Terra Nova is an American science fiction television series created by Kelly Marcel and Craig Silverstein which centers on the Shannons, an ordinary family from 2149 when the planet is dying, who are transported back 85-million years to prehistoric Earth where they join Terra Nova, a colony of humans with a second chance to build a civilization.
The series premiered in the USA on Fox on 26 September, 2011.
Terra Nova premiered in South Africa on M-Net and DStv's M-Net HD channel with a double bill on Wednesday 25 January 2012, at 20h30. Thereafter new episodes broadcast weekly. There are 13 episodes in the first season.
Repeats
Thursdays: 17h00
Fridays: 14h00
Saturdays: 17h00
Synopsis
There is no paradise without sacrifice...
From executive producers Steven Spielberg, Peter Chernin, René Echevarria and Brannon Braga comes an epic family adventure 85 million years in the making.
Terra Nova follows an ordinary family on an incredible journey back in time to prehistoric Earth as a small part of a daring experiment to save the human race.
In the year 2149, the world is dying. The planet is overdeveloped and overcrowded, with the majority of plant and animal life extinct. The future of mankind is in jeopardy, and its only hope for survival is in the distant past.
When scientists unexpectedly discovered a fracture in time that made it possible to construct a portal into primeval history, the bold notion was born to resettle humanity in the past – a second chance to rebuild civilization and get it right this time.
The series centers on the Shannon family as they join the Tenth Pilgrimage of settlers to Terra Nova, the first colony established in this beautiful yet foreboding land.
Jim Shannon (Jason O'Mara), a devoted father with a checkered past, guides his family through this new world of limitless beauty, mystery and terror. Jim's wife, Elisabeth (Shelley Conn), is a trauma surgeon and the newest addition to Terra Nova's medical team.
Josh (Landon Liboiron) is their 17-year-old son who is torn to leave life as he knows it behind; upon arriving at the settlement, he finds himself instantly drawn to the beautiful and rule-breaking Skye (Allison Miller).
Maddy (Naomi Scott), Josh's endearingly awkward 15-year-old sister, hopes Terra Nova will give her a chance to reinvent herself. Although Elisabeth's medical training secured the family a spot on the pilgrimage, a secret involving their five-year-old daughter, Zoe (Alana Mansour), soon endangers their place in this utopia.
Upon the Shannons' arrival, they are introduced to Commander Nathaniel Taylor (Stephen Lang), the charismatic and heroic first pioneer 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 initially appears.
Along with blue skies, towering waterfalls and lush vegetation, the surrounding terrain is teeming with danger – and not just of the man-eating dinosaur variety.
There is also a splinter colony of renegades led by the battle-hardened Mira (Christine Adams), who is vehemently opposed to Taylor and his leadership.
Even more threatening than what lies outside the protective walls of the colony is the chilling possibility that something sinister is happening inside Terra Nova.
The Shannons will come to suspect that not everyone on this mission has the same idea of how to best save mankind; in fact, there may be forces intent on destroying this new world before it even begins.
Terra Nova is produced by 20th Century Fox Television, Chernin Entertainment, DreamWorks Television and Kapital Entertainment.
Steven Spielberg, Peter Chernin, René Echevarria, Brannon Braga, Jon Cassar, Aaron Kaplan, Katherine Pope, Justin Falvey, Darryl Frank, Craig Silverstein and Kelly Marcel serve as executive producers.
Alex Graves directed and serves as executive producer of the series premiere.