Truth Seekers is the latest comedy series from Amazon, which will arrive on October 30 just in time to celebrate Halloween from home. Co-created by British comedy kings Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, the 8-episode show sees them team up once more to face off with supernatural elements.
While clearly an excellent set-up for laughs, the recent trailer proves that the pair will be taking the ghostly horror aspects seriously. There is something of a Ghost Adventures vibe to the story, along with the trademark humor of their previous work in Edgar Wright’s Cornetto Trilogy: Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, and At World’s End.
There’s also a strong hint of The X-Files, which is something Nick Frost has admitted is purposeful. At a press conference ahead of today’s New York Comic Con panel, the producer and star dove more deeply into why that series called to him and Pegg when crafting their story. Frost said:
It’s a genre that’s close to me, in terms of a lot of the paranormal and the occult and unanswered questions, and it was something I’ve wanted to do for a while. Simon Pegg and I – when we were younger, single men – that was something that we enjoy. We enjoyed being frightened and terrified. Then The X-Files happened, and we felt like it was really purposely for us, as I’m sure a lot of fellow X-Files feel.
But Truth Seekers is much more than an homage to a beloved series, and Frost explained that he and fellow writer James Serafinowicz honed in on the loneliness of protagonist Gus in the wake of his tragic loss. Mulder may have been chasing after his sister all his life, but Gus is nursing a wound of his own that draws him to ghosts.
Me and James start to talk about this character, Gus. His wife had passed on, and he was a very cynical lonely man but he was great at his job and had a passion to try and find her. For someone who’s very Earth-centric, it’s kind of funny that he’s digging up all her passwords, trying to find a way to get back with her.
With realistic location scouting and an overarching mystery interspersed with episodic plots, it’s clear that the series is tipping its hat to a certain predecessor. But fans of Frost and Pegg’s work are well aware that they have a tone that’s all their own, and the addition of a colorful cast of characters played by veterans like Malcolm McDowell and up-and-comers like Susie Wokoma (Enola Holmes) will only help Truth Seekers make its own mark on the horror and comedy genres.
Truth Seekers premieres October 30, 2020 on Amazon Prime Video.
