ONE of Ulverston's most famous sons has been brought to life in a drama following an epic voyage to the Arctic.

BBC Two's newest drama, The Terror, is a fictionalised account of the 1845 attempt by Sir John Franklin to find the Northwest Passage between the Atlantic and the Pacific via the Arctic Ocean.

Based on Dan Simmon's novel and produced by acclaimed film-maker Ridley Scott, the drama meets Ulverston's very own explorer, Sir John Barrow in the fourth episode.

Renowned for his exploration, Barrow organised expeditions to the far corners of the globe during the early 19th century, leading to many areas of the world being named after the naval pioneer including Barrow Strait, Barrow Sound and Barrow Point in the Arctic.

The final voyage organised by Sir John was the ill-fated search for the North West Passage in which two ships, HMS Erebus and HMS Terror, were lost in the tragic expedition, with the crews subsequently dying slowly of disease and starvation.

Portrayed by James Laurenson, Sir John is the 82-year-old Secretary of the Admiralty gripped by the search for the open Polar Sea.

In 1845, Barrow announced plans for a new expedition to locate it once and for all – or, failing that, to chart the Northwest Passage, a safe route around the Canadian Arctic Archipelago.

Sir John first appears in episode four when Lady Jane Franklin and Sophia Cracroft arrive at the Admiralty to discuss the whereabouts of her husband's expedition.

Lady Jane is worried that the expedition is stuck in the ice and tries to pressure them into organizing a rescue party but Barrow dismisses her concerns stating there is no cause for alarm.

By episode 10, Sir John becomes ill, but remains hopeful that the Northwest Passage will be discovered in his lifetime.

The series is currently available to stream on BBC iPlayer.