Atlantis (TV series)

This article is about the British fantasy television show. For the series in the Stargate franchise, see Stargate Atlantis.
Atlantis
Series titles over a cloudy background
Genre Adventure
Fantasy
Drama
Romance
Created by Johnny Capps
Julian Murphy
Howard Overman
Starring Jack Donnelly
Mark Addy
Robert Emms
Aiysha Hart
Sarah Parish
Juliet Stevenson
Jemima Rooper
Amy Manson
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 25 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s) Johnny Capps
Julian Murphy
Howard Overman
Bethan Jones
Location(s) Wales & Morocco
Cinematography David Garbett
Dale Mccready
Editor(s) Tom White
Running time 45 minutes
90 minutes (Series 2 Finale)
Production company(s) Urban Myth Films
Distributor BBC Cymru Wales
BBC America
Release
Original network BBC One
Original release 28 September 2013 (2013-09-28) – 16 May 2015 (2015-05-16)
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.

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.[1] 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.[2]

On 26 October 2013, BBC One ordered a second series of the show, which began airing on 15 November 2014.[3][4] On 23 January 2015, it was announced that the series had been cancelled.[5]

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

Series 1
Series 2

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.[6] 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.[7] The cast was announced on 27 March 2013.

The series was 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.[8] The first series was filmed between 1 April 2013 and 1 November 2013.

On 22 July 2013, BBC America announced that the channel was co-producing Atlantis, and the show was broadcast in the US in autumn 2013 as part of "Supernatural Saturday."[9] Since that date the series was promoted using a viral marketing campaign, with official accounts on Twitter, Tumblr and Facebook.[10] On 9 August 2013, the first poster for the series was revealed,[11] and on 16 August 2013 the first teaser trailer for the series aired on BBC One.[12] A week later on 23 August, a second teaser was shown where Jason (Jack Donnelly) appeared.[13] On 29 August four new teasers were released featuring Jack Donnelly, Juliet Stevenson, Mark Addy and Robert Emms.[14] On 7 September the first promotional pictures of the cast were revealed[15] 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.[16]

Clive Standen, known from the television series Vikings, guest starred in an episode of the second series. Emmett J. Scanlan, known from the TV soap Hollyoaks, revealed on his Instagram page that he too 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.[4]

In January 2015, the BBC confirmed that a new series was not to be commissioned,[17] and on 16 May 2015, the series ended.

In December 2015, Silva Screen Records released the soundtrack to the second series on CD and digital download. Composed by Stuart Hancock, the album features 30 tracks and 73 minutes of music score, with the final track, entitled 'Vision of the Future', incorporating Rob Lane's original series title theme. Reviewed in Synchrotones, Pete Simons wrote "Stuart Hancock's Atlantis is a magnificent work... What is impressive about Atlantis is its big cinematic feel; along with its large orchestral performance...the score sounds vibrant and exciting in a way that many similar scores don't."[18]

Episodes

SeriesEpisodesOriginally aired
First airedLast aired
11328 September 2013 (2013-09-28)28 December 2013 (2013-12-28)
212615 November 2014 (2014-11-15)20 December 2014 (2014-12-20)
611 April 2015 (2015-04-11)16 May 2015 (2015-05-16)

Broadcast

In Canada, the series airs on Space, premiering 12 October 2013,[19] with the second series returning 15 November 2014.[20]

In the United States, the series premiered on 23 November 2013 on BBC America,[21] with the second series returning 15 November 2014.[22] BBCA aired the remaining six episodes of the cancelled series in June and July 2015 with the last episode, "The Queen Must Die," airing on 8 August 2015.

In Australia, the series aired on Fox8. It was originally set to premiere on 30 March 2014, but did not premiere until 4 May 2014.[23][24] The second series was set to return on 26 April 2015,[25][26] however, it was postponed until late 2015.[27]

References

  1. ↑ "BBC - BBC One commissions second series of fantasy drama Atlantis - Media centre". bbc.co.uk.
  2. ↑ Plunkett, John. "Atlantis grabs 1m viewers from X Factor". The Guardian.
  3. ↑ Seat42f. "Atlantis Renewed For Second Season". Retrieved 27 October 2013.
  4. 1 2 "BBC One - Atlantis". BBC One. Retrieved 5 October 2014.
  5. ↑ Jeffery, Morgan (23 January 2015). "Atlantis will not return for third series on BBC One". Digital Spy. Retrieved 20 June 2015.
  6. ↑ Wilson, Mark (1 April 2013). "Misfits Writer and Merlin Team Try Raising Atlantis". About.com. Retrieved 1 April 2013.
  7. ↑ "Cast announced for BBC One's Atlantis". BBC Media Centre. 27 March 2013. Retrieved 1 April 2013.
  8. ↑ "TV series 'to rival Doctor Who' will be filmed at Chepstow TV studio". South Wales Argus. 14 March 2013. Retrieved 4 May 2013.
  9. ↑ "BBC AMERICA To Co-Produce New Series Atlantis For Supernatural Saturday".
  10. ↑ Mysterious Messages From Atlantis, Dave Golder, SFX, 24 July 2013.
  11. ↑ 'Atlantis': First poster for BBC's new 'Merlin' replacement, Alex Fletcher, Digital Spy, 9 August 2013.
  12. ↑ BBC One Releases An Atlantis Teaser Promo, Craig Byrne, KSiteTV News, 16 August 2013.
  13. ↑ BBC's Atlantis: New Teaser Trailer, sfx, http://www.sfx.co.uk, 23 August 2013.
  14. ↑ New Atlantis teaser trailers, Louisa Mellor, Den of Geek, 29 August 2013.
  15. ↑ 'Atlantis' character pics gallery, sfx, http://www.sfx.co.uk, 7 September 2013.
  16. ↑ "Filming for series two of BBC One's Atlantis underway". BBC. 3 April 2014. Retrieved 3 April 2014.
  17. ↑ Dyke, Peter (11 February 2015). "Atlantis: Jack Donnelly is gutted his show is axed". Retrieved 16 May 2015.
  18. ↑ "Atlantis (Stuart Hancock)". Synchrotones' Soundtrack Reviews. Retrieved 2016-03-12.
  19. ↑ "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.
  20. ↑ "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.
  21. ↑ "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.
  22. ↑ "Atlantis Season Two Premieres On BBC AMERICA The Same The As Its UK Broadcast" (Press release). 5 November 2014. Retrieved 24 January 2015.
  23. ↑ Foxtel (22 April 2014). Atlantis Season 1 - FOX8 - Watch on Foxtel. Youtube.
  24. ↑ Knox, David (18 March 2014). "Airdate: Atlantis". TV Tonight. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
  25. ↑ Knox, David (31 March 2015). "Airdate: Kingdom, Togetherness, The Field of Blood. Returning: Reign, Atlantis.". TV Tonight. Retrieved 19 April 2015.
  26. ↑ Knox, David (24 April 2015). "Returning: Atlantis". TV Tonight. Retrieved 18 May 2015.
  27. ↑ "Atlantis". Fox8. Retrieved 18 May 2015.

External links

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