Barkskins on Nat Geo in August

Limited Series to Premiere with back-to-back Episodes in August.

From Scott Rudin Productions and Fox 21 Television Studios, and Created by Elwood Reid, this epic eight-part series Is based on Annie Proulx’s New York Times Bestselling Novel, Barkskins. Featuring a stellar ensemble cast led by David Thewlis and Marcia Gay Harden, viewers will be transported to 17th-Century New France in a story filled with mystery, drama and grit.

Barkskins examines the mysterious massacre of settlers in the vast and unforgiving wilds of 1690s New France that threatens to throw the region into all-out war. National Geographic’s new eight-part limited series, Barkskins, created by Elwood Reid and based on the bestselling novel of the same name by Annie Proulx, transports viewers to the wild frontier of the late 17th century. Barkskins premieres Thursday 13 August at 21:00 (CAT) on National Geographic (DStv 181, StarSat 220) with a double bill of episodes each week.

Barkskins is set in Wobik, a small settlement in what is now the Canadian province of Quebec. As the Catholic Church sends Jesuit priests to convert the indigenous people, France sends indentured servants to populate its territory, along with Filles Du Roi, young women to be matched with husbands, start families and help the colonies prosper. This disparate group of outcasts, rogues and innocents must navigate brutal hardships, competing interests and tangled loyalties at the crossroads of civilization: 1690s New France.

The series tells a thrilling story of exploration, adventure and ambition among dreamers and fighters — some with a utopian vision of the world, others crass and conniving, but all navigating the perils of a treacherous new frontier. As tensions escalate, unlikely alliances are forged, old antagonisms deepen, and new families are formed against the seemingly endless natural riches and hidden dangers of the new American continent. Barkskins’ depiction of the collision between civilisation and commerce is timeless, as is its spirit of adventure, natural wonder and survival of the fittest.

Premiering globally in 172 countries and 43 languages, the eight-episode historical fiction limited series hails from Fox 21 Television Studios and Scott Rudin Productions. The series stars David Thewlis as Claude Trepagny, Marcia Gay Harden as Mathilde Geffard, Aneurin Barnard as Hamish Goames, James Bloor as Charles Duquet, Christian Cooke as Rene Sel, David Wilmot as Constable Bouchard, Thomas M. Wright as Elisha Cooke, Tallulah Haddon as Melissande, Kaniehtiio Horn as Mari, Lily Sullivan as Delphine and Zahn McClarnon as Yvon.

Series creator Reid also serves as showrunner and executive producer. Scott Rudin, Garrett Basch, Eli Bush, David Slade and Proulx are also executive producers.

Proulx is the author of eight books, including the novel The Shipping News and the story collection Close Range. Her many honours include a Pulitzer Prize, a National Book Award, the Irish Times International Fiction Prize and a PEN/Faulkner Award. Her story Brokeback Mountain,” which originally appeared in The New Yorker, was adapted into the Academy Award-winning film.