The Terror Infamy: BBC 2 release date of horror series, cast with George Takei, is it based on a true story?

The first season of The Terror followed the crew of two Royal Navy’s polar explorer ships HMS which become trapped in the ice.

The crew had to battle freezing conditions, cabin fever and each other whilst also being stalked by a terrifying polar bear-like monster.

Season two has a different premise entirely and is set almost 100 years later and thousands of miles away, in the west coast of the US during the Second World War.

What is The Terror: Infamy about?

Infamy is based on a creature of Japanese folklore, the Obake, a shapeshifting supernatural being.

The  Obake terrorises the Japanese American community across South Carolina and into the internment camps used in America during the Second World War.

The Obake takes the form of Yuko, a woman whose spirit wreaks havoc on the Nakayama family and those close to them.

Is The Terror: Infamy based on a true story?

Just like the first season of The Terror, Infamy is loosely based on real historical events.

Obviously, the Obake, much like season one’s supernatural polar bear monster is not real, but the use of internment camps by the American government is a historical fact.

Following the Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbour, which American President Franklin D. Roosevelt called a ‘day which will live in infamy’, he issued Executive Order 9066, approving the movement of Japanese Americans into internment camps.

At first this was to be one on a voluntary basis but became compulsory and more than 100,000 Japanese Americans were forcefully relocated into the camps.

The reason for the camps was to prevent espionage activities by Japanese Americans on US soil, but the executive order was controversial.

The order was not reversed until 1946, after the Second World War had ended, and Japanese Americans faced discrimination when they returned from the camps.

Who is in the cast of The Terror: Infamy?

Derek Mio plays Chester Nakayama, the main protagonist of the series who must battle supernatural forces and the everyday xenophobia he faces in the internment camp.

Shingo Usami is Henry Nakayama, Chester’s adoptive father who is also sent to the camp and comes under suspicion as a spy.

Naoko Mori plays Asako Nakayama, Chester’s adoptive mother and a superstitious woman who harbours a deep secret.

Cristina Rodlo plays Luz Ojeda, a Mexican American woman who falls in love with Chester and chooses to join him in the internment camp.

Kiki Sukezane, plays Yuko Tanabe, a Obake, a vengeful shapeshifter who is also trying to atone for the mistakes she made in life.

George Takei plays Nobuhiro Yamato, an elder statesman and Chester’s adoptive grandfather who is deeply connected to Japanese immigrant traditions and warns the community about the supernatural danger.

Takei was himself forced to relocate to an internment camp with his family as a child, and upon leaving the camp his family were left without any bank accounts, a home or business.

When is The Terror Infamy release date?

The Terror Infamy will premiere on BBC Two on Friday on 6 May at 9pm with a double-bill.

The series will be released in weekly double instalments over five weeks.