Atlantis (TV series)

Atlantis
Genre Adventure
Fantasy
Drama
Created by Johnny Capps
Julian Murphy
Howard Overman
Starring Mark Addy
Jack Donnelly
Robert Emms
Theme music composer Rob Lane
Composer(s) Rob Lane
James Gosling
Stuart Hancock
Country of origin United Kingdom
Original language(s) English
No. of series 2
No. of episodes 22 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s) Johnny Capps
Julian Murphy
Howard Overman
Bethan Jones
Editor(s) Tom White
Location(s) Wales & Morocco
Cinematography David Garbett
Dale Mccready
Running time 45 minutes
Production company(s) Urban Myth Films
Distributor BBC Cymru Wales
BBC America
Broadcast
Original channel BBC One
Original run 28 September 2013 – present
External links
BBC show website

Atlantis is a British fantasy-adventure television programme, inspired by Greek mythology (including the legend of Atlantis) and created by Johnny Capps and Julian Murphy with Howard Overman. It premiered on 28 September 2013.

It has aired on Space in Canada since 12 October 2013 and on BBC America in the United States since 23 November 2013.[1]

Atlantis was the biggest new Saturday night drama series launch across all BBC channels since 2006, even up on the launch of hit show Merlin.[2] It also managed to draw 1 million viewers away from the highly popular ITV show The X Factor, which aired at the same time in the UK.[3]

On 26 October 2013, BBC One ordered a second series of the show, which began airing on 15 November 2014.[4][5]

On 23 January 2015, it was announced that the series had been cancelled. A BBC spokesperson said: "The final seven episodes of Atlantis will transmit on BBC One in spring 2015.[6] We would like to thank Urban Myth Films and all the cast and crew but the series will not be re-commissioned."[7]

Series overview

In the modern day, Jason, the protagonist of the show, pilots a one-man submarine to investigate a deep sea disturbance that resulted in the disappearance of his father when he was a child. When he discovers the location, the submarine begins to fail and he is pulled into white light. He wakes up on the shores of the kingdom Atlantis, which is ruled by a traditionalist, King Minos and his power-hungry, manipulative wife, Queen Pasiphae. Jason has entered a world where gods smite, legendary creatures guard dangerous curses and life is not fair, but it is still possible for heroes and justice to prevail. Under a set of circumstances, he is given shelter by a couple of unlucky and largely unemployed locals; Pythagoras—a young intellectual who enjoys beautiful triangles—and the rotund, ex-prize fighter Hercules—a hopeless romantic who spends most of his time in taverns drinking and gambling. The three of them encounter monsters, gods and demigods, as they live the Greek myths and battle to do good and protect the innocent. Along the way, they pick up some allies including Medusa, a palace maid, Ariadne, daughter of the King and heir to the throne, and a mysterious Oracle, who seems unsurprised at Jason's arrival. The Oracle predicts a world-changing destiny is in store for Jason if he stays on the right path.

Cast

Main

Recurring

Production

Announced on 11 February 2013, Atlantis was created to fill the gap left behind by Merlin, a show that was created and produced by Johnny Capps and Julian Murphy.[8] This duo, plus Misfits creator Howard Overman, produced Atlantis through their new company Urban Myth Films. Executive producer for BBC Cymru Wales was Bethan Jones. The drama series was commissioned by Ben Stephenson, Controller of BBC Drama, and Danny Cohen, Controller of BBC One.[9] The cast was announced on 27 March 2013.

The series is filmed in Wales and Morocco. A 155,000sq ft warehouse, a former cold store building near Chepstow, was converted into a vast TV studio to house the sets and filming of Atlantis.[10] The first series was filmed between 1 April 2013 and 1 November 2013.

On 22 July 2013, BBC America announced that the channel is co-producing Atlantis, and the show will be broadcast in the US in autumn 2013 as part of "Supernatural Saturday."[11] Since this date the series has been promoted using a viral marketing campaign, with official accounts on Twitter, Tumblr and Facebook.[12] On 9 August 2013, the first poster for the series was revealed[13] and on 16 August 2013 the first teaser trailer for the series, aired on BBC One.[14] A week later on 23 August, a second teaser was shown where Jason (Jack Donnelly) appears.[15] On 29 August four new teasers were released featuring Jack Donnelly, Juliet Stevenson, Mark Addy and Robert Emms.[16] On 7 September the first promotional pictures of the cast were revealed[17] and on the same day, the first trailer for the series was aired before Strictly Come Dancing on BBC One. A week before the first episode, on 21 September, the first clip from the opening episode was released.

On 26 October 2013, the BBC confirmed that a second series had been commissioned. The second series had its initial read-through on 11 March 2014, with filming taking place from 17 March 2014 to 10 October 2014. On 3 April 2014, it was announced that Vincent Regan was joining the cast as Dion along with Amy Manson as Medea.[18]

Clive Standen, known from the TV-series Vikings will guest star in an episode of the second series. Emmett J. Scanlan, known from the TV soap Hollyoaks revealed on his instagram page that he was joining the second series.

On 4 October 2014, the first teaser trailer for the second series was released, followed by the first official trailer on 29 October 2014. It premiered on 15 November 2014.[5]

Episodes

Series Episodes Originally aired
First aired Last aired
1 13 28 September 2013 28 December 2013
2 13[19] 15 November 2014 Spring 2015[20]

Broadcast

In Canada, the series airs on Space, premiering 12 October 2013,[21] with the second series returning 15 November 2014.[22]

In the United States, the series premiered on 23 November 2013 on BBC America,[23] with the second series returning 15 November 2014.[24]

In Australia, the series airs on Fox8. It was originally set to premiere on 30 March 2014, but did not premiere until 4 May 2014.[25][26] The second series returns to Fox8 on 26 April 2015.[27]

References

  1. ↑ "About the Show". BBC America. Retrieved 15 September 2013.
  2. ↑ "BBC - BBC One commissions second series of fantasy drama Atlantis - Media centre". bbc.co.uk.
  3. ↑ Plunkett, John. "Atlantis grabs 1m viewers from X Factor". The Guardian.
  4. ↑ Seat42f. "Atlantis Renewed For Second Season". Retrieved 27 October 2013.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 "BBC One - Atlantis". BBC One. Retrieved 5 October 2014.
  6. ↑ http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04st48f
  7. ↑ "Exclusive: Atlantis will not return for third series on BBC One". Digital Spy. Retrieved 23 January 2015.
  8. ↑ Wilson, Mark (1 April 2013). "Misfits Writer and Merlin Team Try Raising Atlantis". About.com. Retrieved 1 April 2013.
  9. ↑ "Cast announced for BBC One's Atlantis". BBC Media Centre. 27 March 2013. Retrieved 1 April 2013.
  10. ↑ "TV series 'to rival Doctor Who' will be filmed at Chepstow TV studio". South Wales Argus. 14 March 2013. Retrieved 4 May 2013.
  11. ↑ "BBC AMERICA To Co-Produce New Series Atlantis For Supernatural Saturday".
  12. ↑ Mysterious Messages From Atlantis, Dave Golder, SFX, 24 July 2013.
  13. ↑ 'Atlantis': First poster for BBC's new 'Merlin' replacement, Alex Fletcher, Digital Spy, 9 August 2013.
  14. ↑ BBC One Releases An Atlantis Teaser Promo, Craig Byrne, KSiteTV News, 16 August 2013.
  15. ↑ BBC's Atlantis: New Teaser Trailer, sfx, http://www.sfx.co.uk, 23 August 2013.
  16. ↑ New Atlantis teaser trailers, Louisa Mellor, Den of Geek, 29 August 2013.
  17. ↑ 'Atlantis' character pics gallery, sfx, http://www.sfx.co.uk, 7 September 2013.
  18. ↑ "Filming for series two of BBC One's Atlantis underway". BBC. 3 April 2014. Retrieved 3 April 2014.
  19. ↑ "BBC One - Atlantis - Episode Guide". BBC One. Retrieved 14 November 2014.
  20. ↑ "Final 7 Episodes of Atlantis to air in Spring 2015". Retrieved 31 January 2015.
  21. ↑ "A Legend Surfaces This Fall on Space with the Series Premiere of ATLANTIS, October 12" (Press release). Bell Media. 19 September 2013. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
  22. ↑ "War is Waged and Destiny Fulfilled When ATLANTIS Returns, November 15, Exclusively on Space" (Press release). Bell Media. 5 November 2014. Retrieved 24 January 2015.
  23. ↑ "New Fantasy Series Atlantis Follows Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Special in BBC AMERICA'S Biggest Supernatural Saturday Ever" (Press release). BBC America. 24 October 2013. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
  24. ↑ "Atlantis Season Two Premieres On BBC AMERICA The Same The As Its UK Broadcast" (Press release). 5 November 2014. Retrieved 24 January 2015.
  25. ↑ Foxtel (22 April 2014). Atlantis Season 1 - FOX8 - Watch on Foxtel. Youtube.
  26. ↑ Knox, David (18 March 2014). "Airdate: Atlantis". TV Tonight. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
  27. ↑ Knox, David (31 March 2015). "Airdate: Kingdom, Togetherness, The Field of Blood. Returning: Reign, Atlantis.". TV Tonight. Retrieved 19 April 2015.

External links