By Tony O’Riley And Lucy Caulkett-
Amazon has commissioned the first UK Supernatural Thriller Series ‘The Rig’ With ‘Bodyguard’ Director John Strickland & Wild Mercury
The series penned by newbee writer David Macpherson and UK producer Wild Mercury Productions, which has credits including Troy: Fall Of A City and Humans season three, The Eye Of Media.Com has heard.
The Rig is to be the first Amazon Original filmed exclusively in Scotland. Filming is scheduled to begin in 2021 at First Stage Studios, the new film and TV studio space in Edinburgh. It is being put together by a team of excellent professionals, including producers
The cast is still being selected, and is set onboard the Kishorn Bravo oil rig, off the Scottish coast in the North Sea. The crew will explore the challenges of survival under extraordinary circumstances that will greatly test their level of human endurance. They are to be separated from the real world they know upon their return to the mainland, losing all communication with the shore and the outside world. Their quest to explore the force behind their experience will require bonds being broken, and powerful levels of loyalties and commitments formed, exposing generational fault lines in the process, a source told this publication.
Amazon is a company that has always aimed at breaking records and setting new goals and ventures. The company founded by Jeff Bezos, has been referred to as “one of the most influential economic and cultural forces in the world”, as well as the world’s most valuable brand, It is the world’s biggest online market place
The executive producers for the series are Derek Wax (Humans) and John Strickland. The producer is Suzanne Reid, and the casting director is Kelly Valentine-Hendry Ms Hendry is known for her work on Broadchurch, Gangs of London (2020) and The Last Kingdom (2015).
Also writing on the series are Meg Salter and Matthew Jacobs Morgan. Screen Scotland supported the project and helped set it up in the country.
“The Rig is a brilliant story, expertly told, in the most dramatic of settings” Georgia Brown, Director of European Amazon Originals for Prime Video(pictured) said in a statement. “It asks searching questions about nature and the environment, about what it takes to survive and to be human, which feels very pertinent to the world we are living in now. We’re delighted to add this to our growing roster of UK made Amazon Original shows.”
Brown is one of those accomplished women of her generation who can be really proud of herself. She has overseen a portfolio of content that has grown from eight shows in 2019 to 11 this year and will edge up again in 2021. It includes the likes of Nick Frost and Simon Pegg comedy Truth Seekers and The Grand Tour.
On Tuesday, the Amazon’s studio director told the UK Parliament’s Digital, Culture, Media, and Sport Committee on Tuesday, she wanted to concentrate on fewer shows and more quality. She said Amazon was not pushing for hundreds of shows with which to swamp the British public.
Derek Wax, Managing Director of Wild Mercury said; “The Rig is a character-driven, epic thriller, full of heart-grabbing action and bold, original ideas, and we are delighted to be working with Amazon Prime Video in bringing it to life. David Macpherson captures life on a North Sea oil rig with extraordinary authenticity and it’s been exciting to work with him, director John Strickland and our creative team in realizing the scale and vision of this world.“