For those who have been living under an oil tanker for the past year, the first season of sci-fi thriller, The Rig followed the crew of the Kinloch Bravo oil rig as they fought for survival after a strange fog cuts off all communication with the shore, and leaves them stranded in the fierce waves of the North Sea.
With their helicopter not coming and supplies limited, rig boss Magnus (played by Iain Glen) tried to guide his already fractured crew through the evolving crisis which increasingly got more and more intriguing as the source of the fog turned out to be (spoilers) an ancient force (nicknamed ‘the ancestor’) which has endeavored to protect the planet from destructive forces. Unfortunately for us, the destructive force of this generation is the human race.
With Season One ending with the destruction of Kinloch Bravo, its crew being unable to stop the ancestor, and being flown off in helicopters to a new secret offshore facility, anticipation for Season Two is certainly high and, according to its cast, will delve into the ancestor even more.
“I think season one was really about the sins of the past and season two is about the future and that is represented with the ancestor,” says star Emily Hampshire who plays a rep for the rig’s owner, Pictor Energy Company, Rose, whose scientific curiosity pushes her to uncover the truth of the ancestor.
“Searching for the ancestor, what it is and what it’s trying to say goes much deeper [in Season Two],” agrees Iain Glen, whose character Magnus has had his role of leader stripped away from him by the end of Season One. “We were only just introduced to it before it reacted at the end of season one. We move a little bit away from the way it seems to get ‘inside’ people and it’s more to do with where the ancestor is living within the planet as a whole, not in a specific part of the North Sea.”
Speaking of the ancestor, the force really is a mysterious thing. We know that it causes massive destruction when it feels it’s being threatened. But what is it? Is it otherworldly? Is it natural? Do we even need to know?
“I think the perception of the ancestor is gauged quite well really, because it’s up to you as an audience member,” explains star Rochenda Sandall who plays Kinloch Bravo’s doctor, Cat.
“I don’t think it’s too far-fetched to feel like it could be real in a sense in today’s world. A line from the first series was: “If you punch the earth hard enough, eventually it’s going to punch back.” I just think that’s such a poignant line and something so specific to now and the world that we’re living in. I find it believable for sure.”
“In a very simple sense, we as humanity have been around a tiny length of time compared to the length of the planet Earth, and all it’s saying is maybe we should be listening to it and see if it can be speaking to us, see if it can be telling us something,” adds Glen.“In a way, the ancestor is just asking to be heard. I think it’s asking for it to be understood.”
For Rose, her initial skepticism of the ancestor turns into her eventually being an advocator for it, trying to protect it when Pictor Energy Company attempts to destroy it. “A lot of the time, people are afraid of the ‘other’ and feel like they have to ward it off or attack it,” says Hampshire. “Rose really wants to understand it. You can translate that to any ‘other’. As opposed to being afraid of it, first try and understand it.”
After Pictor’s attempt at destroying the ancestor fails at the end of Season One, the remaining crew of Kinloch Bravo are whisked off to the mysterious facility, the Stac, nestled deep in the Arctic Circle.
Though some of the cast were hoping the helicopters may have been heading toward hotter climates (“I think I might have spread the biggest fan theory, which was Hawaii,” laughs Hampshire. “No, we go to the Arctic, which is the anti-Hawaii.”) the crew instead head towards one of the coldest places on Earth. Luckily for the cast, filming the scenes at the Stac wasn’t quite as harsh – it took place inside a studio in Edinburgh.
“The majority was shot inside the studio,” Glen confirms. “They’re putting us in Arctic gear on these extraordinary sets inside the studio and they’re creating a huge snowscape in this vast studio space, they’re throwing all the elements at us. You actually get to a point where you keep going to take everything off as soon as possible!
“We just saw the first episode and I think it looks absolutely fantastic. I’m believing every bit of it.”
Speaking of that first episode, the second season of the show takes place immediately after the last episode of Season One, and the crew must deal with the emotional and physical fallout of the devastating tsunami that destroyed the Bravo. For Magnus, he needs to figure out what to do now he’s trapped on the Stac and he’s no longer in charge. “He’s very alert to that sense of a corporate cover-up and that starts to play out in this season,” Glen tells us. “Although they’re in a very new and disorienting space, all the initial Bravo crew, it becomes clear we’re much more united as a group. So there’s much less in-fighting as we have a shared enemy.”
That sense of crew camaraderie continues off-camera as well… “It is part of the advantage of working in a studio because you’re all coming to the same place every day,” Glen nods. “Film can often be sporadic, as one storyline takes place over other days but if you’re all sharing the same space it just means we’re around each other a lot, and it’s just a really great dynamic.
“We all have each other. You take the work seriously, and we do and we’re all trying to do our best, but we’re all also trying to have a laugh as well, and we do. So there’s a great social life around it. Edinburgh is such a fantastic city (I may be a wee bit biased having been born and bred there) but it really is, it’s a fantastic city to work in and a great one to socialise in. We have a ball.”
The second series of The Rig is set to continue exploring global themes – weaving together the past, present, and future of the planet while drawing on the frontiers of cutting-edge ocean technology – including the controversial world of deep sea mining. But will there be a winner between humankind and the ancestors?
“I don’t think a winner emerges, but a deeper understanding. It will be a very different type of cliffhanger we’re on,” Glen reveals.
“We’re not in competition anymore, it’s a collaboration,” Hampshire adds.
“Yes it feels like there are higher powers that are maneuvering to see if they can be taken advantage of. So it’s still all up in the air.”
It seems there are plenty more mysteries for us in store with The Rig! Watch all episodes now on Amazon Prime.