The Terror - BBC2 Wednesday

[ExcusesAndAccusations]

Quite excited for this to come to real telly because I am the only person I know who’s ever watched it - it was on AMC which came as part of my BT package a couple of years ago and it’s one of the best things I’ve seen in ages.

It’s about a Victorian naval expedition searching for the North West Passage but has a bit of a horror twist on the real world events - it’s harrowing in parts so you have to be feeling quite strong, but honestly the characterisation and the acting is breathtakingly good - I fell in love with so many of the characters.

Ciaran Hinds, Jared Harris and Tobias Menzies are the senior leads all playing a blinder.

I got a bit bored by episode 8 as I thought it got silly (although thank God for daylight). It also didn't appear cold enough??

My main gripe was not really knowing characters from each other. Took me til episode 10 to figure out who Des Voeux was and there were references to 'your brother' and an expectation of remembering characters' names , who had died and why that I just couldn't do.

For example, SPOILER ALERT IF NOT AT EP 6 , was the Liverpudlian so kindly looking after the guy with the exposed brain, the same guy (see now I don't know his name!) who allies with Cornelius?

Are we supposed to assume exposed brain guy died in the fire?

It isn't really based on fact crunchy as so few facts are known. But most evidence points towards hypothermia being a major cause of death . The lead poisoning has had doubt cast on it recently, I gather.

Watching. Watched 6 episodes. It's very good. Ridley Scott right? Do I guessed it'd be good. But it's so dark, I'm finding it hard to watch. Just waiting for the next horrific thing to happen. Sitting there, anticipating it. But enjoying it aswell. Does that make sense?

Yy Oblomov21, same here.

I think Scott was an executive producer.

I think Scott was an executive producer.

I think Scott was an executive producer.

We watched two episodes last night. Really enjoyed it, but like others, found it very mumbley and hard to understand in places. Will watch a couple more tonight. Trying hard to not read any spoilers.

Just finished the last episode and I really enjoyed it. It was a bit silly in parts but overall I thought it was good. I also used subtitles

Just finished this last night and had nightmares! Loved it, though. Even though it is the most gruesome thing I have ever seen on telly.

We were wondering in our house if
Tuunbaq (

I really enjoyed this, I wasn’t sure at first but it does pull you in. I wondered the same as previous posters - that it would probably be just as good without the creature added in. I’m glad it’s only on now, I couldn’t have dealt with the bleakness in lockdown 2!

We just finished watching this and I have a few questions!
Why did silna have to leave? I didn’t understand this. I also thought that perhaps the creature was a hallucination. I agree the story would have been better without it really.
Also SPOILER ALERT - is it the case that nobody made it back, even the group that set off south? I thought when the two men came looking at the end that maybe one looked familiar like he had been on the boat. But I wasn’t sure.

I think Silna was "cast out" because the creature died while she was its shaman? So it was a sort of punishment, part of their culture. The Tuunbaq was evoked as a direct consequence of the ship coming into the traditional Inuit lands.That was my understanding of it anyway.

I’m watching this and on E3. For those who want to read Michael Palin’s book; if you order it from his website he will sign it for free. I got DH a signed copy for Christmas.

That’s a great tip littleG thanks.
Does anyone know how close the story is to what they think actually happened? (Minus the creature obviously)

They rewrote the plot of the book extensively for the TV series because the ships were found after its publication. I think Fitzjames’ family history, which is one of the standout sequences for me, was also discovered after Simmons wrote the book.

Claire Warrior from the National Maritime Museum has been tweeting along - I think the producers consulted them extensively, and she’s very impressed. There’s some good franklinologist blogs out on the web as well if you want to dig deeper, but the actual sequence of events and specific causes of death in their last days are still unknown I think.

Oh I forgot to link.
mobile.twitter.com/ClaireWarrior1

That’s really interesting, thanks for the link Excuses.

I just absolutely loved this, grim as it was. I think Jared Harris is incredible in this; his character had such a fantastic arc. As were Tobias Menzies and Paul Ready.

I do wish they had left the supernatural polar bear out of it. Things were already quite interesting enough without adding a Game of Thrones style CGI animal. The last episode with Hickey going nuts was a bit ridiculous.

This is the best thing I've seen in ages.

I thought the polar bear thing was a figment of their imagination because they were all going mad

@LittleG69

I’m watching this and on E3. For those who want to read Michael Palin’s book; if you order it from his website he will sign it for free. I got DH a signed copy for Christmas.

The television series is based on Dan Simmons book. The Terror . It's a fabulous read- given that there are so few hard facts.

Extraordinary tv series. Loved it

Just watch 8 & 9 last night - finale next week - no spoilers please!

But thought the whole bear bit was just stupid. There was enough going on not have this as well.

Its like films nowadays, they can start of being about anything and then finish up being a zombie movie.

Not everything has to be aimed at teenage boys.

An still interested in how they finish it, but think the bear is just stupid.

I dread to think what they will have done with series 2 which is based in a Japanese WWII prisoner of war camp. As if that wasn't a terror enough. What will they have in place of the bear - a tiger?

Honestly sometimes despair about films / tv series get the go ahead.

I came in here to see if there was a thread about this, we binged it last weekend - I wasn't too fussed about watching it because it looked like a load of samey looking olden timey dudes doing olden timey dude stuff, plus it sounded depressing af, but half an hour in I was completely gripped, despite being the neshest person alive, so being permanently freezing cold is my absolute worst nightmare. 100% would rather be chopped in half by a demon spirit bear than dicking about getting frostbite for months on end.

I am definitely going to order the Michael Palin book. While I was going down a google/wikipedia rabbit hole about the expedition and the making of the show etc, I found a book called The Spectral Arctic which is available free as a pdf here (and is 99p atm on kindle) that is about horror myths, dreams, shamanism and the arctic. I haven't read the dan Simmons novel, but in some of the reviews and articles I read about the show, I saw that in the novel, it is made explicit that the bear and its relationship with the sailors and the indigenous people's way of life is a parable for how the victorian Industrial Age kicked off man made climate change.

jared Harris deserves all the awards for everything. he was absolutely incredible in this. the lad who played the grinning sociopath as well was brilliant.

subtitles rule. I can't watch anything without subs nowadays. if the dialogue is audible, the music and noise like gun fire or cars is deafening. it drives me mad. for the first few episodes I had barely any notion of who was who as it was, I can't imagine how difficult it was to follow without subs.

Just finished watching this, absolutely superb.

My only minor quibbles were that there were too many characters - I'd just get a few straight before they got killed off!

I actually cried at one point SPOILER ALERT when Fitzjames was dying and the doctor said, with his voice breaking, "it's an honour to have served you, sir".