls into a nightmare situation. The show has received mostly positive reviews from critics, with RogerEbert.com describing it as “Master and Commander Meets The Thing,” and Vulture calling it “less of a drama than a ten-hour nightmare.” It’s probably not for the faint of heart, and based on the reviews it seems like the first episode’s mix of grim deaths and oppressively icy atmosphere is merely a taste of the awful things to come. But for fans of movies where survival in harsh conditions clashes with an unknown monster menace (think The Thing, Alien and The Descent), The Terror will likely be a ten-hour treat.
The Terror‘s two-part premiere will air on Monday 26th March at 9pm on AMC
