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Movies & TV

26th Jan 2017

5 reasons why Fortitude should be top of your “box sets to watch” list

JOE

Brought to you by Sky Box Sets.

If you haven’t already watched it, what are you waiting for?

Fortitude flew under some people’s radar when it was first released but anyone who’s seen it will tell you just how good it is.

With the second series out now, it’s an ideal time to revisit the box set if you haven’t already watched it. Here are five reasons that Fortitude should be at the top of your “shows to watch” list.

1. The ensemble cast

https://youtu.be/ILCW21Dxqvo

Fortitude has one of the best ensemble casts on television. An international cast includes the legendary Michael Gambon, multi-talented actors like Stanley Tucci and Christopher Eccleston, Sofie Grabol from The Killing and Northern Irish actor, Richard Donner (Game of Thrones).

You really are being spoiled when TV shows can serve up this kind of collective acting talent. They’ve drafted in even more stars for Season 2. Denis Quaid has joined the cast, along with Ken Stott and Irish actors Robert Sheehan (Love/Hate) and Michelle Fairley (Game of Thrones).

2. The Icelandic location

The show is set in the Arctic Circle but it was shot in Iceland. The otherworldly Icelandic backdrop is like an extra character in the show, a supernatural presence that can influence events as much as any human character.

It’s impossible to remain unmoved by the region’s frozen charms but Fortitude is an unforgiving place where stupidity or carelessness can easily get you killed. And that’s before you factor in the hungry polar bears!

3. It’s a great place to set a murder

The average man on the street tends not to relocate to the Arctic Circle, what with the cold and all. So if you move to the ends of the Earth and risk frostbite every time you go outside, you probably have an “interesting” back story.

The town of Fortitude is populated by people with unusual occupations, dark secrets and hidden motives. That makes for a lot of believable murder suspects.

4. The characters

Everyone in Fortitude seems to be hiding something so you’re constantly trying to decide if you love or hate the main characters. You’ll spend half your time trying to work out if someone is an antihero or just a nasty piece of work. The great cast really brings the characters to life and some strong writing helps to keep you constantly guessing.

5. It’s not what you expect

Fortitude takes the best ingredients from a variety of TV hits and blends them together to create an original, genre-busting show. It starts out as a whodunnit, channels a bit of Nordic Noir and adds a big dollop of weirdness for good measure. It also has plenty of gallows humour to undercut some of the darker plot points.

It starts out as one thing and slowly morphs into something else but the compelling performances and the mysterious plot will keep you hooked. It will surprise, delight and shock you in equal measure.

The first season of Fortitude is available now on Sky Box Sets so you can catch up before watching Season 2, which is available exclusively on Sky Atlantic.

Oh, and you can now binge watch the entire second season on Sky Box Sets. 

Brought to you by Sky Box Sets.

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