Mars series on National Geographic to redefine television storytelling

Now, National Geographic producers, Brian Grazer and Ron Howard, Michael Rosenberg of Imagine Entertainment; producer Justin Wilkes, producer Jon Kamen, Dave O’Connor of RadicalMedia, and Mexican filmmaker, Everardo Gout, have joined forces to launch viewers farther into outer space than ever before with the global event series, Mars.

Premiering on Sunday, 13 November at 20:05 on National Geographic, channel 181 on DStv, Mars — which is set both in the future and in the present day — will redefine television storytelling by combining feature film-quality scripted drama and visual effects with best-in-class documentary sequences to drive forward a cohesive, edge-of-your-seat story of mankind’s thrilling quest to colonise Mars.

This six-part global event series tells the story from the vantage point of a fictitious crewed mission to Mars in 2033. Executive producers Howard and Grazer hand-selected Gout to direct all six episodes of the series, filmed earlier this year in Budapest and Morocco. The scripted portion focuses on Earth’s first crewed mission to Mars aboard the spacecraft Daedalus.

Its maiden voyage in 2033 is crewed by a carefully selected international team of six uniquely qualified astronauts, including American mission commander Ben Sawyer (Ben Cotton), Korean-American mission pilot Hana Seung (Jihae), Spanish hydrologist and geochemist Javier Delgado (Alberto Ammann), French mission physician and biochemist Amelie Durand (Clementine Poidatz), Nigerian mechanical engineer and roboticist Robert Foucault (Sammi Rotibi) and Russian exobiologist and geologist Marta Kamen (Anamaria Marinca). Back on Earth, the Mars Mission Corporation (MMC) control team based in London includes Hana Seung’s twin sister, capsule communicator Joon Seung (also played by Jihae), and French CEO of the MMC, Ed Grann (Olivier Martinez).

Once Daedalus successfully lands on Mars and sets up a preliminary base of operations, British nuclear physicist Leslie Richardson (Cosima Shaw) will lead a Phase 2 settlement team along with her husband, world-renowned experimental botanist Dr. Paul Richardson (John Light).

Mars brings together all of the world’s leading minds in a way never before accomplished — think of the world’s largest TED talk with the most fascinating people on Earth.

Mars premieres on National Geographic, channel 181 on DStv on Sunday, 13 November at 20:05.

National Geographic will extend the Mars storytelling in an unprecedented cross-platform effort, including a six-part digital companion prequel series. Before Mars, which will launch prior to the premiere, is an extensive digital virtual reality experience.

For more information, visit www.makemarshome.com.