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Chilling news adds fresh meaning to 2018 Arctic horror drama

A new study amplifies the horror of an excellent series about the doomed Franklin expedition. The Terror is a worthy tribute to the lost sailors, says Bethan Ackerley

By Bethan Ackerley

30 October 2024

The Terror - An accident at sea cripples a Royal Navy expedition, forcing its captains to make a dire choice.

James Fitzjames (Tobias Menzies, left) and John Franklin (Ciarán Hinds)

James Blake/Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust

The Terror
AMC
Showrunners: David Kajganich, Soo Hugh

In September, an awful truth was brought to light.

Ever since contact was lost with the Franklin expedition, an 1845 attempt by the British Royal Navy to find a path through the Arctic’s Northwest Passage, historians and scientists have tried to find out what went wrong. Investigations discovered hints of the horrors the sailors may have faced, including pack ice, hypothermia, lead poisoning and starvation. Eventually, the wrecks of HMS Erebus and HMS Terror, the…

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