''Oasis'' is a pilot episode of an intended 2017 British television drama series, based on

Michel Faber Michel Faber (born 13 April 1960) is a Dutch-born writer of English-language fiction, including his 2002 novel ''The Crimson Petal and the White''. His latest book is a novel for young adults, ''D—A Tale of Two Worlds, D: A Tale of Two Worlds'' ...

's 2014 novel '' The Book of Strange New Things''. It follows the adventures of a Scottish chaplain on an exoplanet colony. ''Oasis'' was part of the 2017 pilot season wave 8 by

Amazon 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 ...

. The series' central character is chaplain Peter Leigh, played by

Richard Madden Richard Madden (born 18 June 1986) is a Scottish actor. He was cast in his first role at age 11 and made his screen acting debut in 2000. He later began performing on stage whilst a student at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. In 2007, he ...

, who is unexpectedly asked to travel to a remote planet, where USIC, a mysterious company, is building the first permanent off-world human

colony In modern parlance, a colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule. Though dominated by the foreign colonizers, colonies remain separate from the administration of the original country of the colonizers, the '' metropolitan state' ...

, as environmental collapse shows Earth's habitability for humans is coming to an end. On arrival at the colony, Leigh discovers there have been a series of accidents, which are being blamed on hallucinations some colonists are experiencing. The method of space travel to the presumed exoplanet is not shown, but it requires a launch from Earth with a traditional rocket. The exoplanet is presented as covered by a desert-like landscape, apparently without vegetation or other forms of life, but having natural underground water resources and a breathable atmosphere. It is unclear how closely a prospective series would follow Faber's plot about a preacher teaching aliens about Christianity. The pilot premiered on

on 17 March 2017; future episodes may be ordered depending on the popularity of the pilot. The pilot episode reached an average rating of 4.8/5 by Amazon Video users in December 2017. The pilot was written by

Matt Charman Matt Charman (born June 5, 1979) is a British screenwriter, playwright, and producer from Horsham, West Sussex. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for his 2015 film '' Bridge of Spies'', directed by Steven Spielber ...

(

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People * Oscar (given name), an Irish- and English-language name also used in other languages; the article includes the names Oskar, Oskari, Oszkár, Óscar, and other forms. * Oscar (Irish mythology) ...

-nominated for '' Bridge of Spies'') and directed by Kevin Macdonald.

Plot

In London, in 2032, society and public order have largely collapsed and there is a shortage of food and supplies. After the death of his wife Bea, chaplain Peter Leigh is contacted by USIC executive Vivian Hades and shown a video call by David Morgan, USIC co-owner and founder of the colony on the desert-like exoplanet, begging Peter to come to the colony. Peter travels to the colony and is initially received with scepticism by the crew as nobody had expected a chaplain to arrive, and there are doubts how a chaplain could be useful. Peter learns that there have been several lethal accidents that are believed to have been caused by hallucinations the colony members are experiencing, and that David Morgan has not returned from an exploration tour into the desert and is missing for several days. While Sara Keller goes jogging in the desert on one of the following mornings, she has a vision of her daughter (who actually is staying back on Earth) calling out for her mother in the dunes. Following this vision, Sara discovers the rover that had been used by David Morgan on his excursion, half sunk in the sand, with blood-stained wind shield. In the colony, Paul Halloran tells Peter about his racing horse that came to death on Halloran's wrongdoing, which he deeply regrets. Sara Keller insists that a search party should be formed to seek David Morgan, but Danesh, the colony's boss, refuses. The next day, while drilling for underground water, Paul Halloran experiences a vision of his dead horse, and attempting to reach for it, he steps into the operating drilling gear and is fatally wounded. The colony's crew and their leader, Danesh, conclude that the visions are not randomly caused by the environmental conditions but are some form of attack on the crew. Danesh invokes a state of alert and, with David Morgan missing, assumes the controlling position of the colony. Peter discovers a secret message in David Morgan's room and location coordinates. He takes a rover to go into the desert to the coordinate spot. He is stopped by Sara Keller, but she decides, apparently against Danesh's orders, to let Peter go and find out what happened to David Morgan. Peter ends up in a cave where he experiences an appearance of his deceased wife Bea.

Cast

as Peter Leigh, a chaplain *

Aislín McGuckin Aislín McGuckin (born May 1974) is a Northern Irish actress. She has appeared in theatre, television, and film roles. Her early film work includes '' The Nephew'' and ''The White Countess''. From 2014 to 2015, she starred as Letitia MacKenzie ...

as Vivian Hades * Jonjo O'Neill as David Morgan, the colony's founder *

Anil Kapoor Anil Kapoor (born 24 December 1956) is an Indian actor and producer who works primarily in Hindi films, besides television and international films and television. In a career spanning over 40 years as an actor and since 2005 as a producer, Kapo ...

as Vikram Danesh Roy, the colony's chief executive * Antje Traue as Sara Keller, the colony's security officer *

Michael James Shaw Michael James Shaw (born September 16, 1986) is an American actor and writer from New York City. He is best known for his recurring role as FBI Agent Daryl/"Mike" in the TV series '' Limitless''. Shaw has also had a recurring role in ''Constantin ...

as BG *

Haley Joel Osment Haley Joel Osment (born April 10, 1988) is an American actor and voice actor. Beginning his career as a child actor, Osment's role in the comedy-drama film '' Forrest Gump'' (1994) won him a Young Artist Award. His breakthrough came with the ps ...

as Sy, a botanist *

Mark Addy Mark Ian Addy (born 14 January 1964) is an English actor. His roles in British television include Detective Constable Gary Boyle in the sitcom '' The Thin Blue Line'' (1995–1996) and Hercules in the fantasy drama series ''Atlantis'' (2013–2 ...

as Paul Halloran, an engineer * Zawe Ashton as Severin, the colony's medical doctor *

Maureen Sebastian Maureen is a female given name. In Gaelic, it is Máirín, a pet form of ''Máire'' (the Irish cognate of Mary), which is derived from the Hebrew Miriam. The name has sometimes been regarded as corresponding to the male given name Maurice. Some ...

as Alicia Reyes *

Flora Spencer-Longhurst Flora Spencer-Longhurst (born 1985 or 1986) is an English actress. She is known for her roles in the CBBC series ''Leonardo'' (2011), and the FX series '' The Bastard Executioner'' (2015). Early life Spencer-Longhurst joined the National Y ...

as Bea, Peter Leigh's wife

Production

;Music The musical score for ''Oasis'' was composed by

Martin Phipps Martin Phipps (born 1 August 1968) is a British composer, who has worked on numerous film and television projects. Life and career He is the son of Sue Pears and Jack Phipps, an arts administrator who had previously founded a management agen ...

. The show's theme song, "

Human Humans (''Homo sapiens'') are the most abundant and widespread species of primate, characterized by bipedalism and exceptional cognitive skills due to a large and complex brain. This has enabled the development of advanced tools, cultu ...

", was written by the English singer-songwriter

Rag'n'Bone Man Rory Charles Graham (born 29 January 1985), better known as Rag'n'Bone Man, is an English singer and songwriter. He is known for his deep baritone voice. His first hit single, "Human", was released in 2016, and his debut album of the same nam ...

. Additional songs used in the show include "

Walkin' After Midnight "Walkin' After Midnight" is a song written by Alan Block and Don Hecht and recorded by American country music artist Patsy Cline. The song was originally given to pop singer Kay Starr; however, her label rejected it. The song was left unused until ...

" and "

Crazy Insanity, madness, lunacy, and craziness are behaviors performed by certain abnormal mental or behavioral patterns. Insanity can be manifest as violations of societal norms, including a person or persons becoming a danger to themselves or t ...

" by

Patsy Cline Patsy is a given name often used as a diminutive of the feminine given name Patricia or sometimes the masculine name Patrick, or occasionally other names containing the syllable "Pat" (such as Cleopatra, Patience, Patrice, or Patricia). Among I ...

, "

Wrong A wrong (from Old English – 'crooked') is an act that is illegal or immoral. Legal wrongs are usually quite clearly defined in the law of a state and/or jurisdiction. They can be divided into civil wrongs and crimes (or ''criminal offens ...

" by Depeche Mode, and "

Halfway To Paradise "Halfway to Paradise" is a popular song written by Carole King and Gerry Goffin. In the United States, the song was originally recorded in 1961 by Tony Orlando where it peaked at No. 39 on the Hot 100. In Canada, the song reached No. 3 in the ...

" by

Billy Fury Ronald Wycherley (17 April 1940 – 28 January 1983), better known as Billy Fury, was an English singer, musician, songwriter, and actor. An early star of rock and roll, he equalled the Beatles' record of 24 hits in the 1960s and spent 332 we ...

Reception

The pilot received a positive review from Beth Elderkin in ''

io9 ''io9'' is part of Gizmodo media since 2015, and it began as blog launched in 2008 by Gawker Media. The site initially focused on the subjects of science fiction, fantasy, futurism, science, technology and related areas but over the years has ...

'' who complimented MacDonald's direction and Madden's acting, but criticised that the other characters were poorly developed. Andrew Liptak wrote for ''

The Verge ''The Verge'' is an American technology news website operated by Vox Media, publishing news, feature stories, guidebooks, product reviews, consumer electronics news, and podcasts. The website launched on November 1, 2011, and uses Vox Media ...

'' that the show might become "a compelling, thought-provoking story" with themes similar to those of

Stanisław Lem Stanisław Herman Lem (; 12 September 1921 – 27 March 2006) was a Polish writer of science fiction and essays on various subjects, including philosophy, futurology, and literary criticism. Many of his science fiction stories are of satirical ...

's novel '' Solaris'' (wherein a psychologist travels to a space station orbiting an exoplanet as some crew members call out for help after inexplicable events) and the short-lived 2011 BBC drama '' Outcasts'' (about strange things happening on a colonized distant planet).

IndieWire IndieWire (sometimes stylized as indieWIRE or Indiewire) is a film industry and review website that was established in 1996. The site's focus was predominantly independent film, although its coverage has grown to "to include all aspects of Holl ...

rated the ''Oasis'' pilot a B−. On

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 Wang ...

the pilot has an approval rating of 75% based on reviews from 12 critics.

References

External links