Persons Unknown is a psychological thriller television series created by Christopher McQuarrie and produced by Fox Television Studios. The series follows a group of strangers who wake up imprisoned inside a small ghost town with no memory of how they wound up there. The thirteen-episode summer series premiered on Monday, June 7, 2010 at 10:00 p.m. On June 30, NBC moved the show to 8:00 p.m. on Saturday from its Monday time slot. It completed its run on August 28, 2010.

Overview

Seven diverse strangers, Janet Cooper (Daisy Betts), Joe Tucker (Jason Wiles), Moira Doherty (Tina Holmes), Sergeant Graham McNair (Chadwick Boseman), Tori Fairchild (Kate Lang Johnson), Bill Blackham (Sean O'Bryan), and Charlie Morse (Alan Ruck) awaken in a hotel, in a mostly deserted town, with little to no knowledge of how they got there or where they are. The hotel and small 1950s-era town nearby are completely filled with cameras and microphones. Over the course of the following weeks, they are subjected to significant psychological and physical stress. Meanwhile, an investigative reporter begins to look into the disappearances of the missing people despite intimidation by those who apparently know their every move. Joe is eventually revealed to be a member of "The Program." It is unclear who or what the Program is, or what their motives, resources, or support are. The only indication is that the Program is manipulating them, attempting to influence their behavior, thought patterns, and beliefs. At the end of the season, despite staging a mass breakout by faking the deaths of everyone in the town except for Joe, all the participants are recaptured, and awaken in an identical hotel built into the hull of a container ship, where the original night manager welcomes them to "Level 2". Joe and Mark Renbe are seen waking in a second hotel, in which Tori Fairchild serves as the hotel manager. Kat Damatto and Ambassador Fairchild are last seen in cages at an undisclosed location.

Cast

Abductees

Other characters

Episodes

Production

Persons Unknown was produced by Fox Television Studios through its international model, where series are produced for the United States market with the help of international financing. Filming occurs in foreign locations where production costs are lower, and the series is "pre-sold" to international broadcasters. The completed series is then pitched for sale to American networks for pick up. Persons Unknown was created by Christopher McQuarrie. In September 2008, Fox announced that it was beginning production of the series, which was co-financed by Televisa in Mexico and Italy's RAI. Filming began in late October 2008 in Mexico City, soon after announcement that Michael Rymer was hired to direct the first episode. Thirteen episodes were produced. In March 2009, Variety reported that Fox was looking for a network to purchase the series. NBC announced it had acquired the broadcast rights to the series in July 2009. In July 2010, executive producer Remi Aubuchon promised that the show would “provide all the answers to the questions that we set up”. The series finale was criticized for not following through on this statement. On April 3, 2012, in an interview with CliqueClack TV, Aubuchon revealed many of the unanswered plot points of the series, including some of what was planned for a second season.

Online game

An online game titled "Clock the Cams" was hosted on the NBC website, but was later taken down.

Broadcast

Persons Unknown premiered on NBC on June 7, 2010 and the series finale aired on August 28, 2010. Reruns of the series begin to air on Chiller on May 1, 2014. The series is available to watch on Netflix and it is currently available for purchase on other services such as iTunes. The series has been broadcast in a number of countries worldwide. The series premiered on Rai 2 in Italy on September 10, 2010 and ended on December 3, 2010. The series also aired on Ztélé in Canada, TPS Star in France, OSN in Middle East and North Africa, TV3 New Zealand in New Zealand, TV3 Lithuania in Lithuania, CHASE on BEAM 31 in Philippines, FX in Greece, TV2 Zulu in Denmark, RTL5 in the Netherlands, and Fox Crime in Serbia, Japan and Spain. In the United Kingdom, the series premiered on Syfy on October 31, 2011. It also premiered on Fox in Poland on April 2, 2012. The series had its series premiere on Prima Cool in Czech Republic in July 1, 2012, and it has since aired on TV2 in Norway, Fox in Portugal, REN-TV in Russia, 2BE in Belgium and MTV3 in Finland.

DVD release

A complete series DVD, "Persons Unknown: The Complete First Season" was originally set to be released on September 7, 2010, after being pushed back from an initial August 14, 2010 release. As of 2024, it is currently unknown when this release has ever been.

Reception

Critical response

Randee Dawn of Associated Press wrote that its "clever setup and moody atmosphere make this place worth checking into." Maureen Ryan of the Chicago Tribune said the "...pilot efficiently lays out its premise and ratchets up the pressure on the characters, who are only types so far, but it doesn't matter because the plot's the thing here." Overall the show received mixed or average reviews according to Metacritic where it received a score of 49 points out of 100. Rotten Tomatoes reported that the show had a 61% approval rating based on 18 critic reviews, stating "Persons Unknown squanders its intriguing premise by plopping ill-defined characters into a scenario that calls for compelling personalities -- thankfully, viewers can easily find the exit from this hell of other people."

Ratings