''1899'' is a multilingual German period mystery-science fiction television series created by

Jantje Friese Jantje Friese (born 1977) is a German film producer and screenwriter known for co-creating the Netflix series ''Dark'' (2017–2020) and ''1899'' (2022) with her creative and romantic partner Baran bo Odar. Work Jantje Friese studied productio ...

and

Baran bo Odar Baran bo Odar (born 18 April 1978) is a German film and television director and screenwriter. He is known for co-creating the Netflix series ''Dark'' (2017–2020) and ''1899'' (2022) with his creative and romantic partner, Jantje Friese. His f ...

. It premiered on

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 ...

in November 2022 and received generally favourable reviews. The series was cancelled in January 2023.

Premise

Set in 1899, the series follows a group of European emigrants travelling from

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

, UK on a

steamship A steamship, often referred to as a steamer, is a type of steam-powered vessel, typically ocean-faring and seaworthy, that is propelled by one or more steam engines that typically move (turn) propellers or paddlewheels. The first steamships ...

named ''Kerberos'' to start new lives in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, US.

Cast and characters

Main

Emily Beecham Emily Beecham (born 12 May 1984) is an American-British actress and singer. She is best known for her role in the Coen Brothers film ''Hail, Caesar!'', the AMC series '' Into the Badlands'', and the title role in the 2017 film '' Daphne''. She s ...

as Maura Henriette Franklin/Singleton, a neurologist and one of the first female doctors in the UK, travelling alone to America *

Aneurin Barnard Aneurin Barnard (; ; born 8 May 1987) is a Welsh actor and musician. He is known for playing Davey in ''Hunky Dory'', Claude in '' The Truth About Emanuel'', Bobby Willis in '' Cilla'', Tim in ''Thirteen'', King Richard III in '' The White Quee ...

as Daniel Solace, a mysterious man who boards the ''Kerberos''. *

Andreas Pietschmann Andreas Pietschmann (born 22 March 1969) is a German stage, film, and television actor. Life and career Pietschmann played football in the youth department of Würzburger Kickers and was considered a talented player. Later, he did his milita ...

as Eyk Larsen, the ship's weather-beaten captain *

Miguel Bernardeau Miguel Ángel Bernardeau Duato (born 12 December 1996) is a Spanish actor. Biography Miguel Ángel Bernardeau Duato was born on 12 December 1996 in Valencia, Spain. He is the son of television producer, Miguel Ángel Bernardeau Maestro and the ...

as Ángel, a wealthy Spaniard traveling with Ramiro * José Pimentão as Ramiro, a faux Portuguese priest traveling with Ángel * Isabella Wei as Ling Yi, a mysterious young woman from Hong Kong, traveling with Yuk Je * Gabby Wong as Yuk Je, a middle-aged woman from Hong Kong traveling with Ling Yi * as Jérôme, a French stowaway *

Mathilde Ollivier Mathilde Ollivier (born 20 September 1994) is a French actress, producer and model. She is known for her role in '' Overlord'' (2018). Early life She was born and brought up in Montparnasse, Paris. She studied drama and dance at the Conservatoire ...

as Clémence, a young woman from the Paris elite, accompanied by her new husband Lucien * Jonas Bloquet as Lucien, an upper class Parisian, and former Lieutenant of the

French Foreign Legion The French Foreign Legion (french: Légion étrangère) is a corps of the French Army which comprises several specialties: infantry, Armoured Cavalry Arm, cavalry, Military engineering, engineers, Airborne forces, airborne troops. It was created ...

, newly married to his wife Clémence *

Rosalie Craig Rosalie Mae Craig (born 30 May 1981) is an English actress, noted for her performances in musical theatre. In 2013 she received her first major award, a London Evening Standard Award for Best Performance in a Musical. Life and career Craig g ...

as Virginia Wilson, a sociable, wealthy British woman * Maciej Musiał as Olek, a Polish stoker on his way to New York * Clara Rosager as Tove, a young pregnant Danish woman traveling to New York City with her family *

Lucas Lynggaard Tønnesen Lucas Lynggaard Tønnesen (born 13 July 2000) is a Danish actor. He is best known for his roles in the Netflix series ''The Rain'' and '' Borgen – Power & Glory''. In 2022, Tønnesen starred in the Netflix multilingual mystery-science ficti ...

as Krester, a young Danish man with a mysterious scar on his face * Maria Erwolter as Iben, a religious Dane traveling with her husband Anker and children, who supposedly hears the voice of God * Alexandre Willaume as Anker, a religious Dane going to New York with his wife Iben, his son Krester, and his daughters Tove and Ada *

Tino Mewes Tino Mewes (born 5 April 1983) is a German actor. He has appeared in more than fifty films since 2002. Filmography References External links * 1983 births Living people German male film actors {{Germany-actor-stub ...

as Sebastian, the first mate on the ''Kerberos'' * Isaak Dentler as Franz, the captain's right-hand man * Fflyn Edwards as Elliot, a.k.a. "the boy", a mysterious mute boy found under unusual circumstances, who becomes Maura's charge on board the ''Kerberos.'' *

Anton Lesser Anton Lesser (born 14 February 1952) is an English actor. He is well known for his roles as Qyburn in the HBO series '' Game of Thrones'', as Thomas More in ''Wolf Hall'', as Prime Minister Harold Macmillan in ''The Crown'', as Prime Ministe ...

as Henry Singleton, a British investor and Maura's father

Recurring

* Vida Sjørslev as Ada, Krester and Tove's younger sister * Alexander Owen as Landon, a stoker and friend of Darrel * Ben Ashenden as Darrel, a stoker and friend of Landon * Richard Hope as Dr. Reginald Murray, a boorish British doctor * Joshua Jaco Seelenbinder as Eugen, an officer on the ''Kerberos'' * Niklas Maienschein as Wilhelm, the telegraph operator on the ''Kerberos'' * Jónas Alfreð Birkisson as Einar, a third class passenger from Norway and mutineer * Heidi Toini as Bente, a third class passenger

Guest

* Cloé Heinrich as Nina Larsen, Eyk's daughter * Alexandra Gottschlich as Sara Larsen, Eyk's wife * Kaja Chan as Mei Mei, Ling Yi's friend in Hong Kong * Martin Greis as Villads, the landowner that employed Anker's family

Episodes

Production

Development

On 13 November 2018, it was announced that ''

Dark Darkness, the direct opposite of lightness, is defined as a lack of illumination, an absence of visible light, or a surface that absorbs light, such as black or brown. Human vision is unable to distinguish colors in conditions of very low lu ...

'' creators

and

were developing the project for

under their overall deal at the streaming service. The series was confirmed to be moving forward two weeks later during a Netflix press conference showcasing European original programming. By July 2020, bo Odar revealed via

Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...

that Friese had completed writing the script for the

pilot episode A television pilot (also known as a pilot or a pilot episode and sometimes marketed as a tele-movie), in United States television, is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell a show to a television network or other distri ...

, titled "The Ship." During an interview with ''

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 ...

'', Friese explained how the

European migrant crisis The 2015 European migrant crisis, also known internationally as the Syrian refugee crisis, was a period of significantly increased movement of refugees and migrants into Europe in 2015, when 1.3 million people came to the continent to reques ...

and

Brexit Brexit (; a portmanteau of "British exit") was the withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU) at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February 2020 CET).The UK also left the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or ...

were influential to the series, saying: As with ''Dark'', Friese served as the head writer of the show. The staff writing team comprised writers of different nationalities including Emma Ko (from

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

and the UK), Coline Abert (from

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

), Jerome Bucchan-Nelson (from the UK), Juliana Lima Dehne (from

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

and the US),

Joshua Long Joshua () or Yehoshua ( ''Yəhōšuaʿ'', Tiberian: ''Yŏhōšuaʿ,'' lit. 'Yahweh is salvation') ''Yēšūaʿ''; syr, ܝܫܘܥ ܒܪ ܢܘܢ ''Yəšūʿ bar Nōn''; el, Ἰησοῦς, ar , يُوشَعُ ٱبْنُ نُونٍ '' Yūšaʿ ...

(from the US), Darío Madrona (from Spain), and Emil Nygaard Albertsen (from

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

). According to director Baran bo Odar, all scripts were first written in English, then the non-English sections were translated by the staff writers and/or translators. Odar had phonetic copies of the script on set, and language assistants were present during filming to ensure the accuracy of the dialogue. Friese and bo Odar have ideas for two more seasons, with increased complexity compared to season 1. The planned three-season structure stems from Friese's and bo Odar's film background, where films have three acts. The first season served to establish the theme and characters and pose big questions. If ordered by Netflix, the second season would explain the symbology of the triangles, and Maura's brother would be an important character. bo Odar described this second act as "all about the fun and games, where you play with the theme, and maybe get a little bit more megalomaniacal and crazy, and then resolve it in the third season into a hopefully satisfying resolution."

Budget

The budget for the series was at least €60 million ($62.2 million) with €2 million coming from

Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg The Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg is the body responsible for Film Funding and Media Business Development in the states of Berlin and Brandenburg. It is also the first point of contact for international and German professionals active in the fi ...

, €10 million coming from the German Motion Picture Fund, and Netflix investing €48 million in the project. ''1899'' is the most expensive German television series of all time.

Casting

On 16 December 2020, it was announced that

was cast in the lead role. On 2 May 2021,

, Maciej Musiał,

, Lucas Lynggaard Tønnesen,

, Clara Rosager, Maria Erwolter, Yann Gael,

, José Pimentão, Isabella Wei, Gabby Wong, Jonas Bloquet, Fflyn Edwards, and Alexandre Willaume were added to the cast, with each character speaking in the actor's native language.

Filming

Studio Babelsberg Haupteingang Potsdam 2022-06

Pre-production Pre-production is the process of planning some of the elements involved in a film, television show, play, or other performance, as distinct from production and post-production. Pre-production ends when the planning ends and the content starts ...

for the series officially commenced on 24 November 2020, with a week-long lens test shoot taking place. The series was initially scheduled to begin

principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as actor ...

on 1 February 2021, but was later pushed back by 3 months. Filming officially began on 3 May 2021 at

Studio Babelsberg Babelsberg Film Studio (german: Filmstudio Babelsberg), located in Potsdam-Babelsberg outside Berlin, Germany, is the second oldest large-scale film studio in the world only preceded by the Danish Nordisk Film (est. 1906), producing films since ...

Potsdam Potsdam () is the capital and, with around 183,000 inhabitants, largest city of the German state of Brandenburg. It is part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. Potsdam sits on the River Havel, a tributary of the Elbe, downstream of B ...

, the only designated UNESCO Creative City of Film in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. The series was shot in a new virtual production stage called ''Volume'', operated by bo Odar and Friese's sister company Dark Bay, at Studio Babelsberg. Filming also took place in

London, United Kingdom London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. Creative studio

Framestore Framestore is a British animation, visual effects company and creative studio based on Chancery Lane in London. Formed in 1986, it acquired (and subsequently merged with) the Computer Film Company in 1997. It works on feature films and telev ...

provided

visual effects Visual effects (sometimes abbreviated VFX) is the process by which imagery is created or manipulated outside the context of a live-action shot in filmmaking and video production. The integration of live-action footage and other live-action foota ...

for the series. Filming wrapped in November 2021 with Baran bo Odar posting on Instagram.

Release

''1899'' had a two-episode premiere on 47th Toronto International Film Festival on 12 September 2022. The series launched on

on 17 November 2022, along with a companion making-of documentary titled ''Making 1899''. Netflix announced a few days after release that ''1899'' was in 58 countries the most watched product of all the offerings available on Netflix at that time. Despite this, on 2 January 2023, the show was cancelled.

Cancellation and response

Writing in ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also re ...

'' about the cancellation of ''1899'' and other Netflix series, Paul Tassi said that "I feel like Netflix is almost actively stealing my time from me. ..It's frankly exhausting, and if it's this exhausting for viewers, I have to imagine it's ten times as much for showrunners and actors. Netflix is becoming a graveyard stacked with dead series with unfinished conclusions. ..Something has to change." Writing in

Digital Spy Digital Spy (DS) is a British-based entertainment, television and film website and brand and is the largest digital property at Hearst UK. Since its launch in 1999, Digital Spy has focused on entertainment news related to television programmes, ...

, David Opie said that "for all we know, there might be talks to save the show at

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...

Prime Video Amazon Prime Video, also known simply as Prime Video, is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming and rental service of Amazon offered as a standalone service or as part of Amazon's Prime subscription. The service prim ...

, plus there's a small chance that Netflix themselves might try and wrap things up in a one-off special or movie. That's exactly what happened after fans decried Netflix's decision to cancel ''

Sense8 ''Sense8'' (a play on the word '' sensate'' ) is an American science fiction drama streaming television series created by Lana and Lilly Wachowski and J. Michael Straczynski for Netflix. The production companies behind ''Sense8'' included th ...

'' a few years back hat is also an international genre show" Fans took to social media to decry the decision, and a petition to save the show was started on

Change.org Change.org is a worldwide nonprofit petition website, based in California, US, operated by the San Francisco-based company of the same name, which has over 400 million users and offers the public the ability to promote the petitions they care abo ...

. As of 23 January 2023, it had garnered over 87,149 signatures.

Reception

Audience viewership

During its debut week, ''1899'' ranked at number two on Netflix's Top 10 TV English titles just three days after its release with 79.27 million hours viewed. The following week, the series remained at the same position and garnered 87.89 million viewing hours. In its third week, the series generated 44.62 million viewing hours, while also holding its position at number two.

Critical response

The series received generally positive reviews. 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 ...

, it holds an

approval rating An opinion poll, often simply referred to as a survey or a poll (although strictly a poll is an actual election) is a human research survey of public opinion from a particular sample. Opinion polls are usually designed to represent the opinions ...

of 79% based on 28 reviews, with an average rating of 6.80/10. The website's critical consensus states, "''1899'' navigates its multicultural passengers through an atmospheric mystery and delivers a suspenseful journey, even if it may never reach a satisfying destination." 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 ...

, which uses a

weighted average The weighted arithmetic mean is similar to an ordinary arithmetic mean (the most common type of average), except that instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others. The ...

, the series has a score of 66 out of 100 based on 12 critic reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews". ''

Collider A collider is a type of particle accelerator which brings two opposing particle beams together such that the particles collide. Colliders may either be ring accelerators or linear accelerators. Colliders are used as a research tool in particle ...

'' named ''1899'' as one of the best new TV shows of 2022, while ''

MovieWeb MovieWeb is an entertainment news website and video brand. Overview MovieWeb reports on entertainment news through their long-running website and related social media and video platforms. The site also maintains a searchable database of films. H ...

'' ranked it the sixth best TV show of the year.

Accolades

References

External links

* *
Screenplay of Episode 1 "The Ship"
{{Netflix original ended series (2019–present) 2020s German drama television series 2022 German television series debuts English-language Netflix original programming Epic television series French-language Netflix original programming German drama television series German horror fiction television series German mystery television series German supernatural television series German-language Netflix original programming Television series about immigration Polish-language Netflix original programming Productions using StageCraft Spanish-language Netflix original programming Fiction set in 1899 Television series set in the 1890s Television shows filmed in Germany Television shows set in London Television shows set in New York City Television shows shot in London Works about immigration to the United States