Mia Blackwood arrives at the idyllic Peregrine Island camp expecting kayaking and bonfires, only to find Lisa Ambalavanar's queen bee already dethroned by the unnervingly perfect Amber, played by Ellie Duckles, whose honeyed smile masks telepathic control over staff and teens alike. Shot on the Isle of Arran and in the Trossachs, the 25-minute episodes keep their horrors daylight-bright: a cliff jump that rewinds mid-air, a boat that rows itself back to shore, and a midnight chase through bioluminescent pines scored by Nick Foster’s pulsing synths. The BBC iPlayer launch in October 2018 drew two million streams inside a week, making it the platform’s most-watched teen drama until Heartstopper arrived.
Behind the camera, creators Dan Berlinka and Nina Metivier ration revelations: series one ends with Mia remembering she arrived on the island a year earlier and was wiped clean. The second run, released by Netflix in June 2021 after the BBC withdrew funding, widens the mythology to include rival research stations, genetic markers for “susceptibility,” and a coda that strands surviving campers on the mainland as the island vanishes from satellite view. A third season was outlined, but Kindle Entertainment’s option lapsed in 2022, leaving Amber’s final smirk and Mia’s unanswered text the last images of a story that began as a low-budget summer-camp chiller and ended as a cautionary tale about who we let inside our heads.
Production Details
Netflix / 2 Seasons / 21 Episodes / 2018
Created by: Dan Berlinka, Nina Metivier
Showrunner(s): Anne Brogan, Amy Buscombe
Writer(s): Dan Berlinka, Nina Metivier
Producer(s): Sandra MacIver
Main Cast
Rosie Dwyer as Alex
Micheal Ward as Brendan
Lisa Ambalavanar as Mia
Ellie Duckles as Amber
Jacob Dudman as Dev
Eleanor Bennett as Jenna
Max Lohan as Luka
Savannah Baker as Kayleigh
Dylan Brady as
Byron Easmon as Fitz
Barnaby Tobias as Dev
