''Zero Chill'' is a British

teen drama In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

streaming television Streaming television is the digital distribution of television content, such as TV shows, as streaming media delivered over the Internet. Streaming television stands in contrast to dedicated terrestrial television delivered by over-the-air aer ...

series, created by Kirstie Falkous and John Regier for

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

, and produced by

Lime Pictures Lime Pictures, formerly known as Mersey Television, is a British television production company, founded by producer and writer Phil Redmond in the early 1980s. They produce award winning drama, and entertainment shows, for the international mar ...

, with Adam Usden serving as lead writer. The show was filmed in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. Grace Beedie and Dakota Benjamin Taylor star in the series alongside an

ensemble cast In a dramatic production, an ensemble cast is one that is composed of multiple principal actors and performers who are typically assigned roughly equal amounts of screen time.Random House: ensemble acting Linked 2013-07-17 Structure In contrast to ...

, portraying the MacBentley twins, who are a

figure skater Figure skating is a sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform on figure skates on ice. It was the first winter sport to be included in the Olympic Games, when contested at the 1908 Olympics in London. The Olympic disciplines are me ...

and

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

player respectively. The series premiered on 15 March 2021. On 17 November 2021, Netflix cancelled ''Zero Chill'' after one season.

Premise

The MacBentley family moves to England from Canada, when Mac is offered a place on a prestigious

team. His twin sister, Kayla, struggles to adapt to the change, having been separated from her

figure skating Figure skating is a sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform on figure skates on ice. It was the first winter sport to be included in the Olympic Games, when contested at the 1908 Olympics in London. The Olympic disciplines are me ...

partner.

Cast and characters

Main

* Grace Beedie as Kayla MacBentley, a figure skater who is forced to move to England when her twin brother, Mac, is offered a place on the Hammers * Dakota Benjamin Taylor as "Mac" MacBentley, a talented but arrogant hockey player for the Hammers * Jeremias Amoore as Bear Stelzer, captain of the Hammers and Sam's older brother * Anastasia Chocholatá as Ava Hammarström, a figure skater who wants to tryout for her father's hockey team * Leonardo Fontes as Sam Stelzer, goalie for the Hammers and Bear's naive younger brother * Jade Ma as Sky Tyler, an ice skater who stopped due to having leukaemia. She is Kayla's best friend and Mac's love interest. *

Sarah-Jane Potts Sarah-Jane Potts (born 30 August 1976) is an English actress, best known for her roles as Saint (Sarah) in '' Sugar Rush'', Ellie, Abs' on/off girlfriend in '' Casualty'' and Jo Lipsett in '' Waterloo Road''. Potts is the sister of actor Andre ...

as Jenny MacBentley, the mother of Kayla and Mac * Doug Rao as Luke MacBentley, the father of Kayla and Mac, and assistant coach for the Hammers *

Tanja Ribič Tanja Ribič (born 28 June 1968) is a Slovenian actress and singer. Biography Ribič graduated from the Academy of Theatre, Radio, Film and Television in Ljubljana. She has been a member of Ljubljana City Theatre since 1992. She represented ...

as Elina Hammarström, the harsh and overbearing mother of Ava, and Anton's ex-wife * Oscar Skagerberg as Anton Hammarström, Ava's father, coach of the Hammers and Elina's ex-husband * Stan Steinbichler as Nico Haas, one of Mac's teammates who takes a dislike to him * Christina Tam as Holly Tyler, the overprotective mother of Sky who is reluctant to let her daughter skate again due to Sky's health

Recurring

* Toby Murray as Archie Long, a figure skater who cannot find a partner * Kenneth Tynan as Jacob Schimmer, Kayla's former skating partner from Toronto * Ayumi Roux as Maia Legarde, Jacob's new partner * Brett Houghton as Carson Hubick, a player from the Orcas and Mac's rival * Jerry Kwarteng as Axel Stelzer, the father of Bear and Sam * Calin Bleau as Marek Zelezney, coach of the Wolverines

Production

Producers of ''Zero Chill'' wanted to cast real skaters for the series, since it brought "authenticity" that " CGI trickery" could not. Regardless of their skating experience, the cast members were sent to a nine-week training programme prior to filming. Executive producer Angelo Abela stated that the cast members got to try out both sports, so ice skaters could play ice hockey and vice versa. Dakota Benjamin Taylor explained that for the ice skating scenes, cast members were not permitted to do jumps on the ice. After producers met with

Team GB Team GB is the brand name used since 1999 by the British Olympic Association (BOA) for their British Olympic team. The brand was developed after the nation's poor performance in the 1996 Summer Olympics, and is now a trademark of the BOA. I ...

figure skating coach David Hartley, the general manager of the

IceSheffield iceSheffield is an ice arena in the Lower Don Valley, Sheffield, England. iceSheffield was completed in May 2003 at a cost of £15 million and is a Centre of Excellence for figure skating, ice dance and hockey, and it is one of only two faciliti ...

, where Hartley works, offered them the opportunity to film the series there. When the cast members went in for training, they were able to watch professional figure skaters training, as well as the

Sheffield Steelers The Sheffield Steelers are a professional ice hockey team located in Sheffield, England. They were formed in 1991 (see 1991 in sport) and play their home games at the Utilita Arena. They are currently a member of the Elite Ice Hockey League. ...

. Abela stated that they used filming techniques that were used on ''

Free Rein ''Free Rein'' is a British drama television series created and written by Vicki Lutas and Anna McCleery. It stars Jaylen Barron, Navia Robinson (seasons 1-2) and Freddy Carter. Produced in the UK by Lime Pictures, the ten-part first series prem ...

'', another series produced by

. He explained: "We decided to shoot in two different ways: with the figure skaters we went for very elegant, long tracking shots on the ice. We put cameramen in rickshaws and had them pushed on the ice alongside the skaters. Then, with the hockey scenes, it became much more handheld camera work, filmed behind Perspex screens on the ice." On the choice to film the series in

, Abala explained that the city is known as a "major ice-skating hub". Other filming locations include Park Hill, Broomhall, Sheaf Valley Park, the Cholera Monument Grounds and

Norfolk Heritage Park Norfolk Heritage Park () (commonly referred to as 'Norfolk Park') is a public park in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England surrounded by the Norfolk Park residential suburb. Located to the south of Sheffield City Centre, the estate has grown up ...

. Hartley and two members of the Sheffield Steelers were also hired as coaches for the cast members. In November 2021, it was announced by ''

Deadline Hollywood ''Deadline Hollywood'', commonly known as ''Deadline'' and also referred to as ''Deadline.com'', is an online news site founded as the news blog ''Deadline Hollywood Daily'' by Nikki Finke in 2006. The site is updated several times a day, with ...

'' that Netflix had cancelled ''Zero Chill'' after one series.

Episodes

References

External links

* * {{Netflix original ended series (2019–present) 2021 British television series debuts 2021 British television series endings 2020s British drama television series 2020s British sports television series 2020s British teen television series 2020s teen drama television series British teen drama television series English-language Netflix original programming Figure skating on television Ice hockey television series Television series about families Television series about teenagers Television series about twins Television series by All3Media Television shows filmed in England Television shows set in England Youth culture in the United Kingdom