Humans (TV series): Difference between revisions
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==Premise== |
==Premise== |
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Set in suburban London, the story takes place in a parallel present |
Set in suburban London, the story takes place in a parallel present where the latest must-have gadget for any busy family is a synth – an [[android (robot)|android]] robot eerily similar to a human in nearly every respect.<ref name="tvseriesfinale" /> |
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==Cast== |
==Cast== |
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Revision as of 13:17, 18 July 2015
| Humans | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | Science fiction |
| Created by |
|
| Based on | Real Humans |
| Starring |
|
| Theme music composer | Cristobal Tapia de Veer |
| Country of origin | |
| Original language | English |
| No. of series | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 5 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producers |
|
| Producer | Chris Fry |
| Production locations | London, England, UK |
| Cinematography |
|
| Running time | 46 minutes |
| Production companies | |
| Original release | |
| Network | |
| Release | 14 June 2015 – present |
Humans (styled as HUMⱯNS) is a British-American science fiction television series, debuted in June 2015 on Channel 4 and AMC.[1] Written by the British team Sam Vincent and Jonathan Brackley, based on the award-winning Swedish science fiction drama Real Humans, the series explores the emotional impact of the blurring of the lines between humans and machines. The series is produced jointly by AMC, Channel 4 and Kudos.[2] Eight episodes were produced for the series.[3]
Premise
Set in suburban London, the story takes place in a parallel present where the latest must-have gadget for any busy family is a synth – an android robot eerily similar to a human in nearly every respect.[2]
Cast
Main
- Colin Morgan[1] as Leo Elster, a fugitive who is trying to track down synths from his past.
- Ivanno Jeremiah[2] as Max, Leo's synth.
- Gemma Chan[1] as Anita/Mia, the servile synth. Her memory was wiped but she retains the capacity for some human emotion.
- Katherine Parkinson[1] as Laura Hawkins, a lawyer and mother of three who feels uncomfortable around synths.
- Tom Goodman-Hill[1] as Joe Hawkins, Laura's husband. He bought Anita as he felt Laura was not spending enough time with their children.
- William Hurt[1] as Dr. George Millican, a retired synth scientist and widower who forms a special bond with his outdated synth Odi.[4]
- Will Tudor[1] as Odi, Dr. George Millican's outdated synth carer. He is prone to glitches although Millican is unwilling to recycle him.
- Rebecca Front[1] as Vera, a domineering medical synth from the NHS who is supposed to replace Odi as George Millican's carer; Millican is frustrated with her harsh manner.
- Neil Maskell[2] as D.S. Pete Drummond, a Special Technologies Task Force police officer who resents the synthetics.
- Danny Webb[1] as Prof. Edwin Hobb, a synth scientist.[5]
- Emily Berrington[1] as Niska, a conscious synth who is capable of feeling pain. She was forced to work as a synth prostitute, but eventually killed one of her clients.
- Sope Dirisu[2] as Fred, a conscious synth captured by Hobb while working in a plantation.
- Lucy Carless[6] as Matilda (Mattie) Hawkins, Laura and Joe's teenage daughter, who feels frustrated at the developing role of synths in society. Despite her own intelligence, she feels useless, claiming that synths will be able to do anything she can within a few years.
- Theo Stevenson[1] as Toby Hawkins, Laura and Joe's teenage son, who develops an attraction towards Anita.
- Pixie Davis as Sophie Hawkins, Laura and Joe's young daughter. She names Anita after a friend of hers who has since moved away, and develops a particular affection for her.
- Ruth Bradley[6] as D.I. Karen Voss, police partner of D.S. Pete Drummond.
- Jill Halfpenny[6] as Jill Drummond, D.S. Pete Drummond's disabled wife.
- Jack Derges[6] as Simon, Jill Drummond's synth carer and physiotherapist.
- Manpreet Bachu[6] as Harun Khan, a friend of Mattie Hawkins who helps her hack the synths.
Recurring
- Ellen Thomas[6] as Lindsey Kiwanuka.
- Jonathan Aris[6] as Robert.
- Stephen Boxer[7] as Dr. David Elster, the creator of the conscious synths.
Non-recurring
- Philip Arditti[6] as Salim Sadik.
- Akie Kotabe[6] as Dr. Ji Dae-sun.
Episodes
| No. in series | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | UK viewers (millions) [8] | U.S. viewers (millions) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Episode 1" | Sam Donovan | Sam Vincent & Jonathan Brackley | 14 June 2015 | 5.47 | 1.73[9] | |
|
After missing his wife at home in his busy household, Joe Hawkins buys a very pretty synth, a robotic assistant that looks like a young woman; he doesn't consult his wife. Upon her return, wife Laura feels displaced and cast off. She also complains that this will confuse the children, who name the robot Anita. In a flashback, a group including Leo, Max, Niska, and Anita is hiding out in the forest five weeks earlier; everyone except Max and Leo is abducted and taken away into London. Fred, Leo and Max's contact in London, is concealing a mobile phone, which is blatantly outside allowed behaviour for a synth, and taken in for investigation by Hobb. George's outdated synth Odi malfunctions and injures a woman. Back at the Hawkins' residence, Anita carries the sleeping Sophie out of the house one night. | |||||||
| 2 | " Episode 2" | Sam Donovan | Sam Vincent & Jonathan Brackley | 21 June 2015 | 4.45 | 1.09[10] | |
|
Anita continues to worry Mattie with her human-like nature, and Laura with her closeness to Sophie and how she's taken over house tasks that Laura would normally do herself, while Toby finds himself enticed by her. George hides his outdated synth Odi, who he refuses to let go even with his GP insisting it be recycled, while he deals with his new overbearing health-case synth, Vera. Pete Drummond finds himself pushed aside and threatened in his life when his invalid wife begins to depend more upon their attractive synth Simon than on him. Niska decides that she has had enough when a elderly customer at the brothel asks her to act young and frightened, and kills him then makes a run for it. Fred remains captured in the facility run by Hobb, who inspects his memory and finds images and memories of Anita. | |||||||
| 3 | "Episode 3" | Daniel Nettheim | Sam Vincent & Jonathan Brackley | 28 June 2015 | 3.63 | TBD | |
|
Toby races to stop Laura taking Anita back. He reaches her car, when a van runs Anita over, but she is mended by Joe. Elsewhere, George locks Vera in a room in his house, and takes Odi out in his car. The car crashes, and George orders Odi to hide in the woods. Drummond and Voss investigate the murder at the brothel, and elsewhere, Niska meets up with Leo and Max. After arguing with them, Niska goes to a bar, where she is chatted up by a man, and believing he is going to cheat on his wife with her, Niska hides a knife behind her back, but the man reveals he was looking after his young daughter. Back at the Hawkins household, Laura is grateful when Anita persuades Sophie to allow Laura to put her to bed. Later that night, Mattie inputs Anita's data onto her laptop, when Anita grabs her wrist and descends into a state of fear. | |||||||
| 4 | " Episode 4 " | Daniel Nettheim | Joe Barton | 5 July 2015 | 3.95 | TBD | |
|
Laura meets a client who thinks synths can feel emotions and deserve human rights; she is intrigued by the idea. Meanwhile, her husband Joe feels lonely and has sex with Anita. Mattie meets up with Leo but quickly runs away when he claims her synth is called 'Mia' and asks about her location. Leo and Max then discover executable code by David Elster within Mia's programming and find Doctor Millican, who helps them extract it. Leo connects himself with his laptop and tries to run the program but tells Niska it will require all of them. Niska finds a "Smash club" where synths are savagely beaten for entertainment and starts attacking the humans there; she narrowly escapes being captured. Laura and Joe take Anita in to be diagnosed and discover she is at least fourteen years old. Pete Drummond's wife asks him to leave her alone with Simon; he goes to stay with his colleague Karen. Unbeknownst to him, it is revealed that Karen is a synth herself. | |||||||
| 5 | " Episode 5 " | Lewis Arnold | Emily Ballou | 12 July 2015 | TBD | TBD | |
|
Leo sends Niska to stay with Doctor Millican for a few days, because her face is in the newspapers for killing a human. Mattie contacts Leo and brings Anita to him, but Anita does not recognise the name 'Mia' or show any signs of being aware of her past. Niska and Doctor Millican discuss artificial consciousness and his involvement with the creation of synths. Mattie takes Anita home and finds in a log that someone has had sex with her. She assumes it was Toby, who admits this when Laura questions him. DS Drummond visits Doctor Millican, having found the remains of Odi, but does not discover Niska. Joe talks to Toby, who knows that it was really Joe that had sex with Anita. Toby becomes angry at Joe and storms off. Drummond attends a "We Are People" rally and listens to a man who feels synths make humans redundant. When Joe confesses to Laura that it was him using Anita's adult mode, Laura throws him out. | |||||||
| 6 | "Episode 6"[11] | Lewis Arnold | Sam Vincent & Jonathan Brackley | 19 July 2015 | TBD | TBD | |
| 7 | "Episode 7"[12] | China Moo-Young | Sam Vincent & Jonathan Brackley | 26 July 2015 | TBD | TBD | |
| 8 | "Episode 8"[13] | China Moo-Young[14] | TBA | 2 August 2015 | TBD | TBD | |
Production
Development
The series was announced in April 2014 as part of a partnership between Channel 4 and Xbox Entertainment Studios.[15] However, after Microsoft closed Xbox Entertainment Studios, AMC came aboard as partners to Channel 4.[16] Filming commenced in the autumn of 2014, with the series premiering on 14 June 2015.[16] The series' budget is £12 million.[17]
Filming
During rehearsals, Gemma Chan and her fellow robot actors were sent to a 'synth school' run by the show's choreographer, in a bid to rid themselves of any human physical gestures and become convincing synths. "It was about stripping back any physical tics you naturally incorporate into performance," explains Chan, who adds that it was a "relief to go home and slouch" after a day on set.[18]
Katherine Parkinson began filming six weeks after giving birth to her second child; her part in the series was filmed on 10 separate days, between 10 days rest.[19]
Marketing
For one week in May 2015, the series was marketed using a fake shopfront for Persona Synthetics on London's Regent Street, inviting passers-by to create their own synth using interactive screens,[20][21] and employing actors who pretended to be synths around central London.[22] An accompanying Channel 4 trailer for the series in the style of an advert for Persona featured "Sally," a robotic servant described as "your new best friend."[22]
Future
Gemma Chan said in an interview with Den of Geek that the first series is "not completely tied up at the end" and "there are definitely still areas to be explored for a second series."[23][24]
Furthermore, Channel 4 has been in talks over a second series after the Kudos show became its best-rated drama in more than 20 years. C4’s head of international drama Simon Maxwell told Broadcast’s Talking TV podcast that although Humans has yet to be formally greenlit for a second run, "it's very much under consideration."
"We've got a story that is told over a great many episodes and is very much designed to come back and return. We’ll be following those characters on a really epic journey," he said.
Chris Fry, the show’s producer, added that discussions over storylines for series two have begun with writers Sam Vincent and Jonathan Brackley.[25]
Broadcast
The first episode of the series was made available in the UK on Channel 4 on 14 June 2015 and premiered in the United States and Canada on AMC on 28 June 2015.[26]
Reception
The show is Channel 4's highest rated drama since the 1992 programme
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Humans: Channel 4 and AMC's sci-fi drama releases its first image". Digital Spy. 2015-01-10.
- ^ a b c d e "Humans: New AMC TV Show to Debut". Retrieved 14 May 2015.
- deadline.com. Retrieved 13 October 2014.
- ^ "HUMANS - Dr. George Millican - AMC". AMC.
- ^ "HUMANS - Professor Edwin Hobb - AMC". AMC.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i "Radio Times". Retrieved 8 June 2015.
- ^ "Humans 12 July 2015 Channel 4 HD - Series 1 - Episode 5". Retrieved 29 June 2015.
- BARB. Retrieved 29 June 2015.
- Deadline.com. Retrieved 13 July 2015.
- ^ Cantor, Brian (8 July 2015). "Ratings: AMC's "Humans" falls sharply in week two; "Halt and Catch Fire" holds". Headline Planet. Retrieved 13 July 2015.
- ^ "Humans 19 July 2015 Channel 4 HD - Series 1 - Episode 6". Retrieved 8 July 2015.
- ^ "Humans 26 July 2015 Channel 4 HD - Series 1 - Episode 7". Retrieved 13 July 2015.
- ^ Martin, William. "'Humans' episode guide". CultBox.
- ^ "Client CV: China Moo-Young - Curtis Brown". Curtis Brown. Retrieved 6 July 2015.
- ^ "William Hurt and Colin Morgan to star in new sci-fi drama series". Retrieved 13 October 2014.
- ^ a b "Channel 4 teams up with AMC for sci-fi series Humans". Retrieved 11 January 2015.
- ^ a b Plunkett, John (22 June 2015). "Humans becomes Channel 4's biggest drama hit in 20 years". The Guardian. Retrieved 23 June 2015.
- ^ "TV: Humans on Channel 4, all you need to know about the robot drama". Retrieved 8 June 2015.
- ^ Francis, Pam (7 June 2015). "Humans' Katherine Parkinson: When I started the job I had a six-week-old baby". Express. Retrieved 23 June 2015.
- ^ "Channel 4 explains innovative Humans marketing campaign". Retrieved 12 May 2015.
- ^ "Channel 4's Persona Synthetics ad for Humans could be the best TV promo we've ever seen". Retrieved 9 May 2015.
- ^ a b "Channel 4 dupes viewers into thinking robot servants for sale". Retrieved 13 May 2015.
- ^ Meller, Louisa (12 June 2015). "Humans: Colin Morgan and Gemma Chan interview". Den of Geek. Retrieved 23 June 2015.
- ^ Martin, William (18 June 2015). "'Humans' could return for second season, says star". CultBox. Retrieved 23 June 2015.
- ^ Kanter, Jane (10 July 2015). "C4 in talks over second run of Humans". Broadcast. Retrieved 11 July 2015.
- ^ "TV by the numbers". Retrieved 14 May 2015.
- ^ Lawson, Mike (22 June 2015). "Humans: a bankable British TV show that isn't a costume drama". The Guardian. Retrieved 23 June 2015.
- ^ Denham, Jess (14 June 2015). "Humans: Everything we know about Channel 4's new series so far from the cast to that creepy Persona Synthetics ad". The Independent. Retrieved 23 June 2015.
- ^ Wilson, Benji (20 June 2015). "There's something slightly robotic about Humans". The Telegraph. Retrieved 23 June 2015.
