The Killing, too, is soon to air as an English-language production. The company is working on a further six feature-length Wallander mysteries, including an adaptation of the forthcoming – and final – novel, and a new story based on an original premise from Mankell. "Some people much prefer the English Wallander and the some the Swedish."
"I'm told they have the same debate that we have here," said Francis Hopkinson, the show's producer at Left Bank Pictures. Kenneth Brannagh's portrayal of Henning Mankell's crumpled Inspector Kurt Wallander for BBC1 has been acclaimed critically, attracted audiences of around 6 million, and been sold to countries around the world – including Sweden.
The company in the Faroe Islands couldn't keep up," said Gråbøl.Īs well as benefitting Scandinavian authors, the crime boom has created an opportunity for UK producers. Instead Lund comes clothed in a distinctly Scandinavian handknitted jumper, fast becoming a must-have item for fans of the show. "The first images I got in my head were based on cliches about female detectives … We have images of a woman in a suit, or a woman in a man's world," said Gråbøl, who decided to play Lund as neither.
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In part that is due to Gråbøl's portrayal of Lund, a female TV detective in a canon dominated by men. The programme – which mixes politics, policework and a focus on a family left devastated by violent crime – has been out-rating both BBC4's Swedish Wallander imports and the much-lauded Mad Men, which the channel lost to Sky Atlantic late last year. "With The Killing it's almost all about how colleagues are interacting, and the families – both of the policeman and the family that has been exposed to violence – and in crime drama that's something you don't usually see," said Stougaard-Nielsen. Sofie Gråbøl, who plays Lund in the show – called Forbrydelsen in Danish – explained its appeal: "When this genre is done well you can keep the audience interested by the whole guessing thing – but at the same time talk about some very dark aspects of the human psyche."īut part of the appeal of the series is a focus on aspects not usually examined by English-language equivalents. "There's some really undiscovered crime writers who already sell well abroad but haven't reached the UK yet, such as the Danish Jussi Adler-Olsen."Īs ratings and praise for The Killing grow, Sarah Lund, the slightly scruffy and decidedly uncommunicative detective at the centre of the Emmy-nominated drama, has quickly become a cult figure. "I'm not one of those who believe that it will remain this popular but I do think it will still grow for a few years yet," said Jakob Stougaard-Nielsen, a lecturer in Scandinavian literature at UCL. The show, which has been a hit across Europe, underscores the growing popularity of the Scandinavian crime genre, led by the late author Stieg Larsson and the Swedish drama Wallander. "It is a diamond of a series – complex, dramatic, thoroughly gripping," said BBC4 controller Richard Klein. The BBC has confirmed that it has bought the second series and will show it later this year. The show has been getting higher viewing figures than Mad Men did when it was shown on the channel. “It’s a true testament to Veena Sud, and the stellar cast led so compellingly by Mireille Enos and Joel Kinnaman, that fans remained so passionate about the show,” FtvS president David Madden said.The actors wear chunky, patterned jumpers, it is filmed largely in the dark and rain and it has a less than inviting title.īut BBC4's The Killing, a subtitled Danish thriller that slowly unfolds over 20 hours as police hunt for the murderer of a 19-year-old girl, has proved a perhaps unlikely hit.
She will be joined by The Killing veterans, exec producers Dawn Prestwich and Nicole Yorkin, who had been on the show since the first season, and two other writers. Creator/executive producer Veena Sud is assembling a writing team, which is expected to begin work shortly. The Killing‘s stars, Mireille Enos and Joel Kinnaman, are under long-term deals and set to return. The series’ second resurrection is a testament to series producer Fox TV Studios’ tenacious efforts to keep it alive. Now The Killing will become a Netflix original for a six-episode final installment. This time, the series was picked up by Netflix, which was its exclusive digital partner for the first three seasons and still carries them worldwide. The mystery drama, which was cancelled by AMC last year only to be resurrected with a third-season order, is staging another comeback after being cancelled by the network again in September. It’s déjà vu again for The Killing, which refuses to live up to its name.