Have You Been Watching...? The Swarm (Der Schwarm) 2023

What would we do, if one day, our seas turned against us? That’s the intriguing premise of this German produced (and mostly English language) adaptation of the book by German author Frank Shatzing which came out in 2004. The screenplay is by Steven Lally, Marissa Lestrade, Chris Lunt and Michael A Walker and it's directed by Barbara Eder, Luke Watson and Phillipp Stolzl.

The series tells the story, over 8 episodes, of how mankind faces an increasingly dangerous threat from our very own seas. Marine life that is normally docile and friendly, suddenly turns threatening and deadly (in spectacular ways). Mutant sealife causes an epidemic of disease, death and destruction and our seas turn tsunami, wiping out thousands of people.

The series is a truly global affair, and this does make it distinctive from its US contemporaries of big-budget high-concept thrillers.  The cast is multinational, including Sweden’s Alexander Karim (The Wheel of Time), Belgium’s Cecile DeFrance (The Young Pope), Germany’s Leonie Benesch (Around the World in 80 Days) and Oliver Masucci (Dark), Canada’s Joshua Odjick (Three Pines), Japan’s Takehiro Hira (Gran Turismo, Snake Eyes), Finland’s Krista Kosonen (Blade Runner 2049), and England’s Sharon Duncan-Brewster (Years & Years). This wonderful cast are all extremely competent in their roles and clearly committed to the bizarre tale unfolding around them. For our foreign language cast, it’s commendable they perform so much in English and it’s good they get a few scenes in their own first language.

The series is produced by German broadcaster ZDF, with French Television and RAI, with Austrian, Swiss, Swedish and Japanese co-producers. It is the most expensive German produced, English language TV series ever made. The source material being a book is clearly evident in that there doesn’t appear to be much in the way of padding. Everything that happens in the story happens for a reason and fuels what comes after. Our main protagonist is Benesch’s Charlie Wagner, a German researcher stationed in a lighthouse on the Shetland Islands. Through her we are gradually introduced to the other cast and events. Despite some great set-pieces, the series does move along at a snail’s pace, which does hurt the pacing somewhat. However, by the time the ending comes along, we have a better idea of what is happening although some plots are left unresolved. This is possibly down to adapting the material for a potential ongoing series. However, a second series is yet to be confirmed.

The cinematography is truly breathtaking and shows off all the global locations to their full advantage and the special effects are fantastic. There are numerous deaths and the stakes are high but with a small core cast, we don’t get a true feeling of the oncoming apocalypse. That being said, it is wonderful to see a non- American led drama series of this nature and it adds flavour to the genre. At 8 episodes, it’s easy enough to binge watch, but personally I enjoyed pacing the episodes out over a week. While initially broadcast in Europe earlier this year, Now TV have the series available to stream, so do try to avoid spoilers! This is well worth dipping your toes into (but mind the crabs!)

Year: 2023

Episodes: 8

Series: 1 (to date)

Availability: streaming on NOWTV at the time of writing