Siberia is an American supernatural drama television series shot in the style of a reality television show where 16 contestants must survive in the Siberian territory of Tunguska. Shortly after arrival, the contestants notice strange things and are abandoned by the production of the reality show. The show was filmed in Birds Hill Provincial Park just north of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It premiered on NBC on July 1, 2013.
It was met with generally favorable reviews from critics and viewers, with average viewership per episode coming in around 2.03 million viewers. The first season concluded on September 16, 2013. The show was independently financed and only licensed to NBC, and therefore was never officially cancelled. The producers were, at one point, in talks to renew the series either on NBC or another platform. Siberia was re-aired on June 25, 2020 on Tubi.
Contents
Premise
Sixteen reality-show contestants, each hoping to win $500,000, arrive in a Siberian forest to take part in a reality show. Two are immediately eliminated, and fourteen settle in for the contest. The unexpected death of a fellow contestant throws them off, but they eventually all accept it as an accident. Strange events continue to happen, and when a contestant is injured and no help arrives, they realize they will have to band together to survive in a land they do not understand. More unusual events happen that parallel the ones natives experienced 100 years earlier during the Tunguska event.
The show is described as having a "Lost-meets-Survivor premise", and is compared to The Blair Witch Project and The River.
Cast
Joyce Giraud as Joyce, an actress hired to play the role of Carolina, a bartender from Bogotá, Colombia
Johnny Wactor as Johnny, a competitive bull rider from Jedburg, South Carolina
Esther Anderson as Esther, a model from Melbourne, Australia
Miljan Milosevic as Miljan, a club DJ from Podgorica, Montenegro
Daniel David Sutton as Daniel, a computer programmer from Royalton, Minnesota
Neeko O.J. Skervin as Neeko, a professional rugby player from London, United Kingdom
Irene Yee as Irene, a fashion designer from Taipei, Taiwan
Sam Dobbins as Sam, a bouncer from Brooklyn, New York
Sabina Akhmedova as Sabina, a retired soldier from Haifa, Israel
Natalie Ann Scheetz as Natalie, a veterinary assistant from Santa Barbara, California
Anne-Marie Mueschke as Annie, a graphic artist from New Orleans, Louisiana
Victoria Hill as Victoria, a sales clerk from Winnipeg, Canada
George Dickson as George, an accountant from Louisville, Kentucky
Thomas Mountain as Tommy, an environmental activist from Boston, Massachusetts
Reception
On Rotten Tomatoes season 1 has a score of 55% based on reviews from 11 critics. On Metacritic it has a score of 53% based on reviews from 5 critics.
DVD releases
On March 11, 2014 Lions Gate Entertainment released Siberia - Season one on DVD in Region 1 with all 11 episodes on a 3-disc set.