FORTITUDE starts tonight, Thursday, on Sky Atlantic and the crime drama looks set to be the channel's next big thing after the likes of Game of Thrones.

Boasting an impressive cast including Stanley Tucci, Christopher Eccleston and Michael Gambon, the new series has been described as a British take on 'Nordic noir'.

So after falling in love with The Killing, Borgen, Wallander and The Bridge, UK viewers can only hope this nod to Scandinavian crime fiction does not get a frosty reception.

With Nordic noir – or at least Nordic-style noir in this case – the tone and atmosphere is as important as the story and with Sky's investment and the impressive cast the show runners have as good a chance as any to get that right.

It is also worth pointing out that Danish actor Sofie Gråbøl is in Fortitude, returning to the genre in which she made her name as Detective Sarah Lund in the BAFTA-winning The Killing.

But Fortitude's stark setting is likely to be just as much of a character in the show as any of the cast.

Surrounded by the vast frozen landscape, Fortitude, a small town in the Arctic Circle, is one of the safest places on earth and there has never been a violent crime...until now

Writer Simon Donald's 11-part series will see the investigation unfold as the horror of the crime threatens the future of the town itself.

What once felt like a close-knit community in a serene place now leaves the inhabitants feeling trapped.

Their remote home is, of course, also a great hiding place for the killer.

Meanwhile, plans to turn the declining mining town into a site for tourism are left in tatters and the murder is the catalyst to unearthing Fortitude’s darkest secret.

- Fortitude starts on Sky Atlantic tonight, Thursday, at 9pm