For quite a while now, AMC has been putting together an anthology series called The Terror, which is set to follow a fictional story penned by Dan Simmons about a real life event. That event is none other than Sir John Franklin's "lost" expedition in the Artic. Only, the expedition isn't exactly lost anymore. In fact, reports this week indicate that one of the real-life ships the Royal Navy took to the Northwest Passage has been found.
The HMS Terror was located in pristine condition on September 3, and the find is kind-of a big deal. The find challenges what people think happened to the crew members led by Sir John Franklin into the wilds of the Northwest Passage. The Terror was said to have been abandoned in 1848 during the expedition in Victoria Strait, and The Guardian notes the location of the sunken ship was in King William Island's Terror Bay.
AMC actually had a pretty hilarious take on the find, telling Deadline:
We congratulate the Arctic Research Foundation on finding the Terror 168 years later. Apparently they've never heard of a spoiler alert.
The AMC series is more set to follow the fictional book based on events rather than the real-life story of what happened to the 129 men who were part of the Franklin expedition and who all perished. A "grotesque predator" or "monster" has already been highlighted in connection with the 10-part anthology series, although in real life the crew is believed to have died thanks to hypothermia, exposure, disease and a slew of other problems that come from trying to winter in a location where humanity is not meant to thrive.
Eerily, while all of the men perished, the ship that was found seems to have sunk peacefully to the bottom of the bay, and the items on the ship are still largely intact. One scientist even believes the ship is in such good shape that it could potentially float. The ships were abandoned after getting stuck in sea ice and the men were forced to attempt to trek to safety on foot. All died. Researchers are now searching the ship for clues about exactly what happened to the men during their final days on earth.
In terms of the AMC drama, Tobias Menzies has already been signed on to lead the series, and the Outlander actor should be a good fit for the drama, which is sounding more and more exciting by the minute. The Terror is expected to hit AMC's schedule in 2017. We'll let you know as soon as the anthology series gets an official premiere date on the cabler.
In the meantime, if you'd like to see what AMC and the other networks have coming up before the end of the year, check out our fall TV premiere schedule.
