Having sat on my list of shows to get back to for the best part of a year, I have co-incidentally been watching this show around the same time it's been released in the US for the first time. The show seems to harken back to a particular era of TV for me, and not, alas in a good way.
Prisoner of the East India company, Nemo (Shazad Latif) has been forced to work on a secret submersible vessel. He, and his followers, who are also colonial slaves manage to escape and steal the Nautilus. They are pursued by the ships owner and a director of the East India, Crawley (Damien Garvey) who uses another commissioned vessel, a huge dreadnaught class warship to hunt them.
When "Doctor Who" was rebooted in 2005 and was a big hit both the BBC and ITV looked desperately to fill that timeslot with similar, high concept but family friendly shows. Some, like "Merlin" and "Robin Hood" had limited success, some like "Demons" and "Atlantis" did not. "Nautilus" feels to me like it's escaped from that era somehow. It's got some fantastical elements, mixed in with a bit of history, there's some action and some romance. The villains are very moustache twirly, and the heroes flawed but coming around. There are even guest stars for certain episodes, such as Anna Torv, Noah Taylor and Richard E Grant.
The trouble is, like with a lot of those shows mentioned above, it's all a bit average. It's aiming for a family audience so keep a story of the week aspect going, all the while with the pursuit going on in the background. It's very fast and loose with geography and the time it would take the nautilus to get from one location to another. The plots of the episode often required a bit of "just go with it" to them - why people don't shoot other people comes up very often. The visual effects are a mixed bag.
I got through the series but barely, and it would only be that sense of duty to something I'd started that we see me settle down for a second season.
