''The Hot Zone'' is an American

anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs or excerpts by different authors. In genre fiction, the term ''anthology'' typically categ ...

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been ...

television series, based on the 1994 non-fiction book of the same name by

Richard Preston Richard Preston (born August 5, 1954) is a writer for ''The New Yorker'' and bestselling author who has written books about infectious disease, bioterrorism, redwoods and other subjects, as well as fiction. Biography Preston was born in Cambri ...

and airing on

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 widely ...

. The first season, consisting of six episodes, aired from May 27 to May 29, 2019, and was intended as a miniseries. Largely set in 1989, it follows U.S. Army scientist Nancy Jaax who is confronted the possibility of a potentially deadly outbreak of

Ebola Ebola, also known as Ebola virus disease (EVD) and Ebola hemorrhagic fever (EHF), is a viral hemorrhagic fever in humans and other primates, caused by ebolaviruses. Symptoms typically start anywhere between two days and three weeks after becom ...

. Jaax, a veterinary pathologist, first identifies the

ebolavirus The genus ''Ebolavirus'' (- or ; - or ) is a virological taxon included in the family ''Filoviridae'' (filament-shaped viruses), order ''Mononegavirales''. The members of this genus are called ebolaviruses, and encode their genome in the form ...

after it appears in monkeys in a Primate Quarantine Facility in the suburbs of Washington, D.C. The season was positively reviewed, and renewed for a second season. The second season, titled ''The Hot Zone: Anthrax'', focuses on the

2001 anthrax attacks The 2001 anthrax attacks, also known as Amerithrax (a portmanteau of "America" and "anthrax", from its FBI case name), occurred in the United States over the course of several weeks beginning on September 18, 2001, one week after the September 11 ...

, just weeks after

September 11 Events Pre-1600 * 9 – The Battle of the Teutoburg Forest ends: The Roman Empire suffers the greatest defeat of its history and the Rhine is established as the border between the Empire and the so-called barbarians for the next four hun ...

. The season, also consisting of six episodes, aired from November 28 to November 30, 2021.

Cast and characters

Season one

Main

Julianna Margulies Julianna Margulies (; born June 8, 1966) is an American actress. After several small television roles, Margulies achieved wide recognition for her starring role as Carol Hathaway on NBC's long-running medical drama series '' ER'' (1994–2009), ...

as Col. Nancy Jaax, an Army veterinary pathologist *

Noah Emmerich Noah Nicholas Emmerich (born February 27, 1965) is an American actor and director who is best known for his roles in films such as '' Beautiful Girls'' (1996), ''The Truman Show'' (1998), ''Frequency'' (2000), ''Miracle'' (2004), '' Little Childr ...

as Col. Jerry Jaax, an Army veterinary surgeon *

Liam Cunningham Liam Cunningham (born 2 June 1961) is an Irish actor. He is known for playing Davos Seaworth in the HBO epic-fantasy series ''Game of Thrones''. Cunningham has been nominated for the London Film Critics' Circle Award, the British Independent ...

as Wade Carter *

Topher Grace Christopher John Grace ( ; born July 12, 1978) is an American actor. He is known for portraying Eric Forman in the Fox sitcom ''That '70s Show'', Eddie Brock / Venom in Sam Raimi's film ''Spider-Man 3'', Pete Monash in ''Win a Date with Tad Ham ...

as Dr.

Peter Jahrling Peter B. Jahrling is chief of the Emerging Viral Pathogens Section of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Jahrling received his PhD in medical microbiology from Cornell Medical College. He joined the military as an officer ...

, a virologist *

James D'Arcy James D'Arcy (born Simon Richard D'Arcy; 24 August 1975) is an English actor and film director. He is known for his portrayals of Howard Stark's butler, Edwin Jarvis, in the Marvel Cinematic Universe television series '' Agent Carter'' and the ...

as Travis Rhodes

Recurring

* Paul James as Ben Gellis *

Nick Searcy Nicholas Alan Searcy (born March 7, 1959) is an American character actor best known for portraying Chief Deputy United States Marshal Art Mullen on FX's '' Justified''. He also had a major role in the Tom Hanks–produced miniseries ''From the ...

as Frank Mays *

Robert Wisdom Robert Ray Wisdom (born September 14, 1953) is an American actor, best known for his roles as Howard "Bunny" Colvin in ''The Wire,'' Norman "Lechero" St. John in ''Prison Break'', and Harold Conway in the 2021 Hulu movie ''Vacation Friends''. ...

as Col. Vernon Tucker *

Robert Sean Leonard Robert Lawrence Leonard (born February 28, 1969), known by his stage name Robert Sean Leonard, is an American actor. He is best known for playing Dr. James Wilson in the television series ''House'' (2004–2012) and Neil Perry in the film ''Dea ...

as Walter Humboldt *

Grace Gummer Grace Jane Gummer (born May 9, 1986) is an American actress. She received a Theatre World Award for her Broadway debut in the 2011 revival of '' Arcadia''. Her television work includes recurring roles in '' The Newsroom'' and '' American Horror ...

as Melinda Rhodes *

Lenny Platt Lenny Platt (born July 25, 1984) is an American actor known for his portrayal of Nate Salinger on the US daytime soap opera ''One Life to Live'' from 2010 to 2012 and FBI recruit Drew Perales on the ABC thriller '' Quantico'' in 2016. Early lif ...

as Capt. Kyle Ormond

Season two

Main

Tony Goldwyn Anthony Howard Goldwyn (born May 20, 1960) is an American actor, singer, producer, director, and political activist. He made his debut appearing as Darren in the slasher film '' Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives'' (1986), and had his breakthr ...

Bruce Edwards Ivins Bruce Edwards Ivins (; April 22, 1946July 29, 2008) was an American microbiologist, vaccine, vaccinologist, senior biodefense researcher at the United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID), Fort Detrick, Maryla ...

, a microbiologist whose assistance with the FBI draws attention to himself as a suspect in the

. *

Daniel Dae Kim Daniel Dae Kim (born Kim Dae-hyun ( ko, 김대현); August 4, 1968) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Jin-Soo Kwon in ''Lost'', Chin Ho Kelly in ''Hawaii Five-0'', Gavin Park in ''Angel'', and Johnny Gat in the ''Saints Row'' ...

as Matthew Ryker, an FBI agent specializing in microbiology, who fears other types of attacks will follow those of

Recurring

Harry Hamlin Harry Robinson Hamlin (born October 30, 1951) is an American actor, author, and entrepreneur. He is best known for his roles as Perseus in the 1981 fantasy film '' Clash of the Titans'' and as Michael Kuzak in the legal drama series ''L.A. Law'' ...

Tom Brokaw Thomas John Brokaw (; born February 6, 1940) is an American retired network television journalist and author. He first served as the co-anchor of ''The Today Show'' from 1976 to 1981 with Jane Pauley, then as the anchor and managing editor of '' ...

Dylan Baker Dylan Baker (born October 7, 1959) is an American actor. He gained recognition for his roles in the films such as ''Planes, Trains and Automobiles'' (1987), ''Happiness'' (1998), '' Thirteen Days'' (2000), ''Road to Perdition'' (2002), ''Spider-M ...

as Ed Copak, a senior FBI agent *Ian Colletti as Chris Moore, a new FBI agent *

Dawn Olivieri Dawn Orienne Olivieri (born February 8, 1981) is an American actress. She played Lydia in ''Heroes'' and Monica Talbot in ''House of Lies''. Career Olivieri appeared in the Showtime series ''House of Lies'', starting in 2012, playing the compet ...

as Dani Toretti, an FBI behaviorist *Denyce Lawton as Sheila Willis, a pharmaceutical lobbyist and Ryker's girlfriend *

Morgan Kelly Morgan Kelly (born 23 June, 1976) is a Canadian actor, best known for his roles on ''Being Erica'' and '' Killjoys''. Career Kelly is known for his role on '' Fries with That?'' as Alexander "Alex" Kurzi. He also appears on ''Falcon Beach'' as ...

as Eric Sykes, an FBI agent

Episodes

Series overview

Season 1 (2019)

Season 2: Anthrax

Production

Development

On April 18, 2018, it was announced that

had given a series order to the production. Executive producers were set to include Lynda Obst, Kelly Souders, Brian Peterson, Jeff Vintar, and Ridley Scott. Production companies involved with the series were slated to consist of

Fox 21 Television Studios The second incarnation of Touchstone Television (formerly known as Fox 21 Television Studios) was an American television production company that is a subsidiary of Disney Media Networks' Walt Disney Television owned by The Walt Disney Company. It ...

Scott Free Productions Scott Free Productions is an independent film and television production company founded in 1970 by filmmakers and brothers Ridley Scott and Tony Scott. They formed the feature film development company Percy Main Productions in 1980, naming the ...

, and Lynda Obst Productions. On August 9, 2018, it was announced that Kelly Souders and

Brian Wayne Peterson Brian Wayne Peterson (born c. 1971/1972) is an American screenwriter, television producer, and showrunner. After finding success writing the script for 1999 film '' But I'm a Cheerleader'', he and his writing partner Kelly Souders wrote and prod ...

were joining the series as showrunners, executive producers, and writers. On February 8, 2019, it was announced that the series would premiere on May 27, 2019. In November 2020, National Geographic renewed the series for a second season.

Casting

On July 25, 2018, it was announced during the

Television Critics Association The Television Critics Association (TCA) is a group of approximately 200 United States and Canadian television critics, journalists and columnists who cover television programming for newspapers, magazines and web publications. The TCA accepts app ...

's annual summer press tour that

had been cast in the first season's lead role. On September 13, 2018, it was reported that

, Paul James,

, and

had joined the cast in starring roles and that

would make a guest starring appearance. On December 6, 2018, it was announced that

would appear in a recurring capacity. In early 2021, following the announcement of a second season with a different story,

, Ian Colletti

, and Denyce Lawton were announced as cast members.

Filming

Principal photography for the first season took place from September 13, 2018, to November 16, 2018, in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

and was also expected to film in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

. Exterior photography of the rear loading docks of the "monkey lab" took place at the now-closed Life Savers Factory located at 100 Cumberland Ave,

Hamilton, Ontario Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Hamilton has a population of 569,353, and its census metropolitan area, which includes Burlington and Grimsby, has a population of 785,184. The city is approximately southwest of T ...

. Loading docks can be viewed from Burris Street as well as homes in reverse shots. Exterior and interior shots of "Commuter Station" took place at the historic Hamilton Canadian National Railway Station, located at 360 James St N, in Hamilton, Ontario.

Release

On December 20, 2018, a "first look" still image from the series was released featuring Julianna Margulies in character as Dr. Nancy Jaax. On February 8, 2019, a trailer for the series was released. The Show airs on National Geographic. The series is available to stream internationally with

Disney+ The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment Entertainment is a form of activity that holds the attention and interest of an audience or gives pleasure and deligh ...

through its

Star A star is an astronomical object comprising a luminous spheroid of plasma (physics), plasma held together by its gravity. The List of nearest stars and brown dwarfs, nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked ...

hub, with the second season released in selected territories.

''Going Viral''

''Going Viral'' is a 2019 one-hour documentary companion to the miniseries. On February 8, 2019, it was announced that

had greenlit a companion documentary film to premiere alongside the series in May 2019. The film was set to be executive produced by Betsy Forhan and feature interviews with subjects including

, Dr.

Nahid Bhadelia Nahid Bhadelia is an American infectious-diseases physician, founding director of Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases Policy and Research (CEID) at Boston University and an associate professor at the Boston University School of Medicine. She ...

, Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, Dr.

Pardis Sabeti Pardis Christine Sabeti ( fa, پردیس ثابتی; born December 25, 1975) is an Iranian-American computational biologist, medical geneticist and evolutionary geneticist. She developed a bioinformatic statistical method which identifies sectio ...

, and Dr.

Ian Crozier Ian Crozier is an American physician who contracted Ebola virus disease in September 2014, while working in West Africa. __TOC__ Early life Crozier was born in in the Rhodesian city of Fort Victoria. His family moved to the United States when ...

. The production company involved with the film was slated to be National Geographic Studios.

Reception

Critical response

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 ...

gave an approval rating of 85%, based on 20 reviews. Its critical consensus reads: "An anxiety-producing dramatization of real-world events, ''The Hot Zone'' acts as a sobering reminder of exactly how deadly a disease can be." On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, 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 arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

, the season had a score of 69 out of 100, based on 12 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Accolades

Notes

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hot Zone, The 2010s American anthology television series 2010s American drama television series 2019 American television series debuts Anthrax in fiction Ebola in popular culture English-language television shows National Geographic (American TV channel) original programming Television series about the Federal Bureau of Investigation Television series about viral outbreaks Television series by 20th Century Fox Television Television series by Scott Free Productions Television shows based on non-fiction books Television shows set in Africa Television shows set in Maryland Television shows set in Virginia Television shows filmed in Hamilton, Ontario Television shows filmed in South Africa Television shows filmed in Toronto