EXCLUSIVE: Amazon has given the green light to supernatural thriller series The Rig, with John Strickland (Line Of Duty, Bodyguard) set to helm the six-part show.
The project comes from new writer David Macpherson and UK producer Wild Mercury Productions, which has credits including Troy: Fall Of A City and Humans season three.
The Rig will become the first Amazon Original filmed exclusively in Scotland when it shoots at FirstStage Studios, the new film and TV studio space in Edinburgh, next year.
Cast is currently being confirmed for the series, which is set onboard the Kishorn Bravo oil rig, stationed off the Scottish coast in the dangerous waters of the North Sea. When the crew is due to return to the mainland, a mysterious and all-enveloping fog rolls through and they find themselves cut off from all communication with the shore and the outside world. As they endeavor to discover what’s driving this force, bonds are broken, allegiances formed and generational fault lines exposed.
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Executive producers are are Derek Wax (Humans) and John Strickland, the producer is Suzanne Reid (Trust Me) and the casting director is Kelly Valentine-Hendry (Broadchurch). 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.
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“The Rig is a brilliant story, expertly told, in the most dramatic of settings” said Georgia Brown, Director of European Amazon Originals for Prime Video. “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.”
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.“