Sci-fi drama ‘The Ark‘, from Dean Devlin (‘Stargate’ film, ‘The Librarians’, ‘Leverage’) and ‘Stargate SG-1’ co-creator Jonathan Glassner, is back for Season 2 in the UK this October on Sky Sci-fi the broadcaster has announced.
‘The Ark’ takes place 100 years in the future when planetary colonization missions have begun as a necessity to help secure the survival of the human race. In season two, after the brave crew of Ark One reaches their destination and finds it uninhabitable, they must survive long enough to locate a new home for themselves and all the ships that follow.
The series stars Christie Burke as Lt. Sharon Garnet, one of the three highest-ranking remaining members of the crew and the de facto captain of the ship after the disaster (oh… and she’s also a clone…), Reece Ritchie as Lt. Spencer Lane, the second of the highest-ranking crew, and Richard Fleeshman as Lt. James Brice, the last of the highest-ranking trio. There’s also Stacey Read as Alicia Nevins, a waste management engineer with coding skills who is promoted to chief of life support; Ryan Adams as Angus Medford, a young horticulturist whose duties include crop development at the prospective colony; Pavle Jerini? as Felix Strickland, acting head of security enforcement; Shalini Peiris as Dr. Sanjivni Kabir, the ships only remaining doctor; Christina Wolfe as Dr. Catrina “Cat” Brandice, a social media star and “relationship specialist” whom Garnet orders to be the head of ship-wide mental health; And Tiana Upcheva as Eva Markovic, acting head of maintenance, engineering and construction.
It’s been a little while since season one aired in June 2023, so if you need a reminder of where we left things, our rag-tag survivors have been through quite a lot! Issues with food, oxygen, and water, not to mention failing engines, lack of fuel, avoiding asteroids, and even another Ark which appears to be hostile and heading for the same planet!
In the finale of season one, Lane is taken prisoner on the hostile Ark 15, led by Evelyn Maddox (Jelena Stupljanin). Both Arks have reached the planet Proxima b, however, Ark 15 doesn’t want to compete with the other Ark… But before they can even try and settle this potential new home, they need to try and get the planet rotating again. Whilst they manage to get it spinning (with some giant magnets!), unfortunately, no one realised the dark side of the planet was covered in methane, and the moment it hits the sun, Proxima b ignites, damaging Ark One. Ark 15 however is slightly further away and is mostly unscathed. Garnet negotiates a cooperation deal with Maddox in exchange for handing over a cure for Klampkins, a degenerative disease that affects many on Ark 15. The question is, will Maddox stay true to her word, or betray them?..
Yes, it’s silly. No, the budget isn’t all that high. But it is a huge amount of pure space sci-fi fun, something which has been sorely lacking in recent years!
Devlin and Glassner are co-showrunners and executive producers alongside Marc Roskin and Rachel Olschan-Wilson of Electric Entertainment. Jonathan English of Balkanic Media and Steve Lee serve as producers.
‘The Ark‘ Season 2 premieres Thursday, 3rd October 2024 at 9pm on Sky Sci-Fi with all episodes available on demand and via the NOW streaming service.
