''Truth Seekers'' is a 2020 British

supernatural Supernatural refers to phenomena or entities that are beyond the laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin (above, beyond, or outside of) + (nature) Though the corollary term "nature", has had multiple meanings si ...

comedy horror Comedy horror, also known as horror comedy, is a literary, television, and film genre that combines elements of comedy and horror fiction. Comedy horror has been described as able to be categorized under three types: "black comedy, parody and sp ...

streaming television Streaming television is the digital distribution of television content, such as TV shows, as streaming media delivered over the Internet. Streaming television stands in contrast to dedicated terrestrial television delivered by over-the-air a ...

series created by Nick Frost,

Simon Pegg Simon John Pegg (né Beckingham; born 14 February 1970) is an English actor, comedian, screenwriter, and producer. He came to prominence in the UK as the co-creator of the Channel 4 sitcom ''Spaced'' (1999–2001), directed by Edgar Wright. H ...

, James Serafinowicz, and Nat Saunders. The series was directed by Jim Field Smith and stars Nick Frost and Simon Pegg, with

Emma D'Arcy Emma Zia D'Arcy (born 27 June 1992) is an English actor. They are known for their roles in the BBC drama ''Wanderlust'' (2018), the Amazon Prime series ''Truth Seekers'' (2020), and the HBO fantasy series ''House of the Dragon'' (2022–), the ...

Samson Kayo Samson Kayo (born 1991 or 1992) is a British actor, comedian, producer and writer. He was nominated for the British Academy Television Award for Best Male Comedy Performance in 2018 for the BBC sketch show '' Famalam'' and in 2022 for the Sky ...

Julian Barratt Julian Barratt Pettifer (born 4 May 1968) is an English comedian, actor and musician. As a comedian and comic actor, he is known for his use of surreal humour and black comedy. During the 2000s he was part of The Mighty Boosh comedy troupe along ...

Susan Wokoma Susan Indiaba Wokoma (born 31 December 1987 in Peckham, London, England) is a British actress, writer and director. She is best known for her roles as Edith in '' Enola Holmes'' and Raquel in the E4/Netflix show ''Crazyhead''. Wokoma was liste ...

, and

Malcolm McDowell Malcolm McDowell (born Malcolm John Taylor; 13 June 1943) is a British actor, producer, and television presenter. He is best known for portraying Alex DeLarge in ''A Clockwork Orange.'' He was born in the Horsforth suburb of Leeds and raised i ...

in supporting roles. The first two episodes premiered at the Canneseries Festival, on 10 October 2020, followed by an

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 ...

release on 30 October 2020. On 11 February 2021, Frost announced via his

Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...

page that the show had been cancelled.

Cast

* Nick Frost as Gus Roberts: A broadband installer for Smyle internet. He has an interest in paranormal investigations, and Frost described his character as someone "lost and looking for some truth in many aspects of his life." *

as Astrid: A young woman haunted by several ghosts. *

as Elton John: Gus' new partner at Smyle and in paranormal investigations. Running themes are nobody reacting to his

name A name is a term used for identification by an external observer. They can identify a class or category of things, or a single thing, either uniquely, or within a given context. The entity identified by a name is called its referent. A persona ...

, his previous experiences at a variety of random jobs, and his ability to unwittingly discover secret passages. *

as Richard: Gus' aging father-in-law. *

as David: Gus' boss and the head of the broadband company Smyle. * Susie Wokoma as Helen: Elton's sister, an

agoraphobic Agoraphobia is a mental and behavioral disorder, specifically an anxiety disorder characterized by symptoms of anxiety in situations where the person perceives their environment to be unsafe with no easy way to escape. These situations can i ...

and anxious cosplayer. *

as Dr. Peter Toynbee * Rosalie Craig as Emily Roberts: Gus' wife who died ten years prior to the start of the series. *

Kelly Macdonald Kelly Macdonald (born 23 February 1976) is a Scottish actress. She is known for her roles in '' Trainspotting'' (1996), '' Gosford Park'' (2001), '' Intermission'' (2003), '' Nanny McPhee'' (2005), '' No Country for Old Men'' (2007), ''Boardwa ...

as Jojo74 *

Taj Atwal Taj Atwal (born in December 1987) is a British actress from Norwich, who has appeared in ''Stella'', '' In the Club'', ''Line of Duty'', TV drama ''The Syndicate'' and comedy '' Hullraisers''. Biography Atwal was born in Norwich to an Indian f ...

as Elara: Toynbee's devoted assistant, so much so that she sacrifices her life to further his plans. * Mike Beckingham as Bjorn * Jon Rumney as Doctor Connelly * Ranjit Krishnamma as Terry

Premise

Gus Roberts is the number one engineer at Smyle, Britain's biggest mobile network operator and Internet service provider. In his spare time he's also a keen investigator of the paranormal. Gus is initially disappointed when his boss David partners him up with new recruit Elton John, but the two rapidly form a friendship, working together both professionally and in the paranormal, however Elton is less enthusiastic than Gus in this area. They are joined by Astrid, a young woman who is chased through a house and later a hospital by several ghosts. She escapes the hospital and runs through the countryside before meeting Gus and Elton. Also introduced are Elton's

sister Helen, a nervous

cosplay Cosplay, a portmanteau of "costume play", is an activity and performance art in which participants called cosplayers wear costumes and fashion accessories to represent a specific character. Cosplayers often interact to create a subculture ...

er, and Gus' grumpy father-in-law Richard.

Episodes

Development

In January 2018, it was announced that

Stolen Picture Stolen Picture is a British film production company founded by Simon Pegg and Nick Frost in 2016, with Miles Ketley joining in July 2017. Overview On 16 May 2017, it was announced that Simon Pegg and Nick Frost had launched a film and televisio ...

was developing their first television project ''Truth Seekers'', a half-hour comedy-horror series about a three-person paranormal investigation team. In August 2019,

signed a full series order on ''Truth Seekers''. The series starred

and Nick Frost, alongside

, Susie Wokoma, and

. Jim Field Smith directed all 8 episodes of the first season. On 19 October 2020, executive producer and Stolen Picture CEO Miles Ketley passed away 11 days before the series premiere.

Release

Streaming

On 23 July 2020, during

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 ...

@Home, the first trailer was released. The first two episodes premiered at the CannesSeries Festival, on 10 October 2020, followed by a 30 October 2020 wide release on

. The series was canceled by Prime Video in February 2021.

Critical reception

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 ...

, the series has an approval rating of 76% based on reviews from 38 critics, with an average rating of 6.89/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "It may not be as laugh-out-loud funny as Nick Frost and Simon Pegg's previous collaborations, but ''Truth Seekers'' is genuinely eerie, balancing out its silly sensibilities with creeping terror and a scary talented cast." On

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 ...

, the series has a weighted average score of 60 out of 100 based on reviews from ten critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".

References

External links

* {{Simon Pegg 2020 British television series debuts 2020 British television series endings 2020s British comedy television series 2020s British horror television series Amazon Prime Video original programming English-language television shows Television about magic Television series about ghosts Television series by Sony Pictures Television Television series set in 2020 Television series set in the 1860s Television shows filmed in England Television shows set in England