''Mars'' is a hard science-fiction television series produced by

National Geographic ''National Geographic'' (formerly the ''National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as NAT GEO) is a popular American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. Known for its photojournalism, it is one of the most widel ...

that premiered on November 14, 2016, on its channel and FX. Prior to its official airdate, it was launched in a streaming format on November 1, 2016. It blends elements of real interviews with a fictional story of a group of

astronauts An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member aboard a spacecraft. Although generally r ...

as they land on the planet

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Roman god of war. Mars is a terrestrial planet with a thin at ...

. The series is based on the Stephen Petranek book ''How We'll Live on Mars'' (2015). The fictional narrative alternates initially between the years 2016 and 2033, using present-day non-fiction interviews to explain events unfolding in the story. The series was filmed in

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

and

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria t ...

. A companion book to the series, ''Mars: Our Future on the Red Planet'' (October 2016), details the science behind the show. A prequel episode, called ''Before Mars'', was produced and released conjointly with the series. It tells the fictional story of a moment in the life of one of the astronauts and the decisions she made to get involved in science. On January 13, 2017, it was announced that National Geographic had renewed the series for a second season, which premiered on November 12, 2018. The lead actress, Jihae, confirmed via her official Instagram that the series was canceled after only two seasons.

Premise

In the year 2033, a crew of six astronauts launch from Florida on a journey to be the first people to set foot on Mars. During the descent into the Martian atmosphere, there is a malfunction with their spacecraft, the ''Daedalus''. They land 75.3 kilometers away from their planned habitat. On Earth, their progress is being monitored. In the second season, the story jumps ahead several years into the future after the ''Daedalus'' astronauts have built a full-fledged colony called Olympus Town. Having established humankind as an interplanetary species, Season 2 examines the impact that humans have on the Red Planet and the consequences the planet has on us. Intermixed with the story is interview footage of real-life figures in the present, as well as of the fictional crew and their mission control. The real-life present-day interviews are with various scientists, engineers, and other public figures, such as

Elon Musk Elon Reeve Musk ( ; born June 28, 1971) is a business magnate and investor. He is the founder, CEO and chief engineer of SpaceX; angel investor, CEO and product architect of Tesla, Inc.; owner and CEO of Twitter, Inc.; founder of The ...

, Susan Wise Bauer,

Andy Weir Andrew Taylor Weir (born June 16, 1972) is an American novelist and former computer programmer. His 2011 novel '' The Martian'' was adapted into the 2015 film of the same name directed by Ridley Scott. He received the John W. Campbell Award fo ...

Robert Zubrin Robert Zubrin (; born April 9, 1952) is an American aerospace engineer, author, and advocate for human exploration of Mars. He and his colleague at Martin Marietta, David Baker, were the driving force behind Mars Direct, a proposal in a 1990 res ...

, and

Neil deGrasse Tyson Neil deGrasse Tyson ( or ; born October 5, 1958) is an American astrophysicist, author, and science communicator. Tyson studied at Harvard University, the University of Texas at Austin, and Columbia University. From 1991 to 1994, he was a p ...

, among others, about the difficulties that the crew might face on a journey to, and living on, Mars.

Cast

The cast for the fictional part of the first season includes: *

Ben Cotton Ben Cotton (born July 26, 1975) is a Canadian film and television actor. His most notable roles are on the TV series ''Stargate Atlantis'' playing scientist Dr. Kavanagh, his portrayal of "Leon Bell" in the game Dead Rising 2, Shane Pierce, the ...

as Ben Sawyer, American mission commander and systems engineer. * Jihae Kim as ** Hana Seung, American mission pilot and systems engineer, later mission commander, and ** Joon Seung, her twin sister and CAPCOM of mission control on Earth, later secretary-general of International Mars Science Foundation, the multi-nation organization funding the Mars expedition. * Clémentine Poidatz as Amelie Durand, French mission

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

and biochemist. * Sammi Rotibi as Robert Foucault, Nigerian mission engineer and

roboticist Robotics is an interdisciplinary branch of computer science and engineering. Robotics involves design, construction, operation, and use of robots. The goal of robotics is to design machines that can help and assist humans. Robotics integrat ...

. *

Alberto Ammann Alberto Ammann Rey (born 1978) is an Argentine actor. He has played various roles in films, television and theater, including the lead role in the Spanish film '' Cell 211'', which earned him a Goya Award for Best New Actor. He is also known ...

as Javier Delgado, Spanish mission

hydrologist Hydrology () is the scientific study of the movement, distribution, and management of water on Earth and other planets, including the water cycle, water resources, and environmental watershed sustainability. A practitioner of hydrology is calle ...

and

geochemist Geochemistry is the science that uses the tools and principles of chemistry to explain the mechanisms behind major geological systems such as the Earth's crust and its oceans. The realm of geochemistry extends beyond the Earth, encompassing the e ...

. *

Anamaria Marinca Anamaria Marinca (born 1 April 1978) is a Romanian actress. She made her screen debut with the Channel 4 film ''Sex Traffic'', for which she won the British Academy Television Award for Best Actress. Marinca is also known for her performance in ...

as Marta Kamen, Russian mission exobiologist and

geologist A geologist is a scientist who studies the solid, liquid, and gaseous matter that constitutes Earth and other terrestrial planets, as well as the processes that shape them. Geologists usually study geology, earth science, or geophysics, althoug ...

. *

Olivier Martinez Olivier Martinez (born 12 January 1966) is a French actor. He became well known after roles in several French films such as '' Un, deux, trois, soleil'' (1993), which garnered him the César Award for "Most Promising Actor", '' The Horseman on ...

as Ed Grann, CEO of the Mars Missions Corporation, consortium of private aerospace companies preparing Mars expeditions. * as Leslie Richardson, a logistical engineer who joins the expedition to oversee the base's expansion. In Season 2, she becomes secretary-general of International Mars Science Foundation. With the exception of Martinez and Cotton, all of these actors returned for the second season, which started production in July 2017.

Season 2

Esai Morales Esai Manuel Morales Jr. (born October 1, 1962) is an American actor. He has had notable roles in the films '' Bad Boys'' with Sean Penn and '' La Bamba'' with Lou Diamond Phillips (1987). His television roles include the PBS 2002 drama series '' ...

as Roland St. John, CEO of Lukrum. *

Jeff Hephner Jeffrey Lane Hephner (born June 22, 1975) is an American actor, best known for the role of Jeff Clarke, first on the NBC television series '' Chicago Fire'' and then on its sister show, ''Chicago Med''. More recently, he co-starred with Jennifer ...

as Kurt Hurrelle, commander of the Lukrum Mars mission. *Roxy Sternberg as Jen Carson, one of the Lukrum workers.

Production

The series music is composed by Nick Cave and

Warren Ellis Warren Girard Ellis (born 16 February 1968) is a British comic book writer, novelist, and screenwriter. He is best known as the co-creator of several original comics series, including ''Transmetropolitan'' (1997–2002), ''Global Frequency'' ( ...

. The soundtrack for the first season was released on November 11, 2016. For the second season,

Dee Johnson Dee Johnson is an American television producer and writer. She has worked on the series ''ER (TV series), ER'', ''Melrose Place'', ''Commander in Chief (TV series), Commander in Chief'', ''Southland (TV series), Southland'', ''The Good Wife'' an ...

took over as showrunner. Stephen Cragg and Ashley Way joined returning director Everardo Gout. Esai Morales, Roxy Sternberg, Gunnar Cauthery, Levi Fiehler, Evan Hall, Akbar Kurtha and Jeff Hephner joined the Season 2 cast. The second season premiered in the UK and Belgium on November 11, 2018, and in the US on November 12.

Episodes

Prequel (2016)

Season 1 (2016)

Season 2 (2018)

Special (2018)

Reception

Critical response

The first season of ''Mars'' received mixed reviews, holding a 61% approval rating on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

with an average score of 7.33/10 based on 18 reviews; in 2018, the critical consensus stated:

"Ron Howard's direction ensures that Mars is an attractive endeavor, even if the show struggles to move smoothly between its documentary and fictional elements."

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, the first season has received a score of 59 out of 100 based on 14 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews".

Accolades

References

External links

* * {{National Geographic TV 2016 American television series debuts 2018 American television series endings 2010s American science fiction television series Television series set in the 2030s Fiction set in 2033 English-language television shows Science education television series Television series about outer space Mars in television National Geographic (American TV channel) original programming Neil deGrasse Tyson Television series about space programs Television series by Imagine Entertainment Television series about astronauts