Airing from March 13th in the UK, Alcatraz is the latest brainchild of Lost creators, J J Abrams (Lost, FRINGE, Star Trek) and Elizabeth Sarnoff (Lost, Deadwood). It tells a story of mystery and intrigue centred around San Francisco’s infamous high-security prison, Alcatraz.
In a story spanning over 50 years, the plot explores the mystery of the disappearance and subsequent re-appearance of the notorious inmates of the prison in modern day California. The show flickers from the days of the prison being active and the story of the prisoners’ time there, to the circumstances that led to their mystery disappearance and thereafter to the modern day where viewers will find out, no doubt after many of Abrams’ trademark twists and turns, how and why they have returned, not having aged a day.
SFPD Detective Rebecca Madsen (Sarah Jones, “Sons of Anarchy”) gets assigned to a gruesome homicide where she discovers a shocking piece of evidence; the finger print of a former Alcatraz inmate Jack Sylvane who died several decades earlier. Her interest is immediately grabbed by this, especially as both her grandfather and surrogate uncle worked at the prison as guards.
As she investigates, government agent Emerson Hauser (Sam Neill as the archetypal Abrams know-all mystery man) dogs her every step. Madsen turns to comic-book geek and Alcatraz guru, Dr Diego Soto (Jorge Garcia, “Lost”) who goes by the name of “Doc”. Working together the pair find that not only is Sylvane alive and well, roaming the streets of Frisco’, but he hasn’t aged a single day since his disappearance from the prison.
As the show continues, they will reluctantly work with Agent Hauser and slowly uncover the secrets of Alcatraz. They make friends and enemies along the way whilst also trying to keep loved ones out of the loop and hopefully out of danger. The heroine will slowly unravel layer after layer of enigmas and riddles. She finds everything she knew about her family shattered, all the while struggling to cope with the re-emergence of some of America’s most dangerous criminals.
The show is being produced by Bonanza Productions Inc and Warner Bros. Television alongside Abrams’ own Bad Robot Productions. Abrams, Sarnoff and Bryan Burk are in as executive producers with Abrams and Burk having worked together on FRINGE and Sarnoff and Abrams together on Lost. So, despite claims that this is not the “new Lost” expect the show to retain some of the DNA from J J’s previous serials.
Alcatraz will air in the UK in March 2012 on UKTV Watch