First look at "dark and twisted" Fortitude series 3

• Fortitude series 3? Writer Simon Donald is “exploring new and intriguing storylines”
• Sky Atlantic’s Arctic thriller Fortitude to return for final four-part miniseries
• Fortitude is back – in all its mad, gory, moody glory

Richard Dormer is back as Sheriff Dan Anderson (above and below left), battling the demons planted in him by parasitic prehistoric wasps, the murder of the woman he loved and, most recently, his instigation of the lynching of town governor Erling Munk.

Trawlerman Michael Lennox (Dennis Quaid, below), meanwhile, must come to terms with the death of his wife and the fact that he was not by her side when she passed away. Given that he appears to have taken to carrying a gun, though, it seems likely he'll have other things on his mind too.

At the end of season two, Vincent Rattrey (Luke Treadaway) was seeking a cure for his girlfriend and fellow scientist Natalie Yelburton's (Sienna Guillory) sudden attack of bleeding and unbearable pain from her eyes. Whether he found it or not remains to be seen but the picture below suggests Natalie's sight could still be in jeopardy.

Fortitude Police Constables Ingrid Witrey (Mia Jexen) and Petra Bergen (Alexandra Moen) have struggled to be effective without leadership but will Sheriff Dan's return make things better or worse?

Things may appear relatively calm in these images (that's the nature of stills) but writer Simon Donald says Fortitude fans can expect more of the same mad, bad and dangerous show they know and love as it crams as much as possible into the final four-part series.

"You'll get those awful off-the-wall surprises that will lead to grotesque, bloody, violent consequences when you least expect them," Donald tells RadioTimes.com with glee.

But after the deadly parasitic wasps of the first season, and the weird science experiments and crazed shaman of the second, he says there's no need for a new villain to enter Fortitude given the impact the first two have had on the town and its inhabitants.

"We don’t need to import a new monster from somewhere else, it’s all in our characters and in our world already. I’m pleased about that. I didn’t relish the idea of replacing the wasps and the shaman with a third external monster but [the new series] goes to some really dark, twisted places – which is just where it wants to go, I can’t help that..."

This article was originally published on 27 October 2018