Amazon Prime is set to film its first major production made in Scotland at a studio owned by Sean Connery’s son.

The six-part supernatural thriller, The Rig, will be set on a North Sea oil rig and shot at Jason Connery’s new film studio in Leith, Edinburgh.

Production is due to start next year at the former wave power plant at Leith Docks.

The series will be set around the crew of an oil rig who are preparing to return to the mainland when a mysterious fog descends and a supernatural force takes hold.

The Rig will be the first major production to be made in Scotland by Amazon Prime, which said it plans to launch the series in 240 countries and territories.

Some scenes in The Rig, which will be co-produced with Wild Mercury, makers of the Channel 4 drama Humans and the BBC-Netflix show Troy: Fall of a City, are expected to be shot on a real-life oil rig.

The Rig will take over the former Pelamis building in Leith, which Connery, 57, an award-winning actor and director, and producer Bob Last took over earlier this year in a £1m deal with the Scottish Government.

It was previously used for the blockbuster Avengers: Infinity War.

At the time, the government agency Screen Scotland predicted the new First Stage Studios facility would “raise the visibility of Scotland on screen, anchor more film and high-end television productions in Scotland and capitalise on the global boom in the industry".

Amazon Prime’s official announcement said: “The Rig follows the crew of the Kishorn Bravo oil rig, stationed off the Scottish coast in the dangerous waters of the North Sea.

"When the crew are due to return to the mainland, a mysterious and all-enveloping fog rolls through and they find themselves cut off from all communication with the shore and the outside world.

"As they endeavour to discover what’s driving this force, bonds are broken, allegiances formed and generational fault lines exposed.

"The crew will be driven to the limits of both their loyalties and their endurance, into a confrontation with forces beyond their imagination."

Writer David MacPherson told his Twitter followers today (Tue): “Massive thanks to the teams at Wild Mercury and Amazon Prime for believing in my vision for the show.

“We've crafted a great team for the show.

"We can't wait to take you to one of the harshest environments on Earth for an action packed story that pushes to the absolute limits.

“You won't have seen anything like this before.”

Georgia Brown, director of European Amazing Originals for Amazon Prime Video, said: “The Rig is a brilliant story, expertly told, in the most dramatic of settings.

"It asks searching questions about nature and the environment, about what it takes to survive and to be human, which feels very pertinent to the world we are living in now.”

Derek Wax, managing director of Wild Mercury said: “The Rig is a character-driven, epic thriller, full of heart-grabbing action and bold, original ideas.

“David Macpherson captures life on a North Sea oil rig with extraordinary authenticity and it’s been exciting to work with him, director John Strickland and our creative team in realising the scale and vision of this world.”