The Terror | 50 facts about the Amazon Prime series

«The Terror» is an American horror drama anthology television series, that is named after Dan Simmons’s 2007 novel.

Let’s find out more abput the series!

1. The Terror is an American horror drama anthology television series.
2. The series is named after Dan Simmons’s 2007 novel.
3. The novel serves as the basis for the first season.
4. It premiered on March 25, 2018, on AMC.
5. The second season, which bears no relation to the book or first season and is subtitled Infamy, premiered on August 12, 2019.
6. The first season was developed by David Kajganich and is a fictionalized account of Captain Sir John Franklin’s lost expedition to the Arctic in 1845–1848.
7. Featured in the cast are Jared Harris as Captain Francis Crozier, Tobias Menzies as Commander James Fitzjames, Paul Ready as Dr. Harry Goodsir, and Ciarán Hinds as Franklin.
8. The second season was co-created by Alexander Woo and Max Borenstein.
9. It is mostly set in an American-run Japanese internment camp during World War II. 4
10. It stars Derek Mio, Kiki Sukezane, Cristina Rodlo, Shingo Usami, Naoko Mori, Miki Ishikawa, and George Takei.
11. For Season 1, Captain Francis Crozier is from Banbridge, Northern Ireland where a statue of him stands in the town centre
12. For Season 1, at one point near the end of the shoot when the still uniformed cast, looking like walking cadavers, were being shuttled back to their hotel as night began to fall, they came upon a 2-car accident and rushed to help the severely injured motorists. Unaware of how hideous they appeared in their costumes, as they reached out to assist the injured, they were met with screams of terror from the motorists who actually believed that these ghostly figures were their ancestors who’d come to help them cross over
13. This was originally envisaged as a theatrical release with David Fincher directing.
14. Jared Harris was in such awe of the ensemble of actors in season 1, he routinely asked if some of his better lines could be given to them if it made sense for the narrative, comparing their talents to Lamborghinis sitting in a garage.
15. For Season 1, based on Dan Simmons – The Terror, which in turn is based on the true story of the fateful Franklin journey to find the Northwest Passage across the Arctic
16. For Season 1, a sundog is a refraction or bending of sunlight that forms a ring around the sun. It was thought at one time that it was indicative of fair weather.
17. The series is named after Dan Simmons’ 2007 best-selling novel, a fictionalized account of Captain Sir John Franklin’s lost expedition to the Arctic in 1845-1848, which serves as the basis for the series’ first season.
18. For Season 1, the production had thought it would be necessary to refrigerate the sound stage to simulate arctic conditions in Budapest, but it was so cold there they didn’t need to in the end.
19. According to David Kajganich, the show was always pitched as an anthology series, however the original idea was to create 5 seasons, all linked by being set in the Arctic.
20. When Kajganich declined to come back for a second season, it freed up more opportunities as an anthology series that didn’t have to be linked by the Arctic setting.
21. Season 1 is dedicated to composer Marcus Fjellström, who died unexpectedly midway through production
22. Both Jared Harris and Tobias Menzies have since proclaimed this series is one of the projects they are most proud of in their respective acting careers.
23. Co-creator Soo Hugh was adamant on making sure the Inuit characters in season 1 were depicted sensitively, noting that the British and other Western cultures did not believe their stories as witnesses to the Franklin expedition, even though history ultimately proved them to be true. One notable change in this regard between the book and the series is that the show literally gave Lady Silence a voice for the first half of the season, whereas in the books she is entirely non-verbal.
24. For Season 1, “leads” are open lanes of water in the ice covered seas of the polar regions.
25. For Season 1, most of the scenes on the ice were made with CGI.
26. According to David Kajganich, the cast and crew of season 1 were vetted for their demeanors in addition to their talents, wanting to work with kind-hearted people on what was sure to be a long and difficult shoot given the subject matter. It ended up paying off handsomely with a smooth production and real bonding between the actors just as their characters did
27. To convincingly portray someone going through starvation, Adam Nagaitis went on a ultra-low-calorie vegan diet. He became so gaunt his body started consuming its own organs and he was forced to start eating more calories by adding meat back
28. For Season 1, a doxy is a lover or mistress in the mild case of the word or a prostitute in the pejorative sense of the word.
29. On June 22, 2018, it was announced that AMC had renewed the series for a ten-episode second season set to premiere in 2019.
30. Despite depicting a major event in British Naval history with an almost exclusively British cast, season 1 was barely seen in the UK on its initial release as an exclusive to BT TV. It was essentially re-released three years later on BBC Two in March 2021 where it gained a wider audience.
31. For Season 1, AB is short for Able-bodied Seaman.
32. Season Two takes place on the west coast of the United States during World War II, and according to the press release will, “center on an uncanny specter that menaces a Japanese-American community from its home in Southern California to the internment camps to the war in the Pacific”.
33. For Season 1, in the first episode, while regaling his fellow officers with a tale of his own heroism in the Opium Wars, Tobias Menzies’ character says he felt like Caesar crossing the Rubicon. He is pictured sitting next to the captain played by Ciarín Hinds. In the HBO series Rome, Menzies played Brutus and Ciarín Hinds played Caesar.
34. During the first season, all scenes placed inside the ships are tilted, alluding to the fact that sailors are subjected to sea (sometimes ice) movements and rarely standing straight. As the frost progresses and projects the ships upward, angles on shots get more and more acute.
35. For season 1, before the ships get set frozen into the ice, the floating ice that is mostly seen around the ships comprises small circular floes about 1-2 m across. This is known as ‘pancake ice’ and forms in sea water (not in fresh water) as the temperature falls below 0°C
36. After the success of the show The Walking Dead (2010), the American cable TV network AMC planned to create a horror TV series based on the novel The Terror. In March 2016, it was confirmed that AMC ordered 10 episodes of the show, with an expected premiere date in 2018.
37. For Season 2, the subtitle of the second season, “Infamy” may derive from Franklin D. Roosevelt famous speech on Pearl Harbor “Yesterday, December 7th, 1941, a date which will live in infamy, the United States was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval forces of Japan.”
38. For Season 2, Executive Order 9066 – United States presidential executive order signed and issued during World War II by United States president Franklin D. Roosevelt on February 19, 1942 which authorized the removal and relocation of persons of Japanese, German, and Italian Ancestry.
39. Ciaran Hinds and Tobias Menzies also worked together on the HBO hit show Rome (2005-2007) and Game of Thrones (2011-) though in Game of Thrones they didn’t share any scenes
40. Season two features George Takei as one of the Japanese in the relocation camp. In real life, Takei and his family were forced into the relocation camps when he was five. He and his family did end up at the Tule Lake War Relocation Center, which is mentioned several times throughout the season. Just like the show, he really did have relatives who perished in Hiroshima bombing. He also used his experiences for the 2012 Broadway musical Allegiance
41. For Season 2, As shown, questions 27 and 28 on the loyalty questionnaire caused great issues among internees. There was such controversy, that there was a revision to the questions although it did not completely remove the issues regarding the questions. Of the 75,000 people that answered, about 6,700 answered no to both 27 and 28.
42. Clive Russell and Tobias Menzies both had roles in Game of Thrones (HBO) and Outlander(STARZ). Though they only had scenes together on Game of Thrones where Menzies played Russell’s nephew (House Tully).
43. For Season 2, WRA is short for War Relocation Authority
44. Several of the series’ actors share connections to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter cinematic universe. Ian Hart (Thomas Blanky) and Ciàran Hinds (John Franklin) appeared in separate Potter films as Professor Quirrell and Aberforth Dumbledore, respectively. Kevin Guthrie (Henry Peglar/Harry Peglar) appears in the “Fantastic Beasts” franchise as Mr. Abernathy. Additionally, Jared Harris (Francis Crozier) is the son of Sir Richard Harris, who originated the role of Professor Albus Dumbledore, and who appeared alongside Hart in the first Potter film.
45. In January 2020, it was reported by Deadline Hollywood that AMC president Sarah Barnett had expressed interest in renewing The Terror for a third season and that AMC and Scott Free Productions were discussing plot ideas.
46. For Season 1, HMS (Her Majesty’s Ship) Erebus was discovered in 2014 and HMS Terror was discovered in its entirety and in “incredibly good condition” in 2016 by Arctic Research Teams just before the premiere of AMC The Terror in March of 2018. AMC’s president responded publicly by stating ” I congratulate the researchers find, however, apparently they never heard of a spoiler alert!”
47. For Season 1, in the opening credits, each of character’s faces dissolve, showing hints of skull of underneath. Crozier, however does not have the skull effect, showing he will be the lone survivor.
48. For Season 1, in the novel, the mysterious menace is in fact a demon called the Tuunbaq, which has been fighting Eskimos for centuries.
49. James Fitzjames’ illegitimate birth is subtly foreshadowed to in his name, as surnames with “Fitz” was a patronymic indicator in Anglo-Norman England, essentially meaning “son of,” often given to bastard children of illegitimate birth.
50. In Season One Episode Eight, 22 minutes and 39 seconds reveals an anachronism. Whilst firearms are being handed out in the armory and function rested, one can see the split in the shotgun breech and hinge pin. This indicates the shotguns present are modern day breech loading models instead of the contemporary muzzleloaders. As their name indicates, muzzleloaders are loaded through the of the barrel and so would not hinge open, the breech would be sealed with only a smaller hole and nipple for the percussion cap. Modern cartridges weren’t arguably invented until the mid 1860s more than a decade after the events of the show. Instead, the explorers of the Erebus and Terror would more than likely have been carrying the newly developed caplock system due to it’s better resilience against moisture from arctic snow than the previous flintlock muskets of the era.