Cullen Bohannon, (Anson Mount) There’s more than a hint of Clint Eastwood’s Josey Wales to Bohannon’s character.  Just like Wales, Bohannon has had to endure the knowledge that his wife has been raped and murdered by the enemy.  Like Wales (and so many other of Eastwood’s characters), Bohannon has a brooding quality to him, and although he’s deeply flawed he has very human qualities to admire.

 

Lily Bell (Dominique McElligott) She’s a young widow who travelled to the inhospitable land with her husband, the railroad surveyor.  But when he dies she reveals a feisty nature that she’ll certainly need to survive.  She’s got opinions and she’s not afraid to voice them.  Bohannon and she have definite chemistry but her beauty also attracts those she’d rather would leave her alone.

 

Thomas ‘Doc’ Durant (Colm Meaney) What this drama absolutely needs at its heart – as well as an anti-hero – is a commercially driven, self-made man who is heading up the construction programme with his mind firmly on his own profits.  He’s unpleasant with his greedy, manipulative ways, but he’s also clever and at times strangely likeable, especially when we’re given insights into his vulnerability.

 

Joseph Black Moon (Eddie Spears) With the clashing of the very different cultures, poor old Joseph Black Moon finds himself unpopular on all sides.  Born into the Cheyenne, he’s converted to Christianity and lives with the Reverand Cole.  He’s honest and well meaning but finds himself conflicted by the war between his Native American brothers and the new family he’s bought into, who hold him in the utmost contempt.

 

Reverend Nathaniel Cole (Tom Noonan).  Being the one tasked with moral guidance in a pit of debauchery is no mean feet, but it falls to Reverend Cole to at least try his best with the infighting immigrants in his pastoral care.  He’s been involved in the Civil War and is sick of the carnage and slaughter.  He is geniunely concerned with trying to broker peace among the warring factions. But, he’s got a past and suffers his own internal conflict.

 

Elam Ferguson (Common) Like Moon, Elam feels conflicted because his lighter skin betrays his mixed heritage.  He’s an emancipated slave and struggles to find a place for himself within the established hierachy of the railroad.  Like Bohannon, he’s from the South, and the two men have more in common than they realise.

 

Sean (Ben Esler) and Mickey McGuinness (Phil Burke) These two brothers have escaped the poverty and famine in Ireland for dreams of a better life that will lead to their fame and fortune.  Although they set out with the same goals, it soon becomes clear that cracks are appearing in their relationship.  Sean isn’t being honest with Mickey and it threatens to destroy the business that they have together.

 

The Swede (Christopher Heyerdahl) Thor Gundersen is known as The Swede, and his sinister looks are rather useful for his role as Doc Durant’s ‘head of security’.  He’s no push over and is determined to make additional money out of the men he’s been tasked to keep under control.  A handsome, brooding maverick like Bohannon naturally gets his hackles up and he’s determined to prove his arch-nemesis guilty of murder.

 

Watch the first two Hell on Wheels  on TCM on Sunday 20^th and Sunday 27th at 9pm

 

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