In 1850, Captain Sir James Ross treks into the frozen Artic to locate a missing expedition. The Eskimo says that he did encounter a dying Englishman. Ross provides pictures of the various officers and the Eskimo points to Captain Francis Crozier (Jared Harris).
In 1845, Captain Sir John Franklin (Ciaran Hinds) was given command of the HMS Terror and the HMS Erebus to map the Northwest Passage. He was aided in this by Captain Crozier and Commander James Fitzjames (Tobias Menzies). The ships had particularly thick hulls to protect against ice and also possessed steam-powered engines to both drive the propellor and provide warmth to the ship. In September of 1846, the ships get stuck in the ice and have to wait for the summer thaw to sail further. The thaw never comes. Instead, they are beset by an Inuit spirit beast that takes the form of a deformed polar bear. In addition to the bear, the crew suffer from lead poisoned food, scurvy, and a growing threat of mutiny.
This 10-episode series follows the fate of the lost expedition as well as the efforts of Sir John's wife, Jane Franklin (Greta Scacchi) to send a rescue mission. The series ends where it began, in the tent with Sir James Ross discussing the fate of the crew.
The setting is excellent and the characters well-realized. The British stiff upper lip and never say die mentality shines through. If the number of problems had been reduced by one, Crozier would likely have brought most of the men back to civilization. It hardly matters which one, but there is definitely the straw that broke the camel's back here.
Recommended.
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