The North Water is a 5-part series that begins in the UK on BBC2 on Friday September 10 at 9.30pm with episodes then shown weekly on BBC2.

Directly after the first BBC2 episode, all five episodes will become available on the streaming service BBCiPlayer.

The drama has already been shown in the US, having arrived on AMC+ on July 15 2021.

The series is based on the book by English author and academic Ian McGuire, which was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize. Much of the shoot took place north of the Svalbard Archipelago, the cast and crew working entirely offshore in the Arctic Ocean.

Director Andrew Haigh says: “Ian McGuire’s novel vividly evokes the brutal beauty of the Arctic environment and I knew I had to try and bring a similar realism to the show.

"Despite the obvious challenges, shooting in the Arctic seemed the very best option. I wanted us to feel the biting wind, the bitter cold. I wanted to capture that fear that comes from being so far from civilization.”

Series Synopsis
1859. Patrick Sumner joins The Volunteer as a ship’s surgeon, hoping to lose himself in the tough physicality of an Arctic whaling trip. But the ferocity of the elements is matched by the violence of his crew mates, with Drax, a harpooner, a distinctly brutal force of nature.

As the true purpose of the expedition becomes clear, confrontation between the two men erupts - taking them on a journey far from solid ground and way beyond the safe moorings of civilisation.

Cast and Crew credits
Cast

Patrick Sumner…………………………………………..………………………….Jack O’Connell

Henry Drax………………………………………………………………………………Colin Farrell

Captain Brownlee………………………………………………………………....Stephen Graham

Baxter…………………………………………………………………………..Sir Tom Courtenay

Cavendish……………………………………………………………………………….Sam Spruell

Otto……………………………………………………………………………………Roland Møller

Priest…………………………………………………………………………………….Peter Mullan

McKendrick…………………………………………………………………….Philip Hill-Pearson

Jones………………………………………………………………………………...Kieran Urquhart

Corbyn………………………………………………………………………………….Jonathan Aris

Joseph Hannah…………………………………………………………………..Stephen McMillan

Hester………………………………………………………………………………..………….Hester

Anna…………………………………………………………………………………..….Nive Nielson

Elder Inuk……………………………………………………………………...…….Natar Ungalaaq

Younger Inuk……………………………………………………………………..……….Jerry Laisa

Urgang………………………………………………………………………………Ipeelie Ootoova

Merok…………………………………………………………………………….Keenan Carpenter

Crew

Writer and Director…………………………………………………………………Andrew Haigh

Producer…………………………………………………………………..…………….Kate Ogborn

Executive Producer, See-Saw Films…………………………………………………Iain Canning

Executive Producer, See-Saw Films…………………………………………...…Emile Sherman

Executive Producer………………………………………………………………Jamie Laurenson

Executive Producer………………………………………………………………..Hakan Kousetta

Executive Producer…………………………………………………………...………Niv Finchman

Production Designer…………………………………………….…………. Emmanuel Fréchette

Costume Designer……………………………………………………………….Sarah Blenkinsop

Hair and Make-up Designer…………………………………………...….Karen Hartley Thomas

Editor……………………………………………………………………..………..Jonathan Alberts

Editor…………………………………………………………………..………..Matthew Hannam