The dismal, disorientating horrors of TV series The Terror have been an antidote to the rolling-on of Spring. This ten-part series is based on a true story, and draws from the Dan Simmons novel of the same title. Set in the Northwest Passage during an abortive mission to find a new shipping passage through the frozen North, two ships – HMS Terror and HMS Erebus – get frozen in sea ice, stranding them for years out of contact with the rest of humanity, with a tainted supply of stored food and dwindling chances of achieving their mission. Their crisis deepens when a polar bear discovers the men and begins to – seemingly methodically – pick them off, but as the men’s paranoia grows, it appears that there is more to this creature than first appears…
A masterclass in slowly-creeping horror, The Terror has a superb cast – Ciaran Hinds, Jared Harris, Tobias Menzies – and is executive-produced by Ridley Scott. You could be forgiven for thinking that Scott has a directorial hand in the series, as some of its most ominous scenes are to the sea and ice what Alien was to space. As it runs across ten episodes, it has the space and time to be a steadily-building drama, slowly developing its characters as well as its plot and moving towards its astounding conclusion.
Want to own a copy? For the chance to win a DVD box set of this series, courtesy of Acorn Media International, all you have to do is email keri[at]warped-perspective.com titling your email THE TERROR and providing your name and address (UK only, sorry folks). The competition will close at midnight GMT on Monday, 19th April and the winner will be drawn at random from the entrants (all personal data is stored securely until the competition’s close and will be deleted once a winner is selected).
Good luck!