''The Man in the High Castle'' is an American

dystopian A dystopia (from Ancient Greek δυσ- "bad, hard" and τόπος "place"; alternatively cacotopiaCacotopia (from κακός ''kakos'' "bad") was the term used by Jeremy Bentham in his 1818 Plan of Parliamentary Reform (Works, vol. 3, p. 493). ...

alternate history Alternate history (also alternative history, althist, AH) is a genre of speculative fiction of stories in which one or more historical events occur and are resolved differently than in real life. As conjecture based upon historical fact, alte ...

television series created for streaming service

Amazon Prime Video Amazon Prime Video, also known simply as Prime Video, is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming and rental service of Amazon offered as a standalone service or as part of Amazon's Prime subscription. The service pr ...

, depicting a parallel universe where the

Axis powers The Axis powers, ; it, Potenze dell'Asse ; ja, 枢軸国 ''Sūjikukoku'', group=nb originally called the Rome–Berlin Axis, was a military coalition that initiated World War II and fought against the Allies. Its principal members were ...

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

and the

Empire of Japan The also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was a historical nation-state and great power that existed from the Meiji Restoration in 1868 until the enactment of the post-World War II 1947 constitution and subsequent form ...

rule the world after their victory in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. It was created by Frank Spotnitz and is produced by Amazon Studios,

Ridley Scott Sir Ridley Scott (born 30 November 1937) is a British film director and producer. Directing, among others, science fiction films, his work is known for its atmospheric and highly concentrated visual style. Scott has received many accolades th ...

Scott Free Productions Scott Free Productions is an independent film and television production company founded in 1970 by filmmakers and brothers Ridley Scott and Tony Scott. They formed the feature film development company Percy Main Productions in 1980, naming th ...

(with Scott serving as

executive producer Executive producer (EP) is one of the top positions in the making of a commercial entertainment product. Depending on the medium, the executive producer may be concerned with management accounting or associated with legal issues (like copyrights ...

Headline Pictures Headline Pictures is an International Emmy-winning British film and television production company founded in 2005 by BAFTA nominee Stewart Mackinnon, former BBC Head of Drama Mark Shivas and screenwriter Kevin Hood. The company is now part of t ...

Electric Shepherd Productions Philip Kindred Dick (December 16, 1928March 2, 1982), often referred to by his initials PKD, was an American science fiction writer. He wrote 44 novels and about 121 short stories, most of which appeared in science fiction magazines during his l ...

, and

Big Light Productions Frank Charles Spotnitz is an American television screenwriter and executive producer, best known for his work on ''The X-Files'' and '' The Man in the High Castle''. Spotnitz is also the chief executive officer and founder of Big Light Productio ...

. The series is based on Philip K. Dick's 1962 novel of the same name. In a parallel universe, Germany and Japan have divided the United States into the Greater Nazi Reich in the east, with

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

as its regional capital, and the Japanese Pacific States to the west, with

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17t ...

as the capital. These territories are separated by a neutral zone that encompasses the

Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of western Canada, to New Mexico ...

. The series starts in 1962 and follows characters whose destinies intertwine when they come into contact with newsreels and home movies that show Germany and Japan losing the war. The series title refers to the mysterious figure believed to have created the footage. The pilot premiered in January 2015, and Amazon ordered a ten-episode season the following month which was released in November. A second season of ten episodes premiered in December 2016, and a third season was released on October 5, 2018. The fourth and final season premiered on November 15, 2019.

Setting

Set in 1962, the series' main setting is a parallel universe where the

have won

in 1946 after Giuseppe Zangara assassinated the United States President-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933, which creates a series of developments that include the Germans dropping an

atomic bomb A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions ( thermonuclear bomb), producing a nuclear explosion. Both bomb ...

on Washington, D.C. (now renamed "District of Contamination"). The German Reich extends to

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

and

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

and the Empire of Japan comprises

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

, but most of the series is set in the former US and in Germany proper. JPS flag

Western North America, now part of the "Japanese Pacific States", is occupied by the technologically less-advanced Shōwa-period

, which has assimilated its formerly American citizens into Japanese culture, although high-class ethnic Japanese are extremely fascinated by pre-War American culture. Japan's Trade and Science ministers work in the Pacific States' capital,

. The Japanese rulers subject non-Japanese people to racial discrimination and grant them fewer rights. The Man in the High Castle (Ridley Scott's series)

The Man in the High Castle (Ridley Scott's series)

Eastern and Midwestern

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and th ...

is a colony controlled by the Greater Nazi Reich (GNR) under an aging

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Germany from 1933 until his death in 1945. He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the chancellor in 1933 and the ...

. The colony, headed by a " of North America", is commonly referred to as "Nazi America" or "the American Reich" and its capital is

. The Nazis continue to hunt minorities and euthanize the physically and mentally sick. The superior technology of the Germans is highlighted by the use of video phones and

Concorde The Aérospatiale/BAC Concorde () is a retired Franco-British supersonic airliner jointly developed and manufactured by Sud Aviation (later Aérospatiale) and the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC). Studies started in 1954, and France an ...

-like " rockets" for intercontinental travel. Man_High_Castle_(TV_Series)_map

A Neutral Zone, which encompasses the

, serves as a buffer zone between the Japanese Pacific States and Nazi America due to Cold War–like tensions between the German and Japanese blocs. Another buffer zone is present in the

Urals The Ural Mountains ( ; rus, Ура́льские го́ры, r=Uralskiye gory, p=ʊˈralʲskʲɪjə ˈɡorɨ; ba, Урал тауҙары) or simply the Urals, are a mountain range that runs approximately from north to south through western ...

. Films collected by the eponymous "Man in the High Castle" show views of numerous other Earths, including some where the Allies were victorious, some featuring executed Allied leaders (such as

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from ...

and

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet Union, Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as Ge ...

), and some where an American resistance is doing well.

Cast

Main

Alexa Davalos Alexa Davalos Dunas (born May 28, 1982) is an American actress. Her early role as Gwen Raiden on the fourth season of the TV series ''Angel'' (2002–03) was followed by some Hollywood films, including '' The Chronicles of Riddick'' (2004), '' ...

as Juliana Crain, a young woman from San Francisco who is outwardly happy living under Japanese control. She is an expert in and is friendly with the Japanese people who live in San Francisco. As Juliana learns of The Man in the High Castle and his films, she begins to rebel. *

Rupert Evans Rupert Evans (born 9 March 1977) is a British actor. He is a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company and starred in the Amazon series '' The Man in the High Castle'' and also in the CW's '' Charmed'' series. In 2021 Evans appeared in '' Bridge ...

as Frank Frink (seasons 1–3), Juliana's boyfriend at the beginning of the series. He works in a factory creating replicas of prewar American pistols, and creates original jewelry and sketches on his own time. Frank's grandfather was

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

, making him a target of discrimination. When Juliana vanishes just after the police kill her sister, Frank is taken into custody. Soon after, he turns against the state and works with the American Resistance. * Luke Kleintank as Joe Blake (seasons 1–3), a new recruit to the underground American Resistance who is actually an agent working for the SS, under John Smith. He transports a reel of the forbidden film ''The Grasshopper Lies Heavy'' to the neutral Rocky Mountain States as part of his mission to infiltrate the Resistance. He meets Juliana and quickly falls in love with her, leading to him questioning his allegiance to the Reich. * DJ Qualls as Ed McCarthy (seasons 1–3), Frank's co-worker and friend. He closely follows politics and cares very much about Juliana and Frank's well-being. It is revealed in season three that Ed is gay. *

Joel de la Fuente Joel de la Fuente (born April 21, 1969) is an American actor. He first gained recognition for his role as 1st Lieutenant Paul Wang in '' Space: Above and Beyond'', and is best known for his roles as Dr. Johann Pryce in '' Hemlock Grove'', Kempeita ...

as Chief Inspector Takeshi Kido, the ruthless head of the stationed in San Francisco. * Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa as Nobusuke Tagomi (seasons 1–3), the Trade Minister of the Pacific States of America. His true loyalties are ambiguous throughout the first season. * Rufus Sewell as John Smith, an SS , later promoted to , and then to of the colony of North America (near series end becoming '' Reichsführer'' of a newly autonomous North American Reich) who is investigating the Resistance in New York. He is a natural-born American who had served in the US Army Signal Corps. He initially lives a comfortable suburban life with a wife and three children but subsequently moves the family to

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

. * Brennan Brown as Robert Childan (seasons 2–4; recurring season 1), an antique store owner who makes secret deals with Frank. * Callum Keith Rennie as Gary Connell (season 2), leader of the West Coast Resistance movement and enforcer for Abendsen. * Bella Heathcote as Nicole Dörmer (seasons 2–3), a young Berlin-born filmmaker who crosses paths with Joe, and moves to the US in season three. * Chelah Horsdal as Helen Smith (season 3–4; recurring seasons 1–2), John's wife * Michael Gaston as Mark Sampson (season 3; recurring season 1; guest season 2), a Jewish friend of Frank's living in San Francisco, who later relocates to the Neutral Zone. *

Jason O'Mara Jason O'Mara (born 6 August 1972) is an Irish actor. He has starred in the American television network dramas '' In Justice'', '' Life on Mars'', '' Terra Nova'', ''Vegas'', and ''Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.''. O'Mara won an Irish Film and Television ...

as Wyatt Price, also known as Liam (season 3–4), an Irishman who is a black market supplier of information to Juliana. * Frances Turner as Bell Mallory (season 4), the leader of the Black Communist Rebellion (BCR) in San Francisco.

Recurring

* Aaron Blakely as Erich Raeder (seasons 1–3), an working with Smith. * Carsten Norgaard as Rudolph Wegener (season 1), a disillusioned high-ranking Nazi official who trades secrets with Tagomi. *

Rick Worthy Richard "Rick" Worthy (born March 12, 1967) is an American actor. He is best known for appearing in a variety of science fiction and fantasy television shows. He is perhaps best known for his recurring role as Simon O'Neill cylon model number f ...

as Lemuel "Lem" Washington, the owner of the Sunrise Diner in Canon City and member of the Resistance. *

Camille Sullivan Camille Sullivan (born July 7, 1975) is a Canadian actress. She has starred in various films and television series. Among her notable television appearances are ''Rookie Blue'', ''Da Vinci's Inquest'', ''Intelligence'' and '' Shattered''. She won ...

as Karen Vecchione (seasons 1–2), a leader of the Pacific States branch of the Resistance, later killed in a Kempeitai shoot-out. * Lee Shorten as Sergeant Hiroyuki Yoshida (seasons 1–2), Inspector Kido's right-hand man, killed in the bomb attack on Kempeitai headquarters. * Arnold Chun as Kotomichi, Tagomi's aide-de-camp, who came from the parallel world after his hometown,

Nagasaki is the capital and the largest city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. It became the sole port used for trade with the Portuguese and Dutch during the 16th through 19th centuries. The Hidden Christian Sites in the ...

, was destroyed by an American atomic bomb. * Bernhard Forcher as Hugo Reiss (season 1), the German ambassador to the Japanese Pacific States. *

Christine Chatelain Christine Chatelain is a Canadian film and television actress. She had a recurring role on '' ''The Collector' as Taylor. Originally an art student in Vancouver, she tried acting as a hobby and quickly gained roles in ''40 Days and 40 Nights ...

as Laura Crothers (season 1), Frank's sister, who is executed as a threat to force a confession from Frank. *

Hank Harris Hank Harris (born November 5, 1979) is an American actor who has been working in movies and television since the late 1990s. He grew up in Duluth, Minnesota and Santa Fe, New Mexico. He is perhaps best known for his role as Emory Dick in ''Pop ...

as Randall Becker (season 1), a member of the Pacific States branch of the Resistance. * Allan Havey as the Origami Man (season 1), a ''

Sicherheitsdienst ' (, ''Security Service''), full title ' (Security Service of the '' Reichsführer-SS''), or SD, was the intelligence agency of the SS and the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany. Established in 1931, the SD was the first Nazi intelligence organization ...

'' (SD) operative sent to Canon City to eliminate members of the Resistance. *

Burn Gorman Burn Hugh Winchester Gorman (born 1 September 1974) is an English actor and musician. He is known for his roles as Owen Harper in the BBC series '' Torchwood'' (2006–2008), Phillip Stryver in '' The Dark Knight Rises'' (2012), Karl Tanner in t ...

as the Marshal (season 1), a bounty hunter searching for concentration camp escapees. * Shaun Ross as the Shoe Shine Boy (season 1), a young

albino Albinism is the congenital absence of melanin in an animal or plant resulting in white hair, feathers, scales and skin and pink or blue eyes. Individuals with the condition are referred to as albino. Varied use and interpretation of the term ...

man living in Canon City. * Rob LaBelle as Carl (season 1), a book store clerk in Canon City who is revealed to be a concentration camp escapee, David P. Frees, killed by the Marshal. * Geoffrey Blake as Jason Meyer (season 1), a Jewish member of the Resistance. * Daisuke Tsuji as the Crown Prince of Japan (season 1) * Mayumi Yoshida as the Crown Princess of Japan (seasons 1, 4) *

Amy Okuda Amy Okuda is an American actress. She portrayed Julia Sasaki on the Netflix comedy-drama ''Atypical'' (2017–2021), where she was a series regular during the first two seasons. Okuda is most well-known as Tinkerballa in the popular web series '' ...

as Christine Tanaka (season 1), an office worker working in the Nippon Building. * Neal Bledsoe as Captain Connolly (season 1), an American SS officer serving under John Smith, later revealed to be a spy working for Reinhard Heydrich. *

Hiro Kanagawa is a Japanese-Canadian actor and playwright based in Vancouver, British Columbia. He has appeared in numerous high-profile films and television series shot in the Vancouver area, including ''Smallville'', ''Caprica'', ''Godzilla'', ''The Man in ...

as Taishi Okamura (seasons 1–2), the leader of a based in the Pacific States. *

Louis Ozawa Changchien Louis Ozawa Changchien (born October 11, 1975) is an American actor best known for his role in the films ''Predators'' (2010) and '' The Bourne Legacy'' (2012). Early life and education Changchien was born in Queens, New York and raised in New Yo ...

as Paul Kasoura (seasons 1–2), a wealthy lawyer who collects prewar American memorabilia. *

Tao Okamoto , known professionally as Tao, is a Japanese actress and model, who is alongside Ai Tominaga and Hiroko Matsumoto, one of the biggest models from Japan. In 2009, she was one of the faces of Ralph Lauren. She made her film debut as the female l ...

as Betty Kasoura (season 1), Paul's wife. * Stephen Root as Hawthorne Abendsen / The Man in the High Castle (seasons 2–4), the head of the American antifascist resistance, creating films set in other worlds. *

Sebastian Roché Sebastian Roché (born 4 August 1964) is a French-American actor. He is known for his roles as Kurt Mendel in ''Odyssey 5'', Jerry Jacks in ''General Hospital'', Thomas Jerome Newton in ''Fringe'', Balthazar in ''Supernatural'', Mikael in both ...

as Martin Heusmann (seasons 2–3), Joe's estranged father and a high-ranking member in the Nazi government. * Cara Mitsuko as Sarah (season 2), a

Japanese American are Americans of Japanese ancestry. Japanese Americans were among the three largest Asian American ethnic communities during the 20th century; but, according to the 2000 census, they have declined in number to constitute the sixth largest Asi ...

Resistance member, Frank's confidante and a survivor of the Manzanar concentration camp. * Tate Donovan as George Dixon (season 2), Trudy's biological father and a member of the resistance in New York City. He is killed by Juliana. * Michael Hogan as Hagan (seasons 2–3), an ex-priest and leader in the San Francisco Resistance. * Tzi Ma as General Hidehisa Onoda (season 2), a leading member of the

Japanese Army The Japan Ground Self-Defense Force ( ja, 陸上自衛隊, Rikujō Jieitai), , also referred to as the Japanese Army, is the land warfare branch of the Japan Self-Defense Forces. Created on July 1, 1954, it is the largest of the three service b ...

. * Giles Panton as Billy Turner (season 3–4), a Nazi Reich American advertising executive who is working with Nicole Dörmer to "erase" the memories of the former U.S. from the minds of the citizens in the Nazi Reich America. *

Ann Magnuson Ann Magnuson (born January 4, 1956) is an American actress, performance artist, and nightclub performer. She was described by ''The New York Times'' in 1990 as "An endearing theatrical chameleon who has as many characters at her fingertips as Lil ...

as Caroline Abendsen (season 3–4), the wife of Hawthorne Abendsen. * Laura Mennell as Thelma Harris (season 3), a

closeted ''Closeted'' and ''in the closet'' are metaphors for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender and other (LGBTQ+) people who have not disclosed their sexual orientation or gender identity and aspects thereof, including sexual identity and huma ...

lesbian gossip column reporter in New York City. * Janet Kidder as Lila Jacobs (season 3), one of the many Jews protected in a

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

commune in the Neutral Zone. * Jeffrey Nordling as Dr. Daniel Ryan (season 3), a Jungian therapist employed to treat Helen Smith's grief following the death of her son Thomas. * Akie Kotabe as Sergeant Nakamura (season 3), a Japanese-American of mixed ethnicity who works under Kido as Yoshida's replacement. * Tamlyn Tomita as Tamiko Watanabe (season 3–4), an Okinawan-

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

an painter who befriends Tagomi. * Eijiro Ozaki as Admiral Inokuchi (season 3–4), the head of the

Imperial Japanese Navy The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, when it was dissolved following Japan's surrender ...

fleet stationed in the

San Francisco Bay San Francisco Bay is a large tidal estuary in the U.S. state of California, and gives its name to the San Francisco Bay Area. It is dominated by the big cities of San Francisco, San Jose, and Oakland. San Francisco Bay drains water f ...

. * James Neate as Jack (season 3), a man in the Neutral Zone with whom Ed McCarthy becomes romantically involved. * Sen Mitsuji as Toru Kido (season 4), Inspector Kido's son who suffers from PTSD. * Chika Kanamoto as Yukiko (season 4), Childan's assistant and later wife. * Clé Bennett as Elijah (season 4), Bell Mallory's lover and one of the members of the BCR. * David Harewood as Equiano Hampton (season 4), the leader of the BCR. * Rachel Nichols as Martha (season 4), Helen Smith's "wife-companion" assigned by the Reich to keep an eye on her. * Michael Hagiwara as Okami (season 4), a Yakuza boss operating in the JPS. * Bruce Locke as General Yamori (season 4), a hardline Japanese general in favour of continuing the occupation of the JPS. * Eric Lange as General Whitcroft (season 4), John Smith's second-in-command. *

Marc Rissmann Marc Rissmann (also spelled Rißmann, born 1980) is a German actor. He has appeared in films like ''Overlord,'' and TV series like ''The Last Kingdom'', ''Game of Thrones'', and ''The Man in the High Castle''. Early life and career Marc Riss ...

as Wilhelm Goertzmann (season 4), an from Berlin * Rich Ting as Captain Iijima (season 4)

John Smith's family

Quinn Lord Quinn Edmond Julian Lord (born February 19, 1999) is a Canadian actor. Beginning his professional acting career at the age of five, Lord played Sam in the 2007 feature film '' Trick 'r Treat'' and was nominated for the Young Artist Award as Best ...

as Thomas Smith, John and Helen's son and the eldest child. A member of the

Hitler Youth The Hitler Youth (german: Hitlerjugend , often abbreviated as HJ, ) was the youth organisation of the Nazi Party in Germany. Its origins date back to 1922 and it received the name ("Hitler Youth, League of German Worker Youth") in July 1926. ...

, it is later revealed that he has inherited a form of

muscular dystrophy Muscular dystrophies (MD) are a genetically and clinically heterogeneous group of rare neuromuscular diseases that cause progressive weakness and breakdown of skeletal muscles over time. The disorders differ as to which muscles are primarily af ...

( facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy) from his father's side of the family. Learning this, he turns himself in to the Reich Sanitation Services and is euthanized. In season four, Lord plays Thomas in an alternate universe where the Axis lost WWII. * Gracyn Shinyei as Amy Smith, John and Helen's daughter. * Genea Charpentier as Jennifer Smith, John and Helen's daughter.

Juliana Crain's family

* Daniel Roebuck as Arnold Walker (seasons 1–2), Juliana's stepfather and Trudy's father. * Macall Gordon as Anne Crain Walker (seasons 1–2), Juliana's mother who is still bitter about losing her husband in World War II. *

Conor Leslie Conor Marie Leslie (born April 10, 1991) is an American actress. Beginning her career in the late 2000s, her first major role was in the thriller film '' Chained'' (2012). She has worked frequently in television, including as a series regular on ...

as Trudy Walker (seasons 1–3), Juliana's half-sister who is shot dead by the Kempeitai. However, she is shown alive at the end of the second season, revealed in the third season to be from an alternate timeline in which it was Juliana who died.

Nobusuke Tagomi's family

* Yukari Komatsu as Michiko Tagomi (season 2), Nobusuke's wife. *

Eddie Shin Edward Andrew Yoon Beom Shin (born July 17, 1976) is an American actor. He played Dave Mendoza in the Netflix series '' Alexa & Katie'', and portrays characters named Agent Mike Li in the 2015 first season of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) ...

as Noriaki Tagomi (season 2), Nobusuke and Michiko's son.

Historical characters

Wolf Muser Wolf Muser (23 October 1950 – 30 March 2022) was a German actor who played the role of Marcello Armonti on the NBC soap opera '' Santa Barbara'' in 1985. Prior to joining '' Santa Barbara'', he also appeared as Kurt Voightlander on the CBS d ...

(seasons 1–2), the leader of the Greater Nazi Reich. * Ray Proscia as Reinhard Heydrich (seasons 1–2). * Keone Young as Field Marshal Shunroku Hata (season 1). * Kenneth Tigar as , later , Heinrich Himmler (seasons 2–4). * Lisa Paxton as

Eva Braun Eva Anna Paula Hitler (; 6 February 1912 – 30 April 1945) was a German photographer who was the longtime companion and briefly the wife of Adolf Hitler. Braun met Hitler in Munich when she was a 17-year-old assistant and model for his ...

(season 2), Hitler's wife, at his side on his deathbed. *

David Furr David Furr is an American theatre, film, and television actor. He received a Tony Award nomination for his role in Roundabout Theatre Company's Broadway revival of ''Noises Off ''Noises Off'' is a 1982 play by the English playwright Michae ...

as George Lincoln Rockwell (season 3), the of German-controlled America, plotting against John Smith. * William Forsythe as

J. Edgar Hoover John Edgar Hoover (January 1, 1895 – May 2, 1972) was an American law enforcement administrator who served as the first Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). He was appointed director of the Bureau of Investigation ...

(seasons 3–4), Director of the American Reich Bureau of Investigation (the Nazi counterpart of the real-life FBI), co-plotting with Rockwell. * John Hans Tester as Dr.

Josef Mengele , allegiance = , branch = Schutzstaffel , serviceyears = 1938–1945 , rank = '' SS''-'' Hauptsturmführer'' (Captain) , servicenumber = , battles = , unit = , awards = , commands = , ...

(seasons 3–4), the head of the studies about trans-universe travel, realising an enormous traveling machine. * Gwynyth Walsh as Margarete Himmler (season 4), Himmler's wife and the head of the Reich Red Cross. *

Timothy V. Murphy Timothy Vincent Murphy (born 5 April 1960) is an Irish actor based in Los Angeles. His notable 2015 roles have been on ''The Bastard Executioner'', ''Grace and Frankie'', and ''True Detective''. He played Galen O'Shea for three seasons on the ...

as '' SS-Oberst-Gruppenführer''

Adolf Eichmann Otto Adolf Eichmann ( ,"Eichmann"
'' Hirohito Emperor , commonly known in English-speaking countries by his personal name , was the 124th emperor of Japan, ruling from 25 December 1926 until his death in 1989. Hirohito and his wife, Empress Kōjun, had two sons and five daughters; he was ...

(season 4)

Episodes

Season 1 (2015)

Season 2 (2016)

Season 3 (2018)

Season 4 (2019)

Production

In 2010, it was announced that the BBC would co-produce a four-part TV adaptation of ''The Man in the High Castle'' for

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...

together with Headline Pictures, FremantleMedia Enterprises and Scott Free Films. Director

was to act as

of the adaptation by

Howard Brenton Howard John Brenton FRSL (born 13 December 1942) is an English playwright and screenwriter. While little-known in the United States, he is celebrated in his home country and often ranked alongside contemporaries such as Edward Bond, Caryl Chu ...

. On February 11, 2013, '' Variety'' reported that

Syfy Syfy (formerly Sci-Fi Channel, later shortened to Sci Fi; stylized as SYFY) is an American basic cable channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. La ...

was producing the book as a four-part miniseries, with Frank Spotnitz and Scott as executive producers, co-produced with Scott Free Productions, Headline Pictures and Electric Shepherd Prods. On October 1, 2014, Amazon Studios began filming the pilot episode for a potential television drama to be broadcast on their Prime web video streaming service. Adapted by Spotnitz, the project was produced for Amazon by Scott, David Zucker and Jordan Sheehan for Scott Free,

Stewart Mackinnon Stewart Mackinnon is a Scottish film and television producer, founder and former CEO of Headline Pictures. He produced the film Quartet, the international Emmy winning television film Peter And Wendy, and the Amazon Studios series The Man in t ...

and Christian Baute for Headline Pictures, Isa Hackett and Kalen Egan for Electric Shepherd and Spotnitz's Big Light Productions. The pilot was released by Amazon Studios on January 15, 2015. Amazon Studios' production process is somewhat different from those of other conventional television channels in that they produce pilot episodes of a number of different prospective programs, then release them and gather data on their success. The most promising shows are then picked up as regular series. On February 18, 2015, Amazon announced that ''The Man in the High Castle'' was

greenlighted To green-light is to give permission to proceed with a project. The term is a reference to the green traffic signal, indicating "go ahead". Film industry In the context of the film and television industries, to green-light something is to ...

along with four other series, and a full season would be produced. The pilot, which premiered in January 2015, was Amazon's "most-watched since the original series development program began". The next month, Amazon ordered a ten-episode season, which was released in November to positive reviews. A second season of ten episodes premiered in December 2016, and a third season was announced a few weeks later. Amazon announced in January 2017 that they were bringing on new executive producer and showrunner Eric Overmyer for the third season to replace Spotnitz, who had departed from the show during the second season. Season three was released on October 5, 2018. In July 2018, it was announced at

San Diego Comic-Con San Diego Comic-Con International is a comic book convention and nonprofit multi-genre entertainment event held annually in San Diego, California since 1970. The name, as given on its website, is Comic-Con International: San Diego; but it is ...

that the series had been renewed for a fourth season, which was confirmed in February 2019 to be the last one of the series. Daniel Percival and David Scarpa took over as showrunners for the final season.

Filming

Principal filming for the pilot took place in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region o ...

, with the city standing in for San Francisco and locations in New York City. Filming also took place in Roslyn, Washington, with the town standing in for Canon City and other Neutral Zone locations. Sites used in Seattle include the Seattle Center Monorail, the Paramount Theatre, a newspaper office in the Pike Place Market area, as well as various buildings in the city's

Capitol Hill Capitol Hill, in addition to being a metonym for the United States Congress, is the largest historic residential neighborhood in Washington, D.C., stretching easterly in front of the United States Capitol along wide avenues. It is one of the ...

, International District, and Georgetown neighborhoods. In Roslyn, the production used external shots of the Roslyn Cafe, along with several local businesses and scenery. For the series, filming took place in

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. ...

, British Columbia; on West Georgia Street in the city's downtown core; and along the promenade of the

Coast Capital Savings Coast Capital Savings Federal Credit Union (formerly Coast Capital Savings Credit Union) is a member-owned financial co-operative headquartered in Surrey, British Columbia. By membership, it is among the largest credit unions in Canada with 535,00 ...

building in April 2015. In May and June 2015, filming also took place at the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks among the top thr ...

. Exterior shots of

Hohenwerfen Castle Hohenwerfen Castle (german: Festung Hohenwerfen, lit=Hohenwerfen Fortress) is a medieval rock castle, situated on a precipice overlooking the Austrian market town of Werfen in the Salzach valley, approximately south of Salzburg. The fortress i ...

Werfen Werfen () is a market town in the district of St. Johann im Pongau, in the Austrian state of Salzburg. It is mainly known for medieval Hohenwerfen Castle and the Eisriesenwelt ice cave, the largest in the world. Geography Werfen is located in ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

, were filmed in September 2015 for the tenth episode of the first season. The interior scene where Hitler and Rudolph Wegener meet was shot on the ground floor of the

Bell Tower A bell tower is a tower that contains one or more bells, or that is designed to hold bells even if it has none. Such a tower commonly serves as part of a Christian church, and will contain church bells, but there are also many secular bell tow ...

Release

The pilot and the second episode were screened at a special Comic-Con event. The season premiered on November 20, 2015. The second season was released on December 16, 2016. The third season was released on October 5, 2018. The fourth season was released on November 15, 2019.

Reception

The pilot was Amazon's "most-watched since the original series development program began". The first season received critical acclaim.

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...

gives it an approval rating of 95% based on reviews from 62 critics, with an average rating of 7.5 out of 10. The site's critical consensus states, "By executive producer Ridley Scott, ''The Man in the High Castle'' is unlike anything else on TV, with an immediately engrossing plot driven by quickly developed characters in a fully realized post-WWII dystopia."

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

gives the first season a score of 77 out of 100, based on reviews from 30 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Meredith Woerner from '' io9'' wrote, "I can honestly say I loved this pilot. It's an impressive, streamlined undertaking of a fairly complicated and very beloved novel." Matt Fowler from IGN gave it 9.2 out of 10 and described the series as "a superb, frightening experience filled with unexpected twists and (some sci-fi) turns". Brian Moylan of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...

'' was positive and praised the convincing depiction as well as the complex and gripping plot. The ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...

'' described the pilot as "provocative" and "smartly adapted by The X-Files' Frank Spotnitz". ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

'' said it was "absorbing", and '' Wired'' called it "must-see viewing". ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular ...

'' said it was "engrossing" and "a triumph in world-building", cheering, "''The Man in the High Castle'' is king." After the season, ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

'' included it on a list of the 40 best science fiction television shows of all time. Amazon subsequently announced it was the service's most-streamed original series and had been renewed for a second season. The second season received mixed reviews. Rotten Tomatoes gives it an approval rating of 64%, based on reviews from 25 critics with an average rating of 7 out of 10. The site's critical consensus states, "Although its plot is admittedly unwieldy, ''The Man in the High Castle''s second season expands its fascinating premise in powerful new directions, bolstered by stunning visuals, strong performances, and intriguing new possibilities." Metacritic gave season 2 a score of 62 out of 100, based on reviews from ten critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". The third season was met with positive reviews. Rotten Tomatoes gives it an approval rating of 86%, based on reviews from 21 critics with an average rating of 7.4 out of 10. The site's critical consensus states, "The crafty addition of minor sci-fi elements and a terrific William Forsythe to the show's already engrossing narrative make ''The Man in the High Castle''s third season another worthy binge." Metacritic gives season 3 a score of 70 out of 100, based on reviews from five critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". The fourth season received positive reviews. Rotten Tomatoes gives it an approval rating of 92%, based on reviews from 13 critics with an average rating of 7.2 out of 10. The site's critical consensus states, "''The Man in the High Castle'' finds something close to closure, wrapping up major threads to bring everything full circle in sufficiently dramatic fashion."

Accolades

Advertising controversy

As part of an advertising campaign for the season 1 release, an entire

New York City Subway The New York City Subway is a rapid transit system owned by the government of New York City and leased to the New York City Transit Authority, an affiliate agency of the state-run Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). Opened on October ...

car was covered with

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

and

Imperial Japan The also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was a historical nation-state and great power that existed from the Meiji Restoration in 1868 until the enactment of the post-World War II 1947 constitution and subsequent forma ...

ese imagery, as seen in the show, including multiple US flags with the Imperial Eagle symbol in place of the 50 stars (a change from the swastika used on the flag in the show), and multiple flags of the fictional Pacific States. In response to criticism from "state lawmakers and city leaders", the

Metropolitan Transportation Authority The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) is a public benefit corporation responsible for public transportation in the New York City metropolitan area of the U.S. state of New York. The MTA is the largest public transit authority in th ...

(MTA) released a statement saying that there were no grounds to reject the ads because the neutral content subway ad standards prohibit only advertising that is a political advertisement or disparages an individual or group. MTA spokesperson Kevin Ortiz stated, "The MTA is a government agency and can't accept or reject ads based on how we feel about them; we have to follow the standards approved by our board. Please note they're commercial ads." Spokesperson Adam Lisberg said, "This advertising, whether you find it distasteful or not, obviously they're not advertising Nazism; they're advertising a TV show." After complaints from New York State Governor

Andrew Cuomo Andrew Mark Cuomo ( ; ; born December 6, 1957) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 56th governor of New York from 2011 to 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, he was elected to the same position that his father, Mario Cuo ...

and

New York City Mayor The mayor of New York City, officially Mayor of the City of New York, is head of the executive branch of the government of New York City and the chief executive of New York City. The mayor's office administers all city services, public property ...

Bill de Blasio Bill de Blasio (; born Warren Wilhelm Jr., May 8, 1961; later Warren de Blasio-Wilhelm) is an American politician who served as the 109th mayor of New York City from 2014 to 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, he held the office of New Y ...

, initial reports indicated that Amazon pulled the advertisement from the subway. It was later announced that it was the MTA, not Amazon, that pulled the ad because of pressure from Cuomo.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Man in the High Castle, The 2010s American drama television series 2010s American science fiction television series 2015 American television series debuts 2019 American television series endings Anti-fascist works Amazon Prime Video original programming Cultural depictions of Adolf Hitler Cultural depictions of Heinrich Himmler Cultural depictions of J. Edgar Hoover Cultural depictions of Josef Mengele Dystopian television series Imperial Japanese Army Television shows based on works by Philip K. Dick Television series about Nazis Television series about Nazism Television series about nuclear war and weapons Television series about parallel universes Television series about World War II alternate histories Television series by Amazon Studios Television series by Scott Free Productions Television shows filmed in Vancouver Television series set in 1962 Television series set in 1963 Television series set in 1964 Television shows directed by Steph Green Television shows filmed in Washington (state) Television shows set in Colorado Television shows set in New York City Television shows set in San Francisco Television shows scored by Henry Jackman Works about the Yakuza