Carnival Row

Carnival Row is an American neo-noir fantasy streaming television series created by René Echevarria and Travis Beacham that premiered on Amazon Prime Video on August 30, 2019. The series stars Orlando Bloom, Cara Delevingne, Simon McBurney, Tamzin Merchant, David Gyasi, Andrew Gower, Karla Crome, Arty Froushan, Indira Varma, and Jared Harris.
In July 2019, Amazon renewed "Carnival Row" for a second season.
Premise.
"Carnival Row" follows "mythical creatures who have fled their war-torn homeland and gathered in the city as tensions are simmering between citizens and the growing immigrant population." At the center of the drama is the investigation into a string of unsolved murders, madness of power, unresolved love, and social adjustments eating away at whatever uneasy peace exists.
Episodes.
Season 2.
The first episode of the second season was written by Erik Oleson and Travis Beacham & Marc Guggenheim with the teleplay by Erik Oleson, and the second through fifth episodes are written by Sarah Byrd, Wesley Strick, Dylan Gallagher & Mateja Božičević and Tania Lotia respectively.
Production.
Development.
On January 9, 2015, Amazon signed a development deal for the series which, at the time had Guillermo del Toro on board as a co-writer, executive producer, and director. The series, set to be co-written by del Toro, Travis Beacham, and Rene Echeverria, is based on a feature film spec script written by Beacham, entitled "A Killing on Carnival Row". The company ordered three scripts with the expectation that if the series went into production del Toro would direct the first episode. On June 6, 2016, the production was given a pilot order with the previously announced creative team still set to be involved.
On May 10, 2017, the production was given a series order with Beacham and Echeverria still executive producing, and with Echeverria expected to act as showrunner. Filmmaker Paul McGuigan was set to direct the series. By this point, del Toro had stepped away from the project, as his feature film schedule did not permit him to stay on as an executive producer as the project moved forward. On November 10, 2017, filmmaker Jon Amiel replaced McGuigan as director.
In July 2019, Amazon renewed the series for a second season.
Casting.
In August 2017, Orlando Bloom and Cara Delevingne were cast in the series' two lead roles. On September 22, 2017, it was reported that David Gyasi, Karla Crome, Indira Varma, and Tamzin Merchant had joined the main cast. In October 2017, it was announced that Simon McBurney, Alice Krige, and Jared Harris had been cast in recurring roles. On November 3, 2017, it was reported Ariyon Bakare was joining the series in a recurring capacity. On December 15, 2017, it was announced that Andrew Gower and Jamie Harris had been cast in recurring roles. On January 30, 2018, it was reported that Scott Reid had joined the cast as a series regular. On October 8, 2018, it was reported that Anna Rust had joined the cast in a recurring capacity.
Filming.
The series spent almost five months in pre-production before filming began. The series was shot entirely in the Czech Republic throughout 108 shooting days. Principal photography began in October 2017. Much of the work was done at the Barrandov Studios in Prague, while locations included the city of Liberec, the chateaux in Frýdlant and Krnsko, and at the Prachov Rocks (Prachovské skály) area. Filming for the first season concluded on March 14, 2018.
Production on the second season commenced in November 2019, but was halted in March 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic. As of the first week of May, preparations for resumption of production were underway. However, by June 2020, Amazon had yet to resume production on the series. Upon production halting due to the pandemic, the production team were reportedly three weeks away from concluding filming for the season. Filming for the second season completed in August 2020 in the Czech Republic. Production for the second season again resumed in May 2021 in the Czech Republic to film the remaining scenes which involve Orlando Bloom, who was not available last year due to the birth of his first child (Daisy Dove Bloom) with Katy Perry.
Release.
On June 3, 2019, it was announced that the series would premiere on August 30, 2019. Amazon plans to release the first five completed episodes of the second season initially, adding the final four when production can be completed.
Reception.
Critical response.
On Rotten Tomatoes, "Carnival Row" holds a 56% approval rating based on 68 reviews. The website's critical consensus reads, "Beautiful, but bloated, "Carnival Row" boasts meticulously crafted mythology and luscious world building—unfortunately its story of haves and have nots simply has too much going on to create anything cohesive." Meanwhile, the viewer review score is 87%. On Metacritic, the series has a weighted average score of 58 out of 100, based on 22 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". The user score has an average of 7.8 out of 10.
Sam Brooks of the New Zealand-based "The Spinoff" noted that the premise of the show is "a mish-mash of influences and inspirations, from Neil Gaiman to "Mortal Engines" (the novels not the film)".
Accolades.
"Carnival Row" was nominated for Best Genre Series at the 2020 Satellite Awards.