When watching this BBC series it immediately becomes apparent that it has no connection to the 1977 film of the same name; rather than being set in the warm waters of Bermuda this is set deep in the icy waters of the North Pole. After one expedition is lost while exploring a field of hydrothermal vents a second mission is sent to discover what happened. One man on board has a particular reason to want to discover what happened as his wife was on board. The crew was the usual mix of people that we expect from the BBC and some of them seemed a little excitable for such a mission, acting more like sixth formers on a school outing than explorers heading into one of the world's most hostile environments.
As the crew headed into the freezing depths I was expecting them to encounter some sort of huge creature but that wasn't one of the many problems they face. Those they do encounter include Russians illegally drilling for oil, an overheating nuclear reactor, a microbe that eats through metal and people who wish to stop them from revealing the discovery of a cheap fuel source.
With a cast that included James Nesbitt, Minnie Driver and Sinead Cusack I'd expected something better; the story wasn't bad and the special effects were pretty good but the dialogue was frequently cringe-worthy and the characters somewhat unrealistic, for example would anybody really let a man who hasn't got over the loss of his wife go to explore the place that it is believed she died? With these flaws it might be surprising that I stuck with it but it had a certain indefinable something that made it gripping and for all its faults I found myself enjoying the story and caring about the characters even when the situation was rather silly.
As the crew headed into the freezing depths I was expecting them to encounter some sort of huge creature but that wasn't one of the many problems they face. Those they do encounter include Russians illegally drilling for oil, an overheating nuclear reactor, a microbe that eats through metal and people who wish to stop them from revealing the discovery of a cheap fuel source.
With a cast that included James Nesbitt, Minnie Driver and Sinead Cusack I'd expected something better; the story wasn't bad and the special effects were pretty good but the dialogue was frequently cringe-worthy and the characters somewhat unrealistic, for example would anybody really let a man who hasn't got over the loss of his wife go to explore the place that it is believed she died? With these flaws it might be surprising that I stuck with it but it had a certain indefinable something that made it gripping and for all its faults I found myself enjoying the story and caring about the characters even when the situation was rather silly.