Wreck: BBC Three’s queer horror-comedy gets first trailer

Queer horror fans! You’re going to love the sound of BBC Three’s new horror-comedy series Wreck.

The six-part series features a number of gay characters, including the show’s lead, 19-year-old Jamie (Ladhood’s Oscar Kennedy).

Jamie helms this coming-of-age horror-comedy about his search for his sister aboard a 3000-crew ship, The Sacramentum.

“For this overworked and underpaid crew, life below deck can be an odyssey of partying and excess… and they remain oblivious to the bloodthirsty murders taking place on board,” Wreck’s synopsis reads. “Jamie is forced to turn detective and uncover the sinister truth.”

Amongst crew collectives like the theatre kids and the mafias, Jamie’s search for his sister becomes a hunt for the killer as he realises the perpetrator is still on board.

Just from the teaser, Wreck offers a wealth of dramatic thrills: a kiss as electric sparks flash in the background, echoing screams, dead bodies, and exuberant parties paint a thrilling portrait of what promises to be a wildly entertaining horror-comedy… so get your sea legs ready.

The show’s promotional pictures see numerous characters posing with splatters of blood over their clothes so it’s safe to say the BBC show is going to lean into its slasher tendencies. 

Queerness and horror have always had a close relationship and Wreck continues that legacy as show creator and writer Ryan J. Brown shares, noting LGBTQ+ representation is particularly important to his show: “This was an opportunity to have a show with LGBTQ+ heroes who weren’t going through trauma about their identity.”

“They exist in the real world where the stigma does exist, but it’s not the focus and it doesn’t define them,” Brown continued.

“Horror has always been queer, from the stories to the people that make them, but often it’s been buried in subtext.”

Speaking to Attitude recently, Ryan, who identifies as gay explained he wanted to create a “super gay” show with authentic representation.

Miya Ocego, who plays Rosie in the show added: “what’s so groundbreaking with what Ryan has done is create a world where all these queer people exist but without labels. You take the characters at face value. And I think that’s what society needs to take from the show – you get pre-judged so much with the label of being trans or being gay. And the fact is, we’re all just trying to exist like everybody else.”

Gay representation in the show also extends to Vivian (The Irregulars’ Thaddea Graham) who is also out in the show’s canon of queer characters. 

Rounding out the cast are Anthony Rickman, Miya Ocego, Jack Rowan, Harriet Webb, and Jodie Tyack amongst numerous new faces.

Wreck launches on BBC Three and BBC iPlayer on 9 October.