Edinburgh premiere of Amazon series The Rig sees Scottish stars take to red carpet - including Martin Compston and Iain Glen

The Edinburgh Evening News spoke to the “Scottish Avengers” at the Everyman Cinema in St James Quarter about the new Amazon show ahead of its release in January 2023

Stars of new thriller series The Rig gathered at Edinburgh’s St James Quarter last night for the premiere of the show.

The upcoming series sees a group of oil rig workers stranded by a mysterious fog in the North sea causing them to experience supernatural and psychological side effects. Scottish actors from the cast, such as Iain Glen, Martin Compston and Mark Bonnar took to the red carpet last night at the Everyman cinema where they spoke about their characters and filming in Leith.

Martin Compston, whose father worked on a Scottish oil rig, said: “I love Edinburgh and I think more shows will be coming to film here, especially as the studios in Leith where we filmed are just amazing.” Martin described his character in the show as “a good wee guy”. When comparing his character in Line of Duty (Steve Arnott) to that of Fulmer in The Rig, he said: “Steve was more of a lost wee soul, whereas Fulmer is more of a pitbull.”

Martin Compston and Edinburgh Evening News reporter Annabelle Gauntlett

Whilst Martin said he loved the Line of Duty cast and was “fortunate with the success of it”, he also stated that “there were no immediate plans for a season seven on the horizon.”

Edinburgh actor Iain Glen said: “Leith has transformed from when I was a kid, I remember it was an area you didn’t want to go anywhere near if you could possibly avoid it, but now it’s great and has the most incredible studio.”

Also on the red carpet was actor Mark Bonnar, who spoke of the strange experience of filming at Leith’s FirstStage studios, nearby where he grew up. He said: “It was very strange driving past my old school to work everyday, and it was thrilling to see something of this scale be brought to Leith, especially as I grew up here; Edinburgh is part of me.”

The show’s writer David Macpherson said he was inspired by the oil rigs which would “tower over my childhood” where he grew up near the Cromarty Firth. He said: “My dad worked in the oil industry for all my upbringing, 30 odd years, and he always used to tell me stories of the strange things going on out in the middle of the sea and I really liked to bring that to life. I wrote this as a Scottish story and wanted to make it here. I always thought that was important.”

The Rig is out on Amazon Prime Video on January 6.