The Terror

BBC2, 9pm & 9.45pm

Mixing nautical historical adventure with gothic horror sounds like a curious dramatic cocktail. However, this ten-part adaptation of the 2007 bestseller by Dan Simmons is as accessible and captivating as any airport bestseller.

Ciarán Hinds (right, top of table) stars as Sir John Franklin, leader of a failed attempt to sail across the Arctic through the fabled Northwest Passage in the 1840s, along with Jared Harris (far right, centre) playing second in command Francis Crozier. That the two captains and their men were never seen again is a matter of historical record: the mystery of what exactly happened to them is answered by a finely crafted tale with an unnerving sense of the supernatural.

Look out for Greta Scacchi as Franklin’s wife, and yes, that really is Paul Ready – gormless Kevin from Motherland – playing the ship’s neurotic surgeon.