Based on chilling true story all episodes are streaming for free
The series is inspired by a chilling true story(Image: AMC)
A ‘phenomenal’ series that blends period drama with spine-chilling horror has been hailed by devoted fans as a ‘televisual masterpiece’.
Remarkably, the show is also rooted in a genuinely unsettling true story — and even better, it can be streamed right now at no additional cost.
At the time of writing, The Terror is currently available on both ITVX and Channel 5. The former additionally hosts its second season, though that particular instalment follows an entirely different storyline.
A third season was released in the US earlier this year, subtitled Devil In Silver. However, this chapter was adapted from a novel and has yet to reach UK audiences.
In the meantime, viewers can revisit the series from the very beginning. The Terror is a historical anthology drama, with its first two seasons drawing upon real-life events, though both remain fictionalised interpretations, reports OK!
Legendary director Ridley Scott serves as executive producer across both seasons. The opening season charts the journey of Royal Navy polar expedition vessels HMS Erebus and HMS Terror as they venture into uncharted waters, resolute in their mission to locate and confirm the existence of the fabled Northwest Passage.
The ships soon become trapped in ice, leaving the crew to endure savage conditions and mounting internal tensions, all while being stalked by a terrifying and mysterious presence. It draws inspiration from the actual 1845 Franklin Expedition, where those two vessels genuinely became trapped in ice within the Arctic while seeking the Northwest Passage.
However, the programme dramatises the potential terrors they might have encountered.
Meanwhile, the second series, titled Infamy, takes place along America’s western coastline during the Second World War, delving into Japanese bakemono folklore – a malevolent phantom that torments a Japanese American community from Southern California through to internment camps and Pacific battlefields.
Audiences have heaped praise upon the series, particularly its opening instalment. One enthusiast proclaimed: “It’s such a masterpiece that I watched it twice, back to back.”
Another added: “I binge-watched season one, couldn’t stop. Amazing performances.”
A fellow admirer wrote online: “I have watched a lot of horror shows and movies…but nothing makes me feel dread and unease like this one. The pacing is perfect, the atmosphere bleak, the music beautifully haunting, the dialogue is fantastic, and the story is amazing. Best horror show of all time for me.”
Meanwhile, one viewer declared: “Quite simply, a televisual masterpiece, mixing true-life tragedy, fictional horror and majestic period thriller. A magnificent accomplishment.”
Another viewer chimed in: “This is a remarkable series, which takes on a journey of suspicion, disaster, tragedy and terror. The first episode didn’t exactly captivate me, but by episode three I was obsessed, and subsequently had to binge watch the whole series.”
The Terror is streaming on ITVX and Channel 5.