For “The Terror” creator David Kajganich, the show was “the sort of story you don’t often get a chance to tell … where you have a group of characters” and “you put them in a slow-motion disaster.” Pushing those characters to their limits gives you “a chance to unpack all of their attributes, all the facets of their personality, as the pressure just mounts and mounts.” Watch our exclusive video interview with Kajganich and co-showrunner Soo Hugh above.
Produced by Ridley Scott, this AMC limited series is a fictionalized account of a lost expedition to the Arctic from 1845-1848. When the HMS Terror and HMS Erebus both become stuck, their crews must survive harsh weather conditions while being stalked by an elusive menace. In adapting Dan Simmons‘s original novel, Hugh found that she was of two minds when it came to recreating the 1840s.
“One part of our brain is trying to protect the period,” she explains, “trying to be as accurate and faithful as possible, down to the buttons on the officers’ coats. “However, “we didn’t want to live in that period world. We wanted it to also feel modern.” It helped that some of the Inuit testimonies of the real event have only been uncovered recently. “Incorporating that work into our period show tells you that the past and present are still in dialogue.”
Kajganich has written screenplays for the films “The Invasion” (2007), “True Story” (2015), “A Bigger Splash” (2015), and Luca Guadagnino‘s upcoming “Suspiria” remake. He is also currently penning a new adaptation of Stephen King‘s “Pet Sematary.”
Hugh received a WGA nomination for her work on “The Killing” (Best New Series in 2012). She has additionally worked as a writer and producer on such shows as “Under the Dome” and “The Whisperers.”
Both Kajganich and Hugh served as executive producers and showrunners on all 10 episodes of “The Terror.”
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