Apparently based on some truth but then bent out of shape by Dan Simmons in his 2007 novel of the same name. Fictionalised and dramatised - but to good effect. It's grizzly in places, warm in others, harsh in most and an eye-opener as to what on earth explorers were up to in the mid 1800's.
Two ships sail off to the Arctic to open up the North Passage for easier trade links with the far-east. But they come a cropper as they get stuck in the ice. For three years. To make matters worse, as they run out of supplies they realise that the canned food they have for stock has been canned badly, resulting in them all going loony tunes! Oh dear, what are they going to eat when they have nothing else? You can imagine.
Hang on a minute, there's also some sort of creature stalking them too! Throw a feisty mutineer into the mix questioning the authority of the leadership and it makes for a tasty tale!
Jared Harris is excellent as Captain Francis Crozier, in amongst a star cast all hoping to survive the ordeal and to the end of the first series! Adam Nagaitis plays the mutineer with gusto, clearly having great fun in the role. He and Harris also teamed up in the excellent 2019 outing Chernobyl.
It's really well paced, atmospheric, insightful and the time watching it simply flies. Really well recommended. Still on the iPlayer in the UK for a while. Ten episodes of nearly an hour each.
Apparently the second series, which we haven't had over here yet, is a different tale altogether about an American-run Japanese internment camp during World War II with George Takei in a star (trek) role. I shall look out for it.
