The Terror: What the Must Watch reviewers think
Every week, the Must Watch podcasters review the biggest TV and streaming shows.
This week Hayley Campbell and Scott Bryan share their thoughts on The Terror on BBC Two and BBC iPlayer.
Based on Dan Simmons' 2007 novel, an elusive menace stalks the crew of two ships trapped by ice. Jared Harris, Tobias Menzies and Ciarán Hinds star.
Have you been watching it? What did you think? Leave your comments below...
BBC/AMC Film Holdings LLC/Aidan Monaghan
Hayley says: "It feels kind of special"
“I’m really into it. It’s very atmospheric and cinematic and unnerving. It highlights all that can go wrong when a group of men are desperate to survive in a place that doesn’t really want them to. It’s basically a horror movie in 10 parts.
“Isolation breeds madness and the most cinematic place to put that madness is on ice. We saw it in John Carpenter’s The Thing, which of course I love, and I think there’s nowhere scarier than being on a ship in the middle of ice. It’s such a great place for a horror story, which has its roots in something true. There where these two ships that sailed here and vanished and nobody knows what happened to them. Dan Simmons wrote this novel in 2007 which was a fictionalised version of what might have taken place.
“I also think the choice of actors is worth noting, because they’re all interesting ones. No one is a heart-throb or just famous for being handsome, they’re all known for interesting shows and roles. There’s Ciarán Hinds, who's been in films like There Will Be Blood. There’s Jared Harris from Chernobyl. It feels like a cast you might see in a theatre, rather than on a screen. It feels kind of special.”
BBC/AMC Film Holdings LLC/Aidan Monaghan
Scott says: "Its strength is its claustrophobia"
“It’s a must watch for me. Whilst I didn't get into the characters that much, I did get stuck into the plot.
The drama's strength is its claustrophobia, the feeling or foreboding and the complete and utter isolation experienced by the crew. You end up wondering how you would cope if you were stuck in the middle of the Arctic, with no idea when, or if, it will ever get out of there.
“This show is 10 episodes which I think could potentially be too many for it to carry on with that level of suspense and misery, but I do like the idea of using a historical event as a backdrop for an original drama.”
BBC/AMC Film Holdings LLC/Aidan Monaghan
The Terror is available now on BBC iPlayer.
Must Watch is released as a podcast every Monday evening from BBC Sounds and all other good podcast providers.
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