By Gary

Set on an oil rig off the coast of Scotland, the six-part Prime Video series initially gave viewers and the characters, the impression that a bout of spectacularly bad weather was keeping everyone from going home.

It soon transpired that there was something much more sinister going on.

In amongst the Lost-style monsters and supernatural elements, there’s a clear thematic link to the climate crisis running through The Rig.

This was a driving force for screenwriter David Macpherson, who wanted to approach the world-relevant topic in a more personal way.

“I wanted to tell that global story [of climate change],” he confirmed during an interview with The Times.

“But one of the things that gets missed is the impact on everyday people in these facilities.”

The Rig has a cast of very recognisable actors from the UK including Iain Glen, Owen Teale and Mark Addy (all Game of Thrones), Emily Hampshire (Schitt’s Creek), Martin Compston, Rochenda Sandall and Mark Bonnar (all Line of Duty).

The acting in The Rig is all of a very high level, the drama and suspense is all very realistic and tension of being confined onto a small space makes it feel a little claustrophobic.

You could tell in some of the scenes that the special effects weren’t the best you could tell it was made on a lower budget and also the actors they have in this must have eat up quite a bit of their budget.

Despite The Rig’s fantastic concept, or perhaps because of its hugely exciting potential, the show falls short of being truly terrifying.

It’s partly due to production values: sometimes, locations are very obviously sets, and the show’s special effects could be better.

Director John Strickland (The Bill, Line of Duty) has chosen to pull back on the music, and often the stark scenes are crying out for a bit of soundtrack.

The Rig has all the same winning elements as shows such as HBO’s stomach-churning Chernobyl, or Robert Eggers’ psychological pressure-cooker shocker The Lighthouse, but fails to worm itself into the mind as those nightmarish productions did; the atmosphere just isn’t there.

My Rating: 7/10