We give the lowdown on powerful sci-fi drama Tales from the Loop starring Jonathan Pryce and Rebecca Hall
Amazon Prime Video’s intriguing new sci-fi epic Tales from the Loop, based on the work of acclaimed Swedish artist Simon Stålenhag, is heading our way very soon.
Tales from the Loop start date: When will it debut on Amazon Prime Video?
The eight-part series will air from Friday 3 April. All episodes will be available at once.
Tales from the Loop plot: What’s it about?
The series is set in Mercer, Ohio, which is dominated by the Mercer Center for Experimental Physics that has been constructed beneath the small town.
Known as The Loop, the facility aims to unlock and explore the mysteries of the universe and also appears to enable seemingly impossible things to happen, which were once only in the realms of science fiction, from people and buildings disappearing to objects floating, strange vibrations and mysterious time shifting.
The drama puts the spotlight on several of Mercer’s residents and illustrates how The Loop affects their lives.
“Mercer is undergirded by this constant reminder of time and space. Everyone accepts that life is strange, weird things happen and they may never know why,” Rebecca Hall who plays physicist Loretta, one of those working at The Loop, tells us.
“It is sort of set in the 1950s in the beginning and then the 1980s, but it feels like it could be any time, which is brilliant. The show is dealing with this notion of time travel and time as a fluid, shifting, mistrustful concept. So if people emerge from the 1950s into the 1980s, you can't really tell…”
Who’s in it?
Along with Parade’s End and The BFG star Rebecca, Jonathan Pryce, most recently seen in The Two Popes, plays Russ Willard, who founded the Mercer Center and is Loretta’s father-in-law. Parks and Recreations’ Paul Schneider, plays Russ' son George, Loretta’s husband and Duncan Joiner is Loretta's youngest son Cole.
“Loretta's work at The Loop utterly drives her. She has an obsession with these grand philosophical, scientific questions,” says Rebecca. “Her motivation is a profound trauma from her youth that she is trying to get over. She has always resented Russ who admires but also resents her and he doesn't take her entirely seriously. But their relationship progresses as her fortunes change…”
Tales from the Loop trailer: What does it reveal?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1htuNZp82Ck
Set against Mercer’s stark landscape, the trailer features bizarre machinery and robots, while gravity also appears to work in strange ways as objects float through the air and also move upwards.
While Loretta informs her son Cole, “Not everything in life makes sense”, Russ tells him, “When someone says something’s impossible, I prove it’s possible."
What else do we know?
Although the series is set in Ohio, it was filmed in Winnipeg, Canada.
“It was really freezing!” says Rebecca. “Honestly, I cannot explain to you how cold it was but it looked great because of all the snow and ice, so it worked really well.”
