Surface (originally titled
Fathom) was a
science fiction television series that premiered on
NBC on
September 19,
2005. The program aired fifteen episodes (its full first season) until
February 6,
2006, before going on hiatus due to the coverage of the
2006 Winter Olympics and awaiting word on whether it would be renewed for a second season. On
May 15,
2006,
NBC officially announced the series' cancellation, despite average ratings, leaving the outcome of the plot as a
cliffhanger ending. It was originally intended to be a mini-series composed of fewer episodes, focusing on three people, but positive ratings led to it being extended, and including an additional central character. With the end of the season being called a "season finale," it left impressions that it would continue for at least one more season.
Tagline: 'The fate of the world is in their hands; they just don't know it yet
.
Broadcast history
During the show's initial airing, Surface was also broadcast in syndication on the
Sci-Fi Channel in the
United States, which still holds broadcast rights. In addition to U.S. network the programme was also broadcast in
Canada on
CH, as well as
ITV2 in the
UK,
Network Ten in Australia,
VT4 in
Belgium, on
La Sexta and
Calle 13 in
Spain] and on Universal Channel in Mexico. During the summer of 2006, the series was broadcast on
ProSieben in
Germany, by Fox on
Portuguese and
Brazilian cable networks, in
Israel on Yes network, and on
Canal+ in most of
Scandinavia. During the summer of 2008, the series was broadcast on
Veronica in
The Netherlands.
Current
The program is currently being broadcasted in Italy on Italia 1 and in
Norway on TVNorge (started in June 2007),
Portugal on TVI (Saturday afternoon),
Australia on Scifi,
Spain on La Sexta (started in September 2007),
Finland on
MTV3, rebroadcast in Germany on ProSieben and in Canada on Space. In Poland on
TVN Siedem started from August 2007, and starting May 2008 it is being reaired in
TVN on Thursdays at 15:15. It is as of July 2007 also being broadcast in
Mauritius on MBC3 (Tuesday afternoons). Since November, 2007 it is also broadcasted in
Greece (Hellas) on Alter Channel on Fridays at 21:00, in
New Zealand on TV3 late Friday evenings and in
Croatia (Hrvatska) on
RTL Televizija Sunday and Monday at 20:50. It is also currently airing Mon-Fri (Ep1 aired Mar 10, 2008) at 00:30 or 01:30 on StarWorld (cable) in Singapore, with repeats airing the next day at 11:00. From december 10 also started to be shown in Digit Alb + (cable)in Albania
Synopsis
During a routine
submersible dive in the North
Pacific Ocean,
California oceanographer Laura Daughtery (
Lake Bell) is attacked by an unknown life form that appears out of a field of craters on the ocean's floor. Miles Barnett (
Carter Jenkins), a North Carolina teen, finds himself face to face with the strange
sea creature after falling off his wakeboard during a nighttime outing with his friends. Meanwhile, Richard Connelly (
Jay R. Ferguson), a
Louisiana man on a fishing trip, loses his brother in a suspicious diving accident when a creature drags him to the depths of the
Gulf of Mexico.
All around the world, strange things are occurring in the world's oceans. Stars fall from the sky and into the water; a horrific howl tears apart a
South African lighthouse. In
South Carolina, an unknown carcass washes up on a public beach, prompting the government to evacuate and cordon off the area, claiming it as a beached
whale killed by
red tide poisoning.
Meanwhile, Daughtery's research is seized by government officials led by a mysterious
Serbian scientist, Dr. Aleksander Cirko (
Rade Šerbedžija); after attempting to confront them, she is fired. Curious as to what he's seen, Miles ventures back to the area where he first spotted the creature only to find the water covered in strange pods he classifies as "eggs"; he takes one home and places it in his parents' fish tank. Unable to cope with his brother's disappearance, Connely ventures to South Carolina to see the creature for himself. Connelly meets Daughtery upon arrival after they are both taken into custody due to asking too many questions. When the fish in Miles' tank disappear and the tank breaks, Miles discovers that something has hatched from the egg; he attempts to conceal it but it escapes and causes havoc at his sister's pool party. Daughtery and Connelly sneak onto the beach and bring back a
hagfish that had been feeding on the carcass. Each returns to his home, and Daughtery sends the fish's stomach contents to be tested. As they wait for the results, reports of strange creatures beaching themselves around the world begin to surface. These three strangers may have stumbled upon the greatest secret in human history.
The creature that hatched from the "egg" that Miles found appears to be some kind of
iguana-like animal. It has the ability to zap objects with a green electrical charge. Miles's friend Phil names the creature Nimrod, "Nim" for short.
Dr. Cirko discovers the origins of the creature, but is murdered before he can tell anyone. His assistant gives his research to Daughtery who has already teamed up with Connelly.
Themes
This TV series encompasses possible implications of
genetic engineering, and modern
biotechnology. The underlying theme of the series involves the artificial creation of an organism, through a secret biotechnological company. One scene involves a scientist going for an interview for the company, where the interviewer reveals revelations such as the recovery of the
Archaeopteryx, and that cloning
Dolly the Sheep was 30 (or 20?) years after their secret company discovered how to clone.
Cast and characters
Episode guide
DVD releases
On May 1, 2006 it was announced that Universal would be releasing the
Surface - Season One DVD set on
August 15, 2006. The DVD set was released with the title of
Surface: The Complete Series.
[Surface DVD news: There's Something In The Water...And On DVD This August! | TVShowsOnDVD.com]
An Australian release of all 15 episodes from season one has been released by Universal.
Broadcasters
- Australia: Network Ten, Sci Fi Channel
- Belgium: RTL-TVI
- Brazil : Rede Record, Universal Channel
- Canada: CH
- Croatia: RTL Televizija (Croatian title: Stvorenja)
- Chile: Red TV
- Denmark: Canal+, DR1
- France: Canal+, TF1
- Finland: Canal+, Sub, MTV3
- Germany: ProSieben (German title: Surface - Unheimliche Tiefe)
- Greece: Alter (Greek title: Άγνωστος Εχθρός - Unknown Enemy)
- Hungary: TV2
- India: Star World (from 2008)
- Israel: yesSTARS
- Italy: Sky Italia, Italia 1
- Malaysia: TV3
- Mexico: Universal Channel
- New Zealand: TV3 (from 2007)
- Netherlands: Veronica (from May 2008)
- Norway: Canal+ and TvNorge (from 2007)
- Paraguay : Canal 9 SNT
- Peru : America TV
- Poland : Canal+ Poland, TVN Siedem and TVN (Polish title: Na powierzchni)
- Portugal : TVI, FOX
- Russia: Channel One
- Saudi Arabia: ShowSeries 1
- Serbia: RTS2 www.rts.co.yu/
- Singapore: StarWorld Ch18, Starhub Cable. (Mon-Fri, from March 10, 2008)
- Slovak Republic: STV 1 (Mon-Fri, from Sept. 2008)
- Spain: La Sexta
- Sri Lanka: DialogTV
- Sweden: Canal+
- Turkey: Dizimax
- United Kingdom: ITV Pilot episode only; ITV2 All subsequent episodes
- United States : UniversalHD
- Mauritius : MBC3
- Albania : Digitalb
COMING SOON
