Tin Star: cast, locations and 3 other things you need to know about the new Sky Atlantic drama starring Christina Hendricks and Tim Roth

Dark things are on the horizon for a sleepy Canadian town
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Aime Grant Cumberbatch13 September 2017

Tin Star is not a TV show lacking in atmosphere, thanks in part to the menacing Rocky Mountains that loom over Little Big Bear, the town where it’s set.

Their shadow finds parallels in a dark crime wave that’s stealing into the sleepy locale thanks to the arrival of a new oil refinery.

The ensuing trouble gives Tim Roth’s recovering alcoholic cop Jim Worth plenty to be driven to drink about.

Here’s everything you need to know about the new show.

1. The plot follows a policeman who's new to the area and battling a wave of organised crime

Roth plays Jim Worth, a former London Met policeman with lots of demons to be drawn out of the course of the series.

His dark side is more literal than most though, in that he struggles to subsume his undercover alter-ego Jack.

It’s a persona that goes hand in with his alcoholism which he has under control, for now.

Worth has upped sticks and moved his family from London to the remote town of Little Big Bear.

Christina Hendricks as Elizabeth Bradshaw (Sky Atlantic)
© Sky UK LTD

At first he finds the serenity he seeks but it’s shortlived, as large oil refinery rumbles into town bringing with it comedy villain CEOs and a wave of gang crime.

2. Christina Hendricks plays a senior employee at North Stream Oil

Worth isn’t the only one grappling with inner conflict. Hendricks is ex-journalist Elizabeth Bradshaw who after years of criticising the oil industry decides to try and improve it from the inside.

Her intentions are honourable but with corruption all around and the strength of her own ambition testing her morals, will she manage to stay true to her cause?

3. The fictional town of Little Big Bear merges two Canadian locations

Tin Star’s town scenes are filmed in High River, where the Rocky Mountains are visible in the background but aren't quite as imposing as the producers had hoped. So they sought out a second filming location, Waterton, a tiny town on the outskirts of the Glacier National Park.

However, Waterton didn’t have the infrastructure to support a 250-strong film crew, which meant the location’s mountain backdrop had to be superimposed onto the High River town scenes, not – thanks to skilfull VFX – that you’ll be any the wiser when watching.

4. It’s written by 28 Weeks Later’s Rowan Joffe

Tin Star is Joffe’s first TV series since 2004. In the intervening almost 15 years he’s worked on films like 28 Weeks Later, The American and Brighton Rock.

A scene from the new series (Sky Atlantic)
© Sky UK LTD

Joffe also has a directing credit on the series and says episodes will take viewers on ‘labyrinthine journeys of discovery’.

“With a background of movie screenwriting, it’s been an ambition of mine to author an epic piece of cinema in a long-series format,” he said in a statement.

“To me this means a certain kind of dramatic landscape, classical themes of illicit love, familial corruption, grief and all-consuming revenge as well as characters of a particular stature on dangerous, labyrinthine journeys of discovery.”

5. You can watch it on Sky Atlantic and Now TV

The series continues on Tuesday, September 12 at 9pm on Sky Atlantic, with new episodes also available on streaming service Now TV

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