‘The Rig’ Creator Talks Entertaining Over Educating & Expanding Precincts For Season 2

deadline.com:

EXCLUSIVE: The creator of Prime Video‘s The Rig has detailed how he wanted to strike a balance between penning an entertaining drama and tackling existential debates around climate change.

David Macpherson has expanded the second season of the UK hit beyond the confines of Season 1’s oil rig, which he described as akin to Alien and its expansion for sequel Aliens in the 1980s.

The series from the former environmental policy worker tackles numerous themes and looks to the harm our planet is experiencing today, but Macpherson stressed that he is cognisant of the need to entertain. “Our show is at heart a big piece of entertainment and being entertaining should come first,” he told Deadline. “It’s not about telling people what to think it’s about asking questions and opening up debates.” While he said that TV creators don’t necessarily have a “responsibility to educate,” he countered that shows “need to have something to say and be bigger than the characters and stories themselves.” “If you are not doing that then what are you doing?,” posited the Scottish scribe.

The first season of supernatural thriller The Rig, which was one of Amazon UK’s debut commissions, ended with the rescued crew watching as a tsunami destroyed the rig and headed towards the shore, presumably wiping out the coastline.