First look at new BBC thriller starring Stephen Graham, Colin Farrell and Jack O’Connell

The BBC has released images of its new thriller series The North Water ahead of its release later this week.

The five-part series, based off the acclaimed novel by Ian McGuire, is set between 1850s Hull and the Arctic Circle and tells the tale of a whaling expedition and the rivalries between the crew that takes them on a dangerous mission.

The story is centred around disgraced ex-army surgeon Patrick Sumner, portrayed by Jack O’Connell, who signs up as a ship’s doctor on a whaling expedition to the Arctic. However, Sumner soon discovers that there is more to worry about than just the harsh elements of the icy journey. 

BBC / See-Saw Films

BBC / See-Saw Films

He is accompanied by a notoriously violent crew, including the brutal Drax, played by Colin Farrell, a harpooner who also happens to be a murderous psychopath.

Also onboard the ship is Captain Brownlee, played by Stephen Graham, a whaling man who knows how to captain a ship through the perilous Arctic waters.

Speaking of his latest character, Liverpool-born Graham said: “He’s a man of integrity. He’s a whaler by trade, it’s in his blood. The character we created was that his dad was a whaler so he was always going to be a whaler. He always wanted to captain a ship and he did, and his first ship set sail and sank, so after not doing it for a while he comes back to captain ‘The Voyager’.”

Graham admitted that he was drawn to the role after reading the ‘fantastic’ script, noting that his character is ‘great.’

BBC / See-Saw Films

BBC / See-Saw Films

He added: “I’d watched Andrew’s [Director Andrew Haigh] work and thought he was a wonderful director. Colin’s fantastic, he’s a wonderful actor. I’ve always admired and looked up to him.

“And Jack O’Connell, who I’ve known from when he first started on This is England. I’ve watched his career flourish, he’s a marvellous actor, so those two alone, and obviously Sam, who is a brilliant actor.”

Graham also revealed that the series was filmed on board a real ship in the Arctic, around twenty miles away from the North Pole, and that he and some crew members took part in a ‘polar plunge’, which involved them jumping into the icy cold waters. 

He said: “It is the most exhilarating thing I have ever done in my life…  A few wimped out but most of us did it, and believe it or not, there was a massive jacuzzi on the boat and it was boiling hot, so we ended up with almost third-degree burns after jumping in there and then going into a big hot jacuzzi, but it was great, a really lovely experience.”

The North Water airs this Friday, September 10th, at 9:30pm on BBC Two.