From the minds of 2 Stargate writers comes a brand new survival science fiction series
set to air on the Syfy Channel.
For this latest sci-fi entry entitled The Ark Dean Devlin, the co-writer for the 1994
Stargate film is teaming up with Jonathan Glassner, Stargate SG1 series writer and producer.
This will also be a reunion for Devlin and Glassner who previously worked together on
the fantasy series The Outpost.
The Ark was announced back in January 2022 and has been in active development since March
of this year.
Up until recently there has not been much revealed about the series other than its plot
and cast and character descriptions.
But now the first images have been released along with a new interview from Glassner giving
potential viewers more of a sense of what they can expect to see from this new sci-fi
story.
The Ark takes place 100 years in the future when planetary colonization missions have
begun as a necessity to help secure the survival of the human race.
The first of these missions on a spacecraft known as Ark One encounters a catastrophic
event causing massive destruction and loss of life.
With more than a year left to go before reaching their target planet, a lack of life-sustaining
supplies and loss of leadership, the remaining crew must become the best versions of themselves
to stay on course and survive.
One of the first official images released is a picture of a woman in what looks to be
some sort of hypersleep chamber.
Upon seeing this image I was instantly reminded of the Alien franchise where, quite similar
to the Ark, the crew members on an interstellar voyage relied on hypersleep technology and
were effectively shielded from the effects of time as the ship made the long journey
to its intended destination.
As the synopsis revealed the catastrophe, the nature of which is unknown, occurs with
over a year left to go on their colonization mission.
It’s sure to be a rude awakening for those in stasis who’ve survived the massive devastation.
No doubt there will be many life threatening obstacles to contend with in the wake of this
disaster.
As we see in one other picture the survivors are sporting space suits however it’s apparent
that even those who made it into their suits did not survive the subsequent damage done
to the ship as there are many bodies littering the hallway in this image.
The pictures released certainly evoke the atmosphere of a Ridley Scott film.
I’m impressed with the level of detail and realism in the sets and the space suits themselves.
I’m curious to see more of the ship to get more of an idea of its scope and scale.
The other two pictures show one woman glancing away from a display with a wordy message with
what seems to be a look of surprise.
This could possibly be ship logs that detail the level of damage their ship has sustained.
The last image features a crew member screaming in terror.
The panic, paranoia, and dread that are conveyed in these images certainly intrigues me as
I’m curious to see how this series intends to distinguish itself from other sci-fi survival
productions.
The concept and setting are familiar but considering we don’t know anything about what caused
the devastating event, that certainly opens the door for all kinds of storytelling possibilities.
And the gravity of the situation is heightened due to the fact that the survival of the human
race itself depends on the success of their mission.
To learn more about this series, The Companion recently did an interview with Jonathan Glassner
where he talked more about the premise of the show.
I’ll leave a link in the description below if you’d like to check it out.
In the interview Glassner said quote: “It’s set only probably 100 years from now,” says
Glassner.
“So it’s old technology that has been pushed to the limit to make these ships try
to rescue people off of Earth which is collapsing.
And we go with one of the ships and have all kinds of fun adventures.”
I do like the idea that humanity has been forced to rely on whatever resources and technology
available to cobble together a space worthy vessel.
There certainly could be many things that could go wrong with technology pushed to its
limits as humanity becomes desperate.
The images revealed however make me think that something more sinister than a malfunction
in the technology is happening though it's likely a factor.
The article noted that there are no aliens in this show at least not at the moment.
Glassner mentioned that “It’s really a survival show.
It could almost be set on an island somewhere and be just the same.”
I’ve always liked the premise of survival stories set in space.
It is the ultimate challenge in the most mysterious, the most unforgiving of environments.
The storytelling possibilities are endless but it's worth noting that Glassner mentioned
that their goal was to keep everything as realistic as possible when it came to the
science featured in the show.
Telling the Companion quote: “I mean, there’s some rules we have to break to be able to
do the show.
So we’ve just invented a faster-than-light travel method, but we don’t even start off
having that, that’s a big story point of how we get it.”
Leading the series is Christie Burke from the series Maid and the Haunting of Bly Manor,
Richard Fleeshman from the Four Weddings and a Funeral Series and Deep Heat, Reece Ritchie
from The Lovely Bones, and Stacey Read and Ryan Adams who join the show in their television
debut.
Burke is playing Lt. Sharon Garnet, a low-ranking officer whose penchant for staying out of
the spotlight is put to the ultimate test when Ark One is damaged.
Fleeshman plays the role of Lt. James Brice, head of the ship's navigational systems.
Ritchie is Lt. Spencer Lane, a villain in the making who believes that only those with
the strongest wills have a right to survival.
Read takes on the role of Alicia Nevins, a brilliant young woman on the Waste Management
team who is being wildly under-utilized.
With Adams set to portray Angus Medford, an insecure young man with a talent for farming
and horticulture.
Filling out the rest of the cast is Christina Wolfe who plays the manipulative psychologist
Cat Brandice, Shalini Peiris as Dr. Sanjivni Kabir, Ark One’s chief physician, Miles
Barrow plays Baylor Trent, an ensign with an identity crisis, Pavle Jerinić is the
hard-nosed head of security, Lt. Felix Strickland, and Lisa Brenner portrays military veteran,
Commander Susan Ingram.
Season 1 will be 12 episodes long which seems to be the standard for sci-fi fare these days.
Currently there is no specific release date though it is set to debut sometime in 2023
on the Syfy Channel.
In light of this newest information from co-creator Jonathan Glassner and the new images released
my interest is certainly piqued.
I look forward to seeing what these two respected science fiction writers have cooked up in
this sci-fi survival thriller and to see how they take this familiar concept and make it
unique.
But I”m curious to know what you think about The Ark and the newest information and images
revealed about this upcoming production.
Do you have any theories as to the nature of the devastating event that will strike
Ark One?
Would you want to see aliens introduced at some point in this series?
Let me know your thoughts in the comment section below.
I hope you enjoyed this video.
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Thank you all so much for your support and as always have a very nerdy day.