Fans of “Westworld”, “Battlestar Galactica”, “The 100” and “Revolution” will enjoy Showmax’s new dystopian sci-fi, “Raised by Wolves”.
Aside from the fact that doyen filmmaker Ridley Scott executive produces the 10-part series, what will undoubtedly pique the interest of viewers is the fact that it was filmed in and around Cape Town.
Already renewed for a second season, critics have been giving the series glowing reviews.
“Raised by Wolves” opens with two androids crash-landing on planet Kepler-22b. They escaped a war-torn Earth polarised by religious differences between the militant atheists and the Mithraics, a religious order.
After landing on the uninhabited planet, the androids grow the human embryos in their possession in the hope of building a new atheist civilisation. Over a decade later, Campion (Winta McGrath) is the only child of six to survive.
And this results in serious tension between the Father (Abubakar Salim) and Mother/ Lamia (Amanda Collin) androids.
He wants to place Campion with his own kind but she is adamant about not reaching out to humans.
Privy to Father’s wishes, Campion unwittingly invites the Mithraic’s - led by Marcus. Around the same time, Mother’s behaviour grows increasingly unsettling.
Travis Fimmel (“Vikings”) along with Niamh Algar (“MotherFatherSon”) have dual roles in the series. He plays Caleb and she is Mary.
The two of them end up impersonating Sue and Marcus to get onto the Ark.
Fimmel explained: “Before the events in the show start, I think Marcus and Sue had a relationship where they were very dependent on each other.
“On Earth, they’ve been together a long time and need each other to survive.
“When thrown onto this new planet and new situations, their relationship is really tested. Sue becomes... not very nice, to be honest, and Marcus feels like she’s betraying him.”
Algar added: “That’s interesting that that’s how you see it. The viewer is really flung into the middle of their relationship.
“Their backstory is something that’s unravelled through the show, which is really fun. It’s like any relationship.
“It’s complex and it’s toxic in places, but there is a deep love that is keeping them together.”
As for shooting in South Africa, he offered: “We did a lot of the shooting on a vineyard on a farm (Lourensford Wine Estate, outside Somerset West).
“It was a stunningly beautiful spot. When it rained you could see waterfalls in the mountains and there were animals everywhere. It was just a blast.”
Algar recalled: “There were animal wranglers on set one day and they shut down production for about 10 minutes because a family of baboons had come down from the mountains and decided to take a look around.
“Obviously, we were in their territory.
“They had a look around and then walked off. It was surreal.”
Both actors were clearly chuffed to work with the inimitable Scott.
Fimmel revealed: “His imagination just does not stop. I went to a meeting with him in LA and he had the whole thing storyboarded.
“I mean, you could just watch his storyboards and be entertained.”
“It’s a lifelong dream to work with Ridley Scott,” added Algar. “I’m a massive fan of his work. I grew up in the countryside and – Travis is going to laugh at me for this – I had two ponies when I was growing up.
One of them was called G.I. Jane (from the movie of the same name) and the other was called Maximus (from “Gladiator”). That’s how much I loved the characters Ridley Scott creates.
“He creates iconic, strong female characters, especially within sci-fi.
“To feel like a continuation of that and to be one of the incredibly strong female characters in this show, that’s exactly why I got into acting.
“The characters in this show, both male and female, they’re flawed and complex. He never creates a two-dimensional character.”
The storyline magnified their interest, too.
She said: “Reading something where you had these two androids that were tasked with raising human children.
“To me, the androids are becoming more human in their actions than the humans. At the root of it, you have the question what constitutes a family and what it means to be human.”
“It’s fascinating. The robots become more human and the humans start turning into animals. It’s sad, in a way. I think that happens throughout our world all the time,” admitted Fimmel.
“Raised by Wolves” is streaming on Showmax.