'Fortitude'

29 Jan 2015
TV series (12 episodes)
Wr. Simon Donald
Dir. Sam Miller
Role: Charlie Stoddart (scientist).

Character profile at Pivot

TX:
January 29, double ep
9pm UK - Sky Atlantic
10pm e/p US - Pivot

Jan 15 - preview, eps. 1 & 2 + Q&A (Sofie Gråbøl, Simon Donald, Sam Miller) // BFI - info, tickets
Jan 8, 2015 - BAFTA Masterclass: Cinematography with John Conroy // BFI - info, tickets

Site at Sky Atlantic --- Pivot --- twitter --- youtube --- production diary --- cast & crew on twitter --- IMDb

Video:

Photo shoot BTS (Jan 19)
TV trailer 1 (Jan 16) / TV trailer 2 (Jan 16)
'You promised me, Charlie' clip (CE)(Jan 12)
'Take my gun' clip (Jan 12) / BTS #5: From Script to Screen (Jan 12)
BTS #4: Meet the Cast (Jan 9) / BTS #3: About the Show (Dec 19)

Teaser #2 (Oct 24) / BTS teaser #2: Filming in Iceland (Oct 24)

Reviews:

Previews
2015 Jan 20 The List - Henry Northmore - Fortitude 3/5
Dec 31 Vulture - 11 Shows to Look Forward to in January
Dec 9 John Plunkett, The Guardian - 'Twin Peaks in the arctic – unsettling and claustrophobic'
Neil Midgley, Forbes - Sofie Gråbøl Leads A Chilling, Gripping Winter's Tale

News:

Jan 20 Christopher Eccleston interview.

Dublin premiere:
RTE video interview (CE & Treadaway)

London premiere:
Video interviews
Sky: 'Survival' - Q&A highlights
London Live (direct) - AP all cast
Photos - twitter posts one - two

Jan 14 TX info - Sky to launch original drama Fortitude simultaneously across Europe.

2015 Jan 9 Details from Pivot's presentation for the TCA press tour: Variety, BroadcastingCable, TVEquals.

Nov 10 Simon Donald, showrunner of upcoming Sky Atlantic and Pivot crime drama 'Fortitude', and fellow executive producer Patrick Spence, tell C21 about the making of the show.

Oct 25 TVDags: Sweden's SVT confirms TX as one week after the UK premiere in January. Having seen a roughly cut episode 1 they think it's promising and definitely one of the big UK drama events of 2015.

Oct 24 New teaser trailer, bts snippet.
 
Sep 24 Teaser trailer, behind the scenes teaser released. First images at DigitalSpy.

Sep 11 Pre-sales (Sky Vision press release; also on Mipcom):

Sky Vision, the international distribution arm of BSkyB, has pre-sold the Sky Atlantic drama series 'Fortitude' to leading broadcasters, including; Canal + in France, TV2 Denmark, SVT in Sweden, YLE in Finland, Canada's Super Channel, NRK Norway, RUV Iceland, DBS Israel and OTE in Greece. Warner Bros. Home Entertainment and PBS Distribution have picked up home entertainment rights.

Jul 4 It's a wrap.

Jun 10 Pre-sales going well, industry launch at Mipcom in October (Broadcast), UK TX late this year or possibly early in the new year at the same time as the American.

Apr 15 Pivot boards as the new coproducer. US TX is set for 2015. Sky Vision article, Pivot's blog.

• Icelandic TV news item (on location in Iceland, 0:48 & 18:40).

• Press release:

Get ready for Sky Atlantic's most ambitious drama commission to date.

A place like nowhere else, Fortitude is surrounded by the savage beauty of the Arctic landscape and is one of the safest towns on earth. There has never been a violent crime here - until now.

In such a close-knit community a murder touches everyone and the unsettling horror of this crime threatens the future of the town itself.

Sheriff Dan Anderssen is the local Head of Police and leads a world-class search and rescue team but now finds himself investigating the brutal and shocking murder of a British research scientist. He is forced to work alongside DCI Milton Caldwell, a British detective who's just flown in to Fortitude. As the search for the killer proceeds and the list of suspects grows, each cop finds compelling reasons to mistrust the other.

And as the endless summer nights give way once more to the Arctic darkness, this apparently idyllic community struggles to make sense of the murderous terror that's been let loose in its heart.

This ambitious 13-part [tba - ATBN] drama is written by Simon Donald (Low Winter Sun) and executive produced by Anne Mensah and Cameron Roach for Sky, Patrick Spence and Simon Donald for Fifty Fathoms and Tiger Aspect.

"The shackles are off," said Simon Donald. "Since Patrick and I pitched this project to Sky we've had nothing but full-throated, whole-hearted encouragement. Normally by now the brakes have been applied."

"I have long dreamed of an opportunity like this," added Patrick Spence, executive producer for Fifty Fathoms. "To make a show that is as ambitious as it is unique, and to do so with such unstinting and fearless backing. Simon and I are very lucky men indeed."

Fortitude will be shot on location later this year and will be coming soon to Sky Atlantic HD.

Jan 24 2014 Christopher Eccleston cast in new Sky Atlantic drama. 

Also key to the story are Charlie Stoddart (Eccleston), an English scientist who heads up the Arctic Biology department at the Fortitude Arctic Research Centre [...]

Filming starts in Iceland, with indoors scenes to be shot in London, expected finish in June.

• The series was originally announced as a Sky-Starz coproduction on the 8th of April, 2013. Starz dropped out in December, quoting scheduling disagreement, and Sky proceeded solo (f.ex. Deadline article).


Articles:

Jan 13 The Wall Street Journal - 'Fortitude' Unlocks Arctic Secrets
2015 Jan 9 RÚV - Austfjörðum púslað saman í einn bæ [preview in Iceland; IcelandReview]
Sep 2 WorldScreen - Q&A with Fortitude's Patrick Spence [on production]
Aug 21 WorldScreen - Q&A with Sky Vision's Jane Millichip [on marketing]