The creators of spooky maritime thriller 1899 have revealed there will be no second voyage of the good ship Kerberos, as the series hasn’t been renewed.
Taking to Instagram, the show’s creators, Jantje Friese and Baran bo Odar, wrote: “With a heavy heart we have to tell you that 1899 will not be renewed. We would have loved to finish this incredible journey with a 2nd and 3rd season as we did with Dark. But sometimes things don’t turn out the way you planned. That’s life.”
Bo Odar continued: “We know this will disappoint millions of fans out there. But we want to thank you from the bottom of our hearts that you were a part of this wonderful adventure. We love you. Never forget.”
1899, starring Emily Beecham, Aneurin Barnard, Andreas Pietschmann and Gabby Wong, told the story of what initially appeared to be a group of European immigrants travelling on a boat from Southampton to New York at the turn of the 19th Century.
But – mild spoiler alert – after supernatural and sci-fi revelations, the boat trip actually had its roots set in the future, with some Black Mirror-level meddling from some of the passengers. While the series looked set to spin out into some Lost-esque plot mind-fuckery, viewers who were already onboard and invested in the wild journey felt rather cheated.
One fan on Instagram wrote: “I'm devastated, I was so in love with this show and your work,” while another commented: “This is terrible! I really loved this show and the cast so much. I hope it gets picked up by some other network.” One person was truly bummed out by the announcement (“Worst news 2023 and we’re only 2 days in”) while others suggested setting up a petition, begging other streamers to pick it up, or offering to set up a crowdfunder.
Despite 1899 being a relative hit, in a move that’s now become classic Netflix, the streamer has bowed out after one season to move onto fresher blood. According to Wired, this decision “comes down to the data”; what pulls in new subscribers and keeps them paying, basically. An enlightening 2018 Vulture article explained how integral the idea of a ‘28 day viewership’ is to a Netflix renewal, which refers to the number of people who watch an entire season of a show within a month. As Ted Sarandos explained of the cancellations: “It’s 70 percent gut and 30 percent data. Most of it is informed hunches and intuition. Data either reinforces your worst notion or it just supports what you want to do, either way.”
Either way, 1899 has gone down like the Titanic. Fare thee well.
