Archives 81 is based on the 2016 horror podcast with the same name and created by Daniel Powell and Marc Sollinger. It starred Amelia Kidd in the lead and a televised version with the same name was produced and aired on Netflix from January 2022.
However, the televised version of Archives 81 created by Rebecca Sonenshine, along with Paul Harris Boardman and James Wan, wasn’t received well by the small screen audiences and so the series was canceled after season one.
What does Archive 81 contain?
Both the podcast and the television version had a similar storyline. However, the latter was further developed to fit the likes of the small screen audiences. The story is about an audio archivist named Dan who is assigned the job of reviewing a set of old tapes by the Hosing Historical Committee of New York State. While doing his work sincerely, Dan realized the tapes contained interviews related with a lady named Melody Pendras.
In the late 90s, Melody, who was a journalist, was doing interviews with residents of an old apartment structure called the Eldritch Visser Building. He slowly learns that Melody was the wife of a billionaire named Mr. Davenport and died in a fire accident that took place in the Visser building.
The rest of the story is about how Dan experiences ghosts and demons in his editing room while he is seen restoring the audio tapes.
Note- In the Netflix version of the televised series, Dan’s character played by Mamoudou Athie is seen restoring video tapes. While in the original podcast, he is seen restoring audio tapes.
Is Archive 81 a true story
There is no proof that Podcast Archive 81 and its televised version of Netflix are a real story. However, Daniel Powell mentioned in one of his interviews that his story was loosely based on the radio drama ‘The War of the Worlds’ and has some parts taken from TV dramas Twin Peaks and The X-Files.
Why was the Netflix Archive 81 stopped after Season 1
Well, after the start of the show Archive 81, it reached the top of the charts within no time. In reality, the show had all the engrossing horror content that was enough to keep the audiences glued to the content and make it pop up on Nielson’s Top 10 ranking of US Streaming Originals in no time.
But when Netflix announced on March 24th that it will not extend the show to season 2, fans were shocked to hear as there were more stories to tell and the audiences were hanging on a cliffhanger as there were a lot of secrets to be revealed.
Though Netflix kept mum on why it canceled the next season, Rebecca Sonnenshine, the producer, thanked all the fans for watching the show and making it a big hit. But she too, does not disclose the actual reason for the stoppage.
However, inside sources from Netflix’s creative team suggested that the show failed to garner the expected amount of viewership and so was scrapped after the first season. Some media resources also reported the show failed to ring in new customers and so was scrapped to be replaced with a more interesting show.
How many seasons do Archives 81 have
Well, the podcast version ran from April 2016 and ended in June 2019 with three seasons and two others induced in between as The Golden Age and Left of the Dial.