Apple TV+ has confirmed a series order for a new Antarctic exploration drama, The White Darkness, which still star and be executive produced by Tom Hiddleston.
The new show will be based on David Grann’s 2018 nonfiction work of the same name, with Hiddleston taking the role of the late British explorer Henry Worsley. The London-born Worsley ventured across Antarctica in 2008, leading an expedition to pioneer a route through the Transantarctic Mountains. He made return visits to the continent in 2011 and 2015.
Grann’s book was inspired by Worsley’s expeditions and adventures, which included the British Army officer’s journey to the gravesite of polar explorer Ernest Shackleton.
Worsley’s first journey across Antarctica in 2008 saw him reach a point 98 miles (157 kilometers) from the South Pole, in an expedition that commemorated the centenary of Shackleton’s Nimrod Expedition. In 2011, he also led a team of six to retrace Roald Amundsen’s 870-mile (1,400-kilometer) journey to the South Pole in 1912, marking another important centenary.
In 2015, Worsley undertook his final expedition, travelling from Berkner Island. After 69 days, Worsley had to take to his tent for two days, suffering from exhaustion and severe dehydration, before finally radioing for help and being airlifted to Punta Arenas, Chile. He passed away shortly after, following complications as a result of bacterial peritonitis.
The White Darkness will be Hiddleston’s second collaboration with Apple, after The Essex Serpent, which premiers on May 13, 2022. He is also one of many Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) actors who have recently been getting involved with Apple TV+ projects.
Tom Holland is currently working on The Crowded Room, which is being shot in New York. Meanwhile, Chris Evans and Scarlett Johansson are rumored to be reuniting on the set of what Deadline has described as a “buzzy new movie package”, Project Artemis, which Apple has reportedly purchased in a deal worth more than $100 million.