Terra Nova (TV series)

Terra Nova was an American science fiction television series. It was broadcast from September 26 to December 19, 2011 on Fox. Fox has said they will not pick the series up for a second year. The series is shopped to other networks. The series tells the story of the Shannon family as they travel 85 million year into the past. The series starred Jason O'Mara and Stephen Lang.

Terra Nova
Genre	Drama Science fiction Action Adventure fiction Family saga
Created by	Kelly Marcel Craig Silverstein
Developed by	Mitch Kramer
Starring	Jason O'Mara Shelley Conn Christine Adams Allison Miller Landon Liboiron Naomi Scott Rod Hallett Alana Mansour Stephen Lang
Composer	Brian Tyler
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	11
Production
Executive producers	Steven Spielberg Peter Chernin René Echevarria Brannon Braga Jon Cassar Aaron Kaplan Katherine Pope Darryl Frank Justin Falvey Alex Graves Craig Silverstein Kelly Marcel
Producers	Mark H. Ovitz Livia Hanich (co-prod.) (consulting producers) Chris Brancato Michael Fazekas Tara Butters
Production locations	Queensland, Australia
Cinematography	Nelson Cragg
Editors	Jeff Betancourt Caroline Ross Henk Van Eeghen, ACE
Running time	44 minutes 86 minutes (2 double episodes)
Production companies	20th Century Fox Television Amblin Television Chernin Entertainment Kapital Entertainment Siesta Productions
Original release
Network	Fox
Release	September 26 (2011-09-26) – December 19, 2011 (2011-12-19)

Setting

In the future, Earth is overcrowded. Most plants and animals are extinct. The skies are dark grey and the air is barely breathable because of pollution. The only hope for humanity to survive is in the distant past. Scientists find a way to travel to the past. They decide to send people into prehistoric times. They want to try to rebuild civilization and not repeat the mistakes they have made in their own world. The group in the past calls their new home "Terra Nova". The name means "new land" in Latin. People are sent back in time in groups called "pilgrimages". The story told in the series begins in the year 2149. It continues 85 million years in the past.

Plot

The series is about the Shannon family as they join the Tenth Pilgrimage of settlers to Terra Nova. Jim Shannon is the father of the family. He is a former police officer. Jim’s wife, Elisabeth, is a surgeon. She is the newest member of Terra Nova’s medical team and the new chief medical officer. Jim and Elizabeth have three children; Josh, Maddy and Zoe. Josh () is their 17 year old son. Josh did not want to travel back in time because doing this meant he would have to leave his girlfriend. Upon arriving at Terra Nova, he finds himself instantly drawn to the beautiful and rule-breaking Skye. Maddy is Josh’s 15 years old sister. She hopes Terra Nova will give her a chance to reinvent herself. Zoe is the Shannon's 5 year old daughter.

When the Shannon family first gets to Terra Nova, they meet Commander Nathaniel Taylor. He is the first person to go to Terra Nova and leader of the settlement. Taylor warns the travelers that while Terra Nova is a place of new opportunities and fresh beginnings, all is not as idyllic as it looks. Along with blue skies, large waterfalls and vegetation, the land is full of danger. This danger is not just from the man-eating dinosaurs. There is also a second group of people lead by Mira, who is opposed to Taylor and his leadership. This group, the Sixers, came to Terra Nova on the Sixth Pilgrimage. Many of the people on that pilgrimage had secret reasons for being there.

Cast

Actor	character	Notes
Jason O'Mara	Jim Shannon	Father of the Shannon family, former police officer
Shelley Conn	Elizabeth Shannon	Mother of the Shannon family, Surgeon
Landon Liboiron	Josh Shannon
Naomi Scott	Maddie Shannon
Alana Mansour	Zoe Shannon
Allison Miller	Skye Alexandria Tate	Adopted daughter of Nathaniel Taylor
Stephen Lang	Commander Nathaniel Taylor	Former military and current leader of Terra Nova
Christine Adams	Myra	Leader of the Sixers

Reactions

The series was given both good and bad reviews. Before it was being broadcast, most critics liked the series. Near the middle of the season, this opinion changed. Many critics did not like the way the characters acted with each other. By the end of the season, the opinion of the critics had changed again and had become more positive.