The Terror - BBC2 starts tuesday 3 March 2021 - thriller with starry cast - week by week no spoilers please!

[stumbledin]

Previously shown on ??? now available for those of us who cant afford a subscription service!

Based on true story of 19th Century expedition to find the North West Passage.

Supernatural? Gothic?

www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0954ks6

Jared Harris is immense in Chernobyl. As is Adam Nagaitis who plays Mr Hickey. I haven't had the opportunity to watch Chernobyl but I've heard amazing things about it. It's not been on Netflix or Amazon Prime has it?

Erebus by Michael Palin certainly gives some background to some of the discussions made during the course of the unfolding drama of The Terror. I think in episode six or seven Crozier is having a conversation with one of the men who was on the Ross expedition at the end of the 1830s (where he indicated that the men had come very close to killing Ross for his high and mighty attitude when they were in a not dissimilar situation - luckily they were rescued at the eleventh hour). It all helps to understand the men, their attitude and resolve (or lack of).

NewModelArmyMayhem18 you can buy Chernobyl on Amazon Prime, or look on NowTV (they'll probably offer you a free trial).

Jared Harris is exceptional in it. Although he is in everything really.

@ikiboo - where is Chernobyl available please?

I really enjoyed it, I think I might watch it again as it took me a long time to work out who all the different people were so I probably missed a lot. The plot and themes really came together towards the end (I won’t spoil it by saying anything beyond that.)
It was also quite refreshing to have a horror film where you got a proper look at the monster.
The book must be brilliant - the strength of plotting and detail of research. I loved the Victorian idioms they used. I wonder what else the author has written.

Jared Harris is George VI in The Crown and Henry VIII in the tv adaptation of The Other Boleyn Girl.

@52andblue It looks like it's still on Sky and HBO & NOW. You can usually sign up to a free trial for one of them if you just want the channel for Chernobyl.

Thanks for the tips. I only started watching The Crown for the 'Diana' years. Clearly, I need to so some historical RF back-pedalling!

Oh and yes I agree about the book. I suspect it must have taken a lot of research to write it and make it authentic. It's on my 'to read' list. I definitely think I will be paying tribute to Mr Goodsir at The Royal Maritime Museum Greenwich as soon as is possible.

POSSIBLE SPOILER ALERT - when they hold the carnival that goes so terribly wrong, I loved the Zoetrope you see in the foreground at one point (I think when Crozier and Jespson walk through the tents to see what mischief and mayhem is happening) that mirrors the shape of Hickey's 'to come'.

Hmm, shall I read the Mallory expedition/Abominable Snowman one, the Dickens one or the Sherlock Holmes one? They all have a few hundred odd four star reviews.

Jared Harris is also in Mad Men where he is absolutely brilliant. He's a very good actor ( like his dad).
We finished this last night and like others struggled with hearing all the dialogue but really enjoyed the writing and the acting. I wish they hadn't shown the Tuunbq as I think it would have been enough in our imagination which is presumably how the native Inuit people saw it. I will now look out for the book.
NOWTV often have free trials, it's worth it for Chernobyl alone though

We finished the series last night too and can't get it out of my head today! Had some seriously weird dreams since we started watching

Agree the dialogue was so muffled/mumbled that it took a while to work out what was going on but once into it I found it mesmerising. I also thought the acting was incredible in parts. Hickey was such a repulsive but enigmatic character and Goodsir and Crozier's characters I thought were played to perfection.

I also thought we should never have seen the CGI Tuunbaq as it would have been far more fascinating to be left wondering whether it was real or imagined by the starving, traumatised men.

I read up about the history and most was based on recent research and discoveries of remains in the area. Really fascinating story and glad I managed to sit through the gore (some was truly horrific to watch) to enjoy it!

For anyone who has watched it all and is holding back because this is a no spoilers thread (only up to episode 7) there is another thread!
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/telly_addicts/4178147-The-Terror-BBC2-Wednesday

So you dont have to hold back - but thanks for those who have.

@stumbledin oh god I hope my comment didn’t spoil! It’s so good

No, no! I thought it was very tastefully done, but sort of felt you were holding yourself back so thought if you wanted to really go into it the other thread might be the place.

We've just watched episode 5 and really enjoying it. Great acting, great writing. Love Crozier and Goodsir, Mr Blakey came into his own in this episode too. Haven't figured out what Hickey is up to yet, other than generally causing trouble...

I hate Mr Hickey

I want to ask a question about episode 6 (broadcast last week) so if you haven't watched it yes - it is a spoiler, but within the rules of week by week (I hope).

SPOILER QUESTION ABOUT EPISODE 6!

Why did the surgeon start the fire. Was he another suffering from the lead poisoning or .... ?

On another web site they said it was because he realised or thought they were all doomed, no food, abandoning the ship, etc..

He always seemed so disengaged with what is going on around him, and quite hard hearted so starting a big fire to stop future suffering doesn't seem to really fit.

Anybody understand?

I have watched it all and found it absolutely brilliant. I couldn’t stop thinking about it for days and like a PP said it infiltrated my dreams.
I have done a fair bit of research on all the real life characters - previous voyages and their lives before this fateful voyage.
I am quite a fan!
In answer to you OP, the doctor set it all alight because after learning about the lead in the food, he realised they were all doomed and wanted to end it all quickly. Don’t forget they had been in the ice for years at this point and I am assuming darkness and depression consumed him to commit this crazy act.
Incidentally, the food in the real voyage had lead leaking into it and also botullism is thought to have been in the food due to badly sealed cans- the navy taking the lowest bidder for canned food when securing provisions

Thanks for that. Have had problems hearing all the dialogue as they dont seem to record everybody at the same level.

Will have to put my psychodelic sub titles on!

He always seemed so disengaged with what is going on around him, and quite hard-hearted so starting a big fire to stop future suffering doesn't seem to really fit. I would actually say that his behaviour entirely fits in with being detached and hardhearted. I think the tipping point for him was the 'dark thoughts' conversation he had with the officer (sorry can't remember his name) who was later salivating at the thought of a tasty (human) piece of meat, just ahead of the carnival.

It was quite an exceptional drama and one that will stay with me for a very long time. In a way, I thought there were similarities with the film 'Alien'.

BTW I am sure when I originally read about the doomed expedition years and years ago, I recall the suppliers of the tinned foodstuffs was F&M! Is that right?

I agree the doctor knew they were doomed

I think there was a radio drama that was about one of the overland treks to the North Pole(?). They too had to abandon their attempt but made it back to some sort of shelter where they thought they would be save until the ice melted and could be rescued.

I think the tasty human flesh was actually tasty dog flesh, said to have broken a leg and so killed, but more likely just killed.

And they died from food poisoning because their only food was tinned food.

So am now wondering how many other Victorian expeditions, or even armed conflicts, failed because of untested use of tinned food.

.
Am wondering why the BBC showed one episode only at the beginning then 2 each week, as it mean 8 & 9 this week, and the final next week.

And they died from food poisoning because their only food was tinned food.

I've just finished to Michael Palin narrating Erebus. What he says seems to be much vaguer about the underlying reasons for the expedition men's deaths. The suggestion seems to be that scurvy was the underlying factor which eventually caught up with them and left them very susceptible to dying from infections, gastro-intestinal problems etc.

I think I'm getting confused. There is certainly a point when said officer (who tries to confide in the doctor just ahead of the carnival) is talking to Goodsir (after the carnival fire) and he alludes to salivating at the smell of 'cooking' human flesh (although he words it in a less overt way).

Yeah I read too @NewModelArmyMayhem18 that the lead poisoning wasn't confirmed by the current evidence. I imagine scurvy and vitamin deficiency was a serious factor in weakening the men. They all looked really terrible a few years into their ordeal - the make up team must have had a field day with this series!!
Interesting though you mentioned that the tins may have been from F&M!!

Apparently, the officers bought some of their own personal foodstuffs from F&M but the main ships' tinned supplies were from the cheapest bidder - an overseas provider!