# The Head
**The Head** is an English-language survival thriller television series produced by Spain's The Mediapro Studio, created by the brothers Àlex and David Pastor with Ran Tellem and directed by Jorge Dorado. Its first season follows a small team of scientists isolated for the polar winter at the Polaris VI Antarctic research station, where a headless corpse and a killer turn their climate-change research into a murder mystery with no police to solve it.[1](https://www.screenglobalproduction.com/news/2019/09/09/mediapro-studios-the-head-to-film-in-tenerife-and-iceland) • [2](https://www.tvmaze.com/shows/47480/the-head) Conceived as a six-episode limited series, it ran to three seasons and 18 episodes between 2020 and 2025.[3](https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/head-season-3-works-mediapro-182105309.html) • [2](https://www.tvmaze.com/shows/47480/the-head)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Origin | Spanish production in English by The Mediapro Studio, co-produced with Hulu Japan and HBO Asia; created by Àlex and David Pastor with Ran Tellem, directed by Jorge Dorado[1](https://www.screenglobalproduction.com/news/2019/09/09/mediapro-studios-the-head-to-film-in-tenerife-and-iceland) |
| Premise | Scientists known as the Winterers remain at the Polaris VI Antarctic station through six months of darkness; when spring comes, the returning commander finds most of the team dead or missing[2](https://www.tvmaze.com/shows/47480/the-head) |
| Run | Season 1 premiered June 12, 2020; Season 2 in December 2022; Season 3 from December 2024 to January 23, 2025; 18 episodes in total, status ended[4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/the_head) • [2](https://www.tvmaze.com/shows/47480/the-head) |
| U.S. premiere | Exclusively on HBO Max on February 4, 2021, as a Max Original; dialogue in English, Danish, Swedish, and Spanish[5](https://press.wbd.com/us/media-release/hbo-max/acclaimed-international-mystery-thriller-head-premiere-exclusively-hbo-max-us) |
| Lead cast | John Lynch as biologist Arthur Wilde, Katharine O'Donnelly as Dr. Maggie Mitchell, with Álvaro Morte, Tomohisa Yamashita, Alexandre Willaume, and Laura Bach[6](https://epguides.com/Head/) |
| Reception | Season 1 scored 90% on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer (10 reviews); the series holds a 6.8/10 IMDb rating from about 9,900 users[7](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/the_head/s01) • [8](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8290362/ratings/) |
| Reach | Distribution rights sold individually to more than 90 countries[9](https://elpais.com/television/2024-11-12/un-cadaver-sin-cabeza-y-personajes-intentando-sobrevivir-en-el-lugar-mas-remoto-de-la-tierra-el-descenso-final-a-los-infiernos-de-the-head.html) |
## Spoilers
### Premise and structure
Season 1 is set at the Polaris VI international base in [Antarctica](https://www.edgepedia.org/antarctica). Winter has fallen on the [South Pole](https://www.edgepedia.org/south-pole) and the sun will soon disappear for six months, leaving a small team of scientists, the Winterers, to continue research described as crucial in the fight against climate change under the command of the renowned biologist Arthur Wilde. When spring comes, summer commander Johan Berg returns to find most of the team dead or missing, his wife Annika among the missing, and only the shaken young doctor Maggie Mitchell apparently alive to help him, though the question of another survivor hangs over the story.[2](https://www.tvmaze.com/shows/47480/the-head)
Tellem described the format's pillars as a survival thriller and a murder mystery in which there is no police investigation: because the station lies outside any state's jurisdiction, the characters themselves must confront the mystery.[10](https://www.todotvnews.com/en/the-mediapro-studio-develops-season-two-of-the-head/) • [9](https://elpais.com/television/2024-11-12/un-cadaver-sin-cabeza-y-personajes-intentando-sobrevivir-en-el-lugar-mas-remoto-de-la-tierra-el-descenso-final-a-los-infiernos-de-the-head.html) Each season places a new isolated group in a different remote location with a new cast around returning leads, an anthology structure the producers explicitly modeled on *True Detective*.[10](https://www.todotvnews.com/en/the-mediapro-studio-develops-season-two-of-the-head/) Season 2 moved the setting to the [Pacific Ocean](https://www.edgepedia.org/pacific-ocean) point farthest from dry land, and Season 3 to [Bir Tawil](https://www.edgepedia.org/bir-tawil), the unclaimed territory on the border between Egypt and Sudan, closing a revenge story between Wilde and Mitchell that had run across all three seasons.[9](https://elpais.com/television/2024-11-12/un-cadaver-sin-cabeza-y-personajes-intentando-sobrevivir-en-el-lugar-mas-remoto-de-la-tierra-el-descenso-final-a-los-infiernos-de-the-head.html)
## Production
The Mediapro Studio developed the project over about two and a half years before filming began in September 2019 in the [Canary Islands](https://www.edgepedia.org/canary-islands), with further shooting planned in the glaciers of Iceland; the [Antarctic](https://www.edgepedia.org/antarctic) scenes were in fact shot in Tenerife, with the crew working at night in the heat while actors wore ice bags under their polar coats.[1](https://www.screenglobalproduction.com/news/2019/09/09/mediapro-studios-the-head-to-film-in-tenerife-and-iceland) • [9](https://elpais.com/television/2024-11-12/un-cadaver-sin-cabeza-y-personajes-intentando-sobrevivir-en-el-lugar-mas-remoto-de-la-tierra-el-descenso-final-a-los-infiernos-de-the-head.html) The series was the first fiction series in Spain for the Pastor brothers, whose film credits include *Carriers* and *The Occupant*, and Jorge Dorado joined at the development stage, an arrangement he called unusual for a director.[1](https://www.screenglobalproduction.com/news/2019/09/09/mediapro-studios-the-head-to-film-in-tenerife-and-iceland)
The writing room was deliberately international, drawing writers from Spain, Brazil, the United States, the United Kingdom, and France, which Tellem cited as a mark distinguishing the franchise; the cast has likewise been international from the start.[9](https://elpais.com/television/2024-11-12/un-cadaver-sin-cabeza-y-personajes-intentando-sobrevivir-en-el-lugar-mas-remoto-de-la-tierra-el-descenso-final-a-los-infiernos-de-the-head.html) Dorado directed every episode of Seasons 1 and 2.[11](https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/mediapro-studio-mulls-head-season-141438901.html)
## From limited series to trilogy
The Head was designed and pitched as a six-episode limited series, and Tellem later joked that the show "never lived up to our promises" by continuing to a third season.[3](https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/head-season-3-works-mediapro-182105309.html) A second season was already in development by mid-2020, when the producers announced plans to turn the project into a detective-style anthology with new characters and similar themes in each installment.[10](https://www.todotvnews.com/en/the-mediapro-studio-develops-season-two-of-the-head/) Season 2 world-premiered on [HBO Max](https://www.edgepedia.org/hbo-max) in the United States and Spain on December 22, 2022, and Variety named it one of the best international TV series of 2022.[11](https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/mediapro-studio-mulls-head-season-141438901.html)
The writers planned the ending in advance as a trilogy: Season 3 was developed while Season 2 was being edited, and the Season 2 finale was changed so that part of what occurs would be revealed later in Season 3.[9](https://elpais.com/television/2024-11-12/un-cadaver-sin-cabeza-y-personajes-intentando-sobrevivir-en-el-lugar-mas-remoto-de-la-tierra-el-descenso-final-a-los-infiernos-de-the-head.html) The third and final season was presented at the Sitges film festival in October 2024 and concluded with its sixth episode on January 23, 2025.[9](https://elpais.com/television/2024-11-12/un-cadaver-sin-cabeza-y-personajes-intentando-sobrevivir-en-el-lugar-mas-remoto-de-la-tierra-el-descenso-final-a-los-infiernos-de-the-head.html) • [2](https://www.tvmaze.com/shows/47480/the-head)
## Reception and distribution
Critics received the first season well. The [Financial Times](https://www.edgepedia.org/financial-times) gave it 5/5, RogerEbert.com praised its "strong performances and breakneck storytelling" with "a twist like every five minutes," and the Globe and Mail called it bleak, compelling, and deeply twisted; the season's Tomatometer stood at 90% from 10 reviews.[7](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/the_head/s01) Audience scores were cooler: the series averages 6.8/10 on IMDb and 64% on the Rotten Tomatoes Popcornmeter.[8](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8290362/ratings/) • [4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/the_head)
Commercially, the show became The Mediapro Studio's biggest hit in production values, commercial reach, and artistic ambition by the studio's own account.[11](https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/mediapro-studio-mulls-head-season-141438901.html) Beyond its HBO Asia and Hulu Japan roots, rights were sold individually to more than 90 countries, appearing on platforms and channels including Hulu Japan, Canal+ in France, AXN Portugal, and Max in Spain.[9](https://elpais.com/television/2024-11-12/un-cadaver-sin-cabeza-y-personajes-intentando-sobrevivir-en-el-lugar-mas-remoto-de-la-tierra-el-descenso-final-a-los-infiernos-de-the-head.html) In the United States it streams on HBO Max, where it premiered as a Max Original on the service's International Genre page.[5](https://press.wbd.com/us/media-release/hbo-max/acclaimed-international-mystery-thriller-head-premiere-exclusively-hbo-max-us)
## References
1. [Mediapro Studio's The Head to film in Tenerife and Iceland, Screen Global Production (2019)](https://www.screenglobalproduction.com/news/2019/09/09/mediapro-studios-the-head-to-film-in-tenerife-and-iceland)
2. [The Head, TVmaze](https://www.tvmaze.com/shows/47480/the-head)
3. ['The Head,' Season 3 in the Works at The Mediapro Studio, Variety via Yahoo (2023)](https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/head-season-3-works-mediapro-182105309.html)
4. [The Head, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/the_head)
5. [Acclaimed International Mystery Thriller THE HEAD to Premiere Exclusively on HBO Max in the U.S. on February 4, Warner Bros. Discovery Pressroom](https://press.wbd.com/us/media-release/hbo-max/acclaimed-international-mystery-thriller-head-premiere-exclusively-hbo-max-us)
6. [The Head (2020), a Titles & Air Dates Guide, epguides.com](https://epguides.com/Head/)
7. [The Head: Season 1, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/the_head/s01)
8. [The Head (TV Series 2020– ) – Ratings, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8290362/ratings/)
9. [Un cadáver sin cabeza y personajes intentando sobrevivir en el lugar más remoto de La Tierra, El País (2024)](https://elpais.com/television/2024-11-12/un-cadaver-sin-cabeza-y-personajes-intentando-sobrevivir-en-el-lugar-mas-remoto-de-la-tierra-el-descenso-final-a-los-infiernos-de-the-head.html)
10. [The Mediapro Studio Develops Season Two of The Head, TTV News (2020)](https://www.todotvnews.com/en/the-mediapro-studio-develops-season-two-of-the-head/)
11. [The Mediapro Studio Readies 'The Head' Season 2 for Worldwide Roll-Out, Variety via Yahoo (2022)](https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/mediapro-studio-mulls-head-season-141438901.html)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Series and fictional screen worlds › Scripted television and comedy series › Drama and prestige series (individual series) › Crime and thriller series › Psychological and domestic thrillers*
*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license