News

After starting his career in music, British actor Jim Sturgess got his big film break on Julie Taymor’s “Across the Universe” and continued his big-screen presence in “21,” “The Way Back” and “Cloud Atlas,” among others. Now he’s returning to TV, where he got his start in acting, starring in BBC’s apocalyptic crime drama “Hard Sun,” streaming on Hulu, as Detective Charlie Hicks, who discovers a government secret about the end of the world.

What’s it been like to have one of your first lead TV roles on “Hard Sun”?

My friends and family paid more attention to this show than any of the films I’ve made, because it’s on Saturday night on BBC1. I think they forgot I was even an actor until I was pumped into their living rooms.

What is it about the show that drew you back to the small screen?...

With television widely considered more cinematic than cinema itself, the evidence is overwhelming in what we view today. The standards have been set by shows such as Westworld and Game of Thrones to name but a few with TV now a major player in the industry.

Even old Auntie Beeb is in on the act, so to speak, with Doctor Who leading the charge but more recently in drama Hard Sun – a joint venture between the BBC and American streaming service Hulu.

With the release of Hard Sun on Hulu, we caught up with Jim Sturgess for a chat about the show and more.

Heyuguys: You play a cop in Hard Sun in a “pre-apocalyptic criminal world” – what excited you the most about this project?

Jim Sturgess: Well, I am in Los Angeles right now launching the show – it’s been really exciting. Honestly it is the character of Charlie Hicks...

Vulture Watch Have detectives Charlie Hicks and Elaine Renko learned to work together? Is the Hard Sun TV show cancelled or renewed for a second season on Hulu? The television vulture is watching all the latest TV cancellation and renewal news, so this page is the place to track the status of Hard Sun, season two. Bookmark it, or subscribe for the latest updates. Remember, the television vulture is watching your shows. Are you?   What's This TV Show About? A Hulu pre-apocalyptic crime drama, Hard Sun stars Jim Sturgess, Agyness Deyn, Nikki Amuka-Bird, Jojo Macari, Derek Riddell, Owain Arthur, Varada Sethu, Adrian Rawlins, Lorraine Burroughs, Aisling Bea, and Joplin Sibtain. Although Di Elaine Renko (Deyn) and Dci Charlie Hicks (Sturgess) are mismatched, these partners are out to enforce the laws and keep safe their loved ones, as encroaching natural disaster...

Making a show about the end of the world is hard. Luckily, writer/creator Neil Cross is aiming at something smaller.

Cross’ latest TV series “Hard Sun,” now available on Hulu, follows two detectives who stumble into a sinister conspiracy that, among other things, foretells the imminent death of everyone and everything on Earth. But instead of focusing squarely on that overriding doom, “Hard Sun” looks at the potential for global chaos through the eyes of DCIs Elaine Renko (Agyness Deyn) and Charlie Hicks (Jim Sturgess).

Cross spoke to IndieWire about how the wide-reaching stakes for the world actually make it easier to focus on the central pair’s personal stories.

“The show is never about spectacle and it’s never designed to be a Roland Emmerich thing, where we’re cutting to crowds all over the world,” Cross said. “To me, the bigger and grander the context against which the characters operate,...

“Hard Sun” offers a premise as high in the sky as the glowing orb itself, but has no idea what to do with it. Two British detectives discover that the world is coming to an end and have to choose between trusting their government and making it public. That’s Episode 1. In Episode 2… well, to say what happens in the second episode would get into spoilers territory, even though the second hour of Neil Cross’ half-baked co-production between Hulu and the BBC is much more representative of what the show is and what it gets wrong.

Even in a traditional-sized British season and truncated American one — six episodes — the gritty crime drama bounces around within a hollow sci-fi story, mixing conventional elements of a police procedural with a more serialized narrative about an exploding sun. Very little of it works, be it the half-assed intermediary cases that barely hold up...

Sneak Peek footage, plus images from "Hard Sun", the science fiction, British crime series, created and written by Neil Cross, starring Agyness Deyn and Jim Sturgess, airing March 5, 2018 on Hulu:

"...set in contemporary London, UK, mismatched police officers, 'Charlie Hicks' and 'Elaine Renko' investigating the death of a hacker, stumble upon proof that due to a mysterious cosmic event, the world is facing certain destruction in five years, a fact the powers-that-be would very much like to keep under wraps.

"The duo must use every bit of their ingenuity to protect themselves as they are pursued by 'MI5' operatives who are trying to silence them for good. Their dilemma turns into one of how can they keep their loved ones safe and uphold the law in a world that is running out of time..."

Click the images to enlarge and Sneak Peek "Hard Sun"...

Louisa Mellor Feb 6, 2018

Ahead of the Hard Sun finale, we count down the puzzling questions this series has yet to answer…

Warning: contains spoilers for Hard Sun episodes 1-5.

See related Jessica Jones’ Kilgrave: Marvel’s creepiest villain yet Iron Fist season 2: Alice Eve joins the cast Luke Cage season 2 wraps Jessica Jones is the most popular Marvel show on Netflix

There’s an easy method of finding out whether or not the Hard Sun finale contains answers to the questions below: just, you know, watch it.

As is its wont, the BBC released all six episodes at once on iPlayer back on January, so there’s really no need for any of this. No need for speculation or anticipation, no need for week-by-week discussion or elaborately concocted theories. Watch it, find out what happens, shrug, move on. That’s the modern way. Many of you have already done just that.

Louisa Mellor Jan 27, 2018

Hard Sun delivers its most coherent episode yet as the net closes in on the Good Samaritan killer. Spoilers…

This review contains spoilers.

See related Joe Wright interview: Darkest Hour

Despite having improvised his super-villain disguise from a sock and a Biro (nothing erodes sinister vibes like evidence of arts and crafts), Hard Sun’s Good Samaritan Killer turned out to be a very passable TV baddie. Richard Coyle played him with the kind of unhinged intensity we’ve come to expect from pulp bad guys. With a good coat, a twinkle in his eye, a hobbyist interest in bible verse graffiti, and scant regard for the dubious hygienic practice of licking street-facing windows, he ticked every box of the thriller wrong’un.

With the neat and established structure of the hunt for an at-large killer, episode four ticked a lot of boxes too. This was by...

Louisa Mellor Jan 20, 2018

The Hard Sun is coming and it now has a messenger. Spoilers ahead in our episode three review…

This review contains spoilers.

See related Hard Sun episode 2 review Hard Sun episode 1 review 28 British TV dramas to watch in 2018

Hard Sun. Hard Sun. The sun from the sky, but hard. What is it? What does it mean? What makes a sun hard? Black holes? Saturn’s ring? Milky Ways? Has someone left the lid off the sun, making it go hard? Could it even be a typo - is the world going to die in five years all down to an especially hard sum?

Whatever it is—and apart from “the end” nobody here seems to know—it’s a siren call to the planet’s biggest tossers. Hard Sun is activating sleeping serial killers in ordinary men, flipping all their bastard switches to ‘on’ and inspiring them to commit bloody murder.

Louisa Mellor Jan 6, 2018

New BBC crime thriller Hard Sun, from the creator of Luther, is action-packed escapism. Spoilers ahead…

This review contains spoilers.

See related The Simpsons: 50 best episodes 13 great Simpsons Treehouse Of Horror Halloween stories Watch Guillermo del Toro's couch gag for The Simpsons

With our world inching daily closer towards a mass extinction event, a show about Earth being slapped with an imminent expiry date should probably feel like gritty realism rather than escapism. Hard Sun doesn’t though. It’s impeccably escapist, because it isn’t set in the real world but in the decidedly more exciting world of the action thriller. That means there’s an explosion and a punch-up and an international conspiracy every ten minutes, making it exactly the thing with which to fill your eyes in the drizzly, grey month of January.

Hard Sun also represents excellent value for your time investment in this TV-flooded age,...

BBC One and Hulu have released the first trailer for six-part "pre-apocalyptic" crime drama Hard Sun. The show, which stars Agyness Deyn as Detective Inspector Elaine Renko and Jim Sturgess Detective Chief Inspector Charlie Hicks, who seek to enforce the law and protect their loved ones in a world that every day slips closer to certain destruction. The thriller, created by Luther creator Neil Cross and produced by Euston Films, will launch first on the British pubcaster…...

Neil Cross, creator of Idris Elba's BBC1 police drama Luther, is heading back to the small screen with Hard Sun, a six-part "pre-apocalyptic" crime drama that stars Agyness Deyn as Detective Inspector Elaine Renko and Jim Sturgess Detective Chief Inspector Charlie Hicks. After striking an exclusive overall deal with FremantleMedia, which owns Hard Sun producer Euston Films, Cross sat down with Deadline to discuss his latest television series as well as his feature film…...

Neil Cross, creator of Idris Elba's BBC1 police drama Luther, is heading back to the small screen with Hard Sun, a six-part "pre-apocalyptic" crime drama that stars Agyness Deyn as Detective Inspector Elaine Renko and Jim Sturgess Detective Chief Inspector Charlie Hicks. After striking an exclusive overall deal with FremantleMedia, which owns Hard Sun producer Euston Films, Cross sat down with Deadline to discuss his latest television series as well as his feature film…...