Tim Robbins says audiences relate to ‘oppressiveness of Silo’ following pandemic

Oscar-winning actor Tim Robbins said dystopian TV series Silo was an instant hit because audiences “saw their own reality reflected” in the show following the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdowns.

The show is based on the post-apocalyptic science fiction books by US writer Hugh Howey, featuring the last 10,000 people on earth who follow strict rules and regulations believed to protect them while living in the Silo, a self-sustaining subterranean city a mile deep.

The sci-fi thriller will return for a 10-part series on Apple TV+ from November 15, featuring protagonist Rebecca Ferguson as an engineer named Juliette Nichols who is determined to obtain answers about the Silo.

Robbins appeared at the world premiere of the second season in London, alongside stars Common, Chinaza Uche, Shane McRae, Remmie Milner, Billy Postlethwaite and Iain Glen.

Reprising his role as antagonist and head of Silo’s IT department Bernard Holland in the new series, Robbins told the PA news agency: “I think the reason it has caught on is because it’s speaking to today, even though it’s a dystopia in the future.

“I think audiences are seeing a lot of similarity between the oppressiveness of the Silo, the lockdown, the control of information, the control of history, all of these things are concerns for us now – particularly in recent history when people lost their personal freedom.”

The 66-year-old said audiences responded to the first season “because I think they saw their own reality reflected in this dystopian future”.

“They saw a world where information was controlled, dissent was censored and movement was limited, any of that sound familiar?” he said, referencing the 2020 pandemic.

Fellow Oscar winner Common, real name Lonnie Lynn, said the storyline resonated with him “because it makes me think about how much we accept what we’re told… and we don’t take time to think about what really sits and sticks and is and what is true”.

“It’s just a reminder that as people, we are here together, but we have to find our quest individually, to find what our truth is, what our purpose is, and then offer that to the world and togetherness.”

At the premiere, several stars including McRae hinted that there will be a “big revolution” in the upcoming show.