From the left: Common, Graham Yost, and Tim Robbins talk at the premiere of season two of Silo in London, on Oct. 29.Scott A Garfitt/The Associated Press
Graham Yost’s 30-odd-year career as a screenwriter, show-runner and producer has hardly been short on successes, from the 1994 bus blockbuster, Speed, to his critical darling neo-Western FX series, Justified (2010-2015).
But the Canadian’s most recent work for Apple TV+ has been a particularly strong small-screen streak.
In 2024 alone, Yost has already helped shepherd the blowout-budget Second World War aviation miniseries, Masters of the Air, to the streamer, along with a return-to-form fourth season of the louche spy thriller, Slow Horses, starring Gary Oldman.
Now, Silo – a post-apocalyptic sci-fi series he created based on Hugh Howey’s book series – returns for its eagerly anticipated second season on Friday. The smart slow-burn show has built up an avid following among Apple TV+ subscribers since its first season was released a year and a half ago.
The series, set in an underground cylindrical shelter that houses a society of 10,000, stars Dune’s Rebecca Ferguson as a lower-level engineer named Juliette who refuses to fully believe the leadership’s stories about past rebellions and a destroyed world outside.
Silo’s is a departure of sorts for Yost, who has largely stayed away from sci-fi or fantasy since he devoured Dune, the works of C.S. Lewis and The Lord of the Rings five times as a young reader growing in Etobicoke, Ont.
Rebecca Ferguson in a scene from Silo, on Apple TV+.Apple TV+
He’s best known for critically acclaimed elevations of more earthbound genres. That includes as executive producer on FX’s period spy series, The Americans, starring Keri Russell; and as the creator and show-runner of that same channel’s Justified, set in Kentucky’s Appalachian Mountains and featuring some of the most delicious dialogue ever drawled from its lawman played by Timothy Olyphant
But perhaps that background is what makes Silo seem so relatively grounded compared to so many sci-fi series. The mythology is not overwhelming, and the show’s technology doesn’t include spaceships or lasers – just the longest brutalist staircase you’ve ever seen.
“My standard line is: People have jobs, they complain about their bosses, they get married, they have kids, the food is okay,” Yost says in a video interview with The Globe and Mail. “It’s just life, and then you find out, ah, there’s something else going on.”
Yost’s deal at Apple TV+ materialized after he followed his old bosses, Zack Van Amburg and Jamie Erlicht, who were appointed head of the iPhone maker’s film and TV content in 2017. He had previously worked with the executives on Justified when they headed Sony, as well as on Sneaky Pete, a critically lauded crime drama that had three seasons on Amazon Prime Video.
“We like things that are really good but that are really enjoyable and entertaining, too,” Yost says.
The difference working for Apple TV+ is what you’d expect from working for the entertainment arm of the largest technology company in the world in terms of revenue. Whereas Justified used to shoot an episode in seven days, a Silo episode shoots over 15 days.
“We really get to take the time to do it like a little film,” says Yost, who certainly knows his cinema given his father, Elwy Yost, was the host of Saturday Night at the Movies on TVO for 25 years.
The movie-like feel of Silo is particularly strong in the second season’s first episode, which follows Juliette as she leaves all the other built-up characters behind and goes on a solo journey – and the focus is on Ferguson’s stern yet expressive face as she silently navigates a new world.
“She’s a movie star and she’s not cheap and worth every penny,” Yost says.
The streaming wars may have ended with Netflix coming out on top, but Apple is still willing to spend, according to the show-runner.
“They love the show and they give us what we need – and the top thing they gave us that we needed is Rebecca Ferguson.”
On the metaphorical level, Silo speaks to our current predicament of people living in the same world and having completely different views of it. That’s partly down to how we consume media including TV now – some are still on cable, while others are subscribed to this or that streaming service. One person’s favourite show can be one somebody else has never heard of now.
And as far as Yost’s concerned, it doesn’t matter that Silo is no longer the only or perhaps even the best known futuristic-silo show out there since Fallout, a wilder post-apocalyptic series on Prime Video based on a video game of the same name, premiered in April.
“It’s got Walton Goggins in it,” he says, referring to the actor who was previously one of the stars of Justified. “I got to root for that show. There’s room for all.”
Silo’s second 10-episode season debuts on Apple TV+ with the first episode on Nov. 15, followed by new episodes every Friday through Jan. 16.