''Métal Hurlant Chronicles'' is an English-language Franco-Belgian science fiction

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 related fiction/non-fiction excerpts by different authors. There are also thematic and g ...

television series based on the popular

comics anthology A comics anthology collects works in the medium of comics, typically from multiple series, and compiles them into an anthology or magazine. The comics in these anthologies range from comic strips that are too short for standalone publication to co ...

magazine '' Métal Hurlant'', known in the United States as '' Heavy Metal''. Each episode is a self-contained story taking place on a different planet with a different cast, and the episodes are linked together only by the idea that an

asteroid An asteroid is a minor planet—an object larger than a meteoroid that is neither a planet nor an identified comet—that orbits within the Solar System#Inner Solar System, inner Solar System or is co-orbital with Jupiter (Trojan asteroids). As ...

, the "", passes the planet in question during the events of the story. The show's premise originated with Guillaume Lubrano, who put together a self-financed pilot to pitch the show, which was broadcast as the series' third episode. Lubrano and Justine Veillot produce the show through their company WE Productions. It was largely filmed in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

. The series premiered in French television on 27 October 2012 on France 4. Broadcast rights for various European countries such as Germany, Austria and Luxembourg, were bought by

Sony Pictures Television Sony Pictures Television Inc. (abbreviated as SPT) is an American television production company, production and broadcast syndication, distribution studio. Based at the Sony Pictures Studios complex in Culver City, California, it is a division o ...

."Métal Hurlant Chronicles"
''Scott Adkins: Action Star'', 3 October 2011. Retrieved on 3 October 2011.

Plot

As an anthology series, each episode is a self-contained science-fiction story taking place in a different world, with different characters played by a different cast and adapted from a story previously published in the ' magazine. However, the show also proposes that all the stories are linked together by an

, called the "", which is passing close to the planet where the episode's story is taking place. The opening credits, narrated in French by voice actor Benoît Allemane, inform that the "" (Screaming Metal) is the last fragment of what was once a living planet, led to destruction by the madness of its inhabitants and condemned to travel ceaselessly through space and time, screaming its sadness and despair.

Cast

A number of notable British, French, American and Dutch actors have performed in various episodes of the show, including

Scott Adkins Scott Edward Adkins (born 17 June 1976) is an English actor and martial artist. He gained prominence with his portrayal of the Russian prison fighter Yuri Boyka in the American martial arts film '' Undisputed II: Last Man Standing'' (2006), a ro ...

, Karl E. Landler, Michael Jai White,

James Marsters James Wesley Marsters (born August 20, 1962) is an American actor, musician, singer, comic book writer, and audiobook narrator. He is best known for his role as the British punk vampire Spike in The WB series '' Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' and ...

, Michelle Ryan, David Belle, Dominique Pinon, Kelly Brook, Joe Flanigan, Frédérique Bel and

Rutger Hauer Rutger Oelsen Hauer (; 23 January 1944 – 19 July 2019) was a Dutch actor, with a career that spanned over 170 roles across nearly 50 years, beginning in 1969. In 1999, he was named by the Dutch public as the Best Dutch Actor of the Century. H ...

among others.

Broadcast

After being initially expected for early 2012, all six episodes of season one were broadcast on France 4 in a late night time slot over the course of two nights in either default dubbed French or optional subtitled original English audio tracks, between 27 October and 3 November of the same year. was expected to rebroadcast season one in France sometime in 2013.

has bought the broadcast rights for several European countries, where it was at least aired on

Animax , stylized as ANIMAX in all caps, is a Japanese animation satellite television network, dedicated to broadcasting anime programming. Launched on July 1, 1998, Animax is the first 24-hour network in the world dedicated to anime.The Anime Biz' - ...

in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Syfy Channel began airing the first season of the series in the U.S. on 14 April 2014 on Mondays at 8:00 and 8:30 p.m with various repeats during the week following.

Reception

Broadcast on 27 October 2012 after 3 episodes of ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...

'' that gathered a 1.4% share on the night, ' succeeded in raising the global share for channel France 4, bringing it to a tie with W9 and beating out Gulli, NT1 & D8. The premiere episode attracted 347,000 viewers, garnering a 2.2% share at 11 p.m, but lost about 100,000 viewers for the next two episodes broadcast on the same night. Overall the night held 2.4% of 15- to 34-year-olds and 3.5% of men aged 15 to 49. When it debuted on SyFy in 2014, its viewership was slightly below normal for a pilot in its time slot, and then steadily declined. Its critical reception has been tepid, from the start. Generally, the series is described as having decent visual effects, but being poorly written and produced, with inconsistent acting.

Series overview

Episodes

All 12 episodes were directed by Guillaume Lubrano.

Season 1

Season 2

Home media

Shout Factory Shout! Factory, LLC, doing business as Shout! Studios (formerly doing business as Shout! Factory, its current legal name), is an American home video and music distributor founded in 2002 as Retropolis Entertainment. Its video releases, issued i ...

released both seasons on 14 April 2015 on

Blu-ray Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of high-defin ...

and DVD.

References

External links

* at France4.fr * {{DEFAULTSORT:Metal Hurlant Chronicles French science fiction television series Heavy Metal (magazine) 2012 French television series debuts French anthology television series French English-language television shows Works by Geoff Johns Television series based on French comics Science fiction anthology television series 2014 French television series endings