Nesbitt (Murphy’s Law) stars as Clem Donnelly, alongside Minnie Driver (Good Will Hunting) as Frances Kelly and Goran Visnjic (ER) as Samson Ungliss.
Episode 1: To The Furthest Place
Tuesday 3rd August 2010
Simon Donald’s drama follows the crew of The Orpheus, an oceanographic submarine, as they search the final frontiers of Earth for unknown and remarkable life forms. The team onboard believe their findings could potentially lead to the next generation of bio-fuels, which could solve the energy crisis.
But before the ecosystem can be fully explored, a series of catastrophic events strikes The Orpheus. Hardly surprising given the environment – crushing pressure, boiling vent gases, freezing temperature gradients and total darkness. This is the deepest, furthest, loneliest place on Earth. The Lomonosov Ridge – an enormous tract of sea-floor – is a disputed territory. Nobody comes here. However, it soon becomes clear that there’s more than just Mother Nature attacking them. There is someone else out there…
The last team who went – including Clem’s wife – died in mysterious circumstances, so the Orpheus crew are already feeling nervous when a salvage inspector unexpectedly joins their mission. What does he know about the lost crew, and who is he working for?
Episode 2: Into The Belly Of The Beast
Tuesday 10th August 2010
The scientific crew on board The Orpheus submarine run into severe danger in their quest to find new life forms.
Crew members have died and they find themselves in the grip of a mysterious dark force. They are in trouble, they are stuck, and they are running out of air. Their only option is to escape in the one-man submersible. But where will they escape to?
Episode 3: Ghosts Of The Deep
Tuesday 17th August 2010
Clem is determined to find out why his wife’s submersible is on the Volos. The Orpheus crew tries to placate the Russians but, when the nuclear reactor looks set to blow, divisions are reaffirmed. The only way to stop the nuclear reactor from overheating is for someone to go in and manually change one of the control rods.
The Russians know the risks and tell Frances it has to be one of her crew. Svetlana continues to try to fix the motherboard in order to get the Orpheus working but has no luck. Everyone pulls straws – who will have to put their life on the line in order to save the rest of the crew? Or will Svetlana’s plan to try to recover the motherboard from the wreck of the Hermes stop this tragic sacrifice from taking place?
Episode 4: Everything Put Together Falls Apart
Tuesday 24th August 2010
Clem’s wildest hope has come true and he is reunited with his wife Catherine. The Orpheus is fixed and ready to return to the surface, but first Zubov, the Russian captain, insists that everyone helps bury the dead Russians. Once this task is complete they can head home.
But Zubov changes his tune after the burial and instructs his men to shoot all the Orpheus crew. In a desperate scramble, the Orpheus team manage to escape back onto their vessel, but Svetlana doesn’t make it in time and Vincent, highly radiated, is also left on the Volos.
Arkady decides to leave the Volos, turning against his countrymen, and manages to get on board the Orpheus. Clem just wants to get his wife home to Scarlet, but Catherine changes the whole mission when she reveals her extraordinary discovery, the lava bugs – an organism that creates renewable energy. The dedicated scientist insists that rather than going back to the surface, they must go deeper still – deep down to the Archeon trench where the Russians have been digging for oil.
Episode 5: The Last Breath
Tuesday 31st August 2010
With Clem gone, the Orpheus crew now have to find a way of getting the lava bug sample to the surface safely. However, the threat from the Volos remains as Zubov and Raymond work together to try to stop the Orpheus in its tracks. Their plan is to fire the deep scan radar.
The Orpheus mission is thrown into disarray when the air system stops working on board and all the crew collapse. On the surface, there’s a dangerous feeling of brinkmanship as America and Russia finally face each other.
Will the Orpheus crew manage to stabilise the lava bug sample and make it back to the surface? Will Svetlana and Vincent escape from the increasingly decrepit Volos? And who will be victorious on the Arctic ice – the big oil companies or those trying to secure a new and clean energy source?