| The Killing (Forbrydelsen) | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Crime/Drama |
| Country of origin | Denmark |
| Language(s) | Danish (English subtitles) |
| Production | |
| Location(s) | Copenhagen, Denmark |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | DR |
The Killing (Danish title Forbrydelsen, meaning "The Crime") is a BAFTA Award winning and Emmy nominated Danish crime TV series produced by Danmarks Radio. Each series follows the police investigation of one specific case, day by day, with a one-hour episode covering 24 hours of the investigation. As of March 2011[update], there have been two series, with a third in production.
A US remake of the first series premiered on the American cable network AMC on 3 April 2011.[1]
Contents |
The first series, Forbrydelsen, which follows the police investigation into the murder of a young woman, consists of 20 one-hour episodes, starting on 3 November and finishing on 22 November.
The first ten episodes were shown on DR1 each Sunday from early January to the middle of March 2007, and the intention was to show the remaining ten episodes in January-March 2008; however, the popularity was so great in Denmark that already in early March it was announced that the final ten episodes would be brought forward to the autumn of 2007; they were shown from late September to late November 2007.
The first series has also been shown in other countries, as follows:
Detective Inspector Sarah Lund is looking forward to her last day with the Copenhagen Police department. She is supposed to move to Sweden with her fiancé and transfer to the Swedish Police, but everything changes when a 19-year-old woman, Nanna Birk Larsen, is found raped and brutally murdered. Along with Detective Inspector Jan Meyer, Sarah is forced to head the investigation, as it soon becomes clear that she and Meyer are chasing a very intelligent and dangerous murderer.
Local politician Troels Hartmann is in the middle of a hard election campaign to become the new mayor of Copenhagen when suddenly, evidence links him to the murder. At the same time, the girl's family and friends struggle to cope with their loss.
Over a span of twenty days, suspect upon suspect is sought out as violence and political pressures cast their shadows over the hunt for the killer.
In the wake of the successful Wallander series, The Killing became another Scandinavian crime hit with British viewers when it was shown on BBC Four in the spring of 2011, Although subtitled, it attracted more viewers than Mad Men,[9] scored audience appreciation figures of 94%,[10] and has been described as "the best series currently on TV".[11] The success has created an interest in all things Danish,[12] and the female detective's Faroese jumper has been the subject of newspaper articles as well as becoming a sought after online item.[13]
The series won the 2011 BAFTA award in the "International" category. It was also nominated for the Audience award but lost to reality show The Only Way is Essex.[14]
| Episode | Originally aired UK | Official ratings |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 22 January 2011 21.00 | 472,000 |
| 2 | 22 January 2011 21.55 | 421,000 |
| 3 | 29 January 2011 21.00 | 424,000 |
| 4 | 29 January 2011 22.00 | 388,000 |
| 5 | 5 February 2011 21.00 | 524,000 |
| 6 | 5 February 2011 21.55 | 443,000 |
| 7 | 12 February 2011 21.00 | 524,000 |
| 8 | 12 February 2011 22.00 | 466,000 |
| 9 | 19 February 2011 21.00 | 536,000 |
| 10 | 19 February 2011 21.55 | 480,000 |
| 11 | 26 February 2011 21.00 | 509,000 |
| 12 | 26 February 2011 21.55 | 474,000 |
| 13 | 5 March 2011 21.00 | 563,000 |
| 14 | 5 March 2011 21.55 | 511,000 |
| 15 | 12 March 2011 21.00 | 597,000 |
| 16 | 12 March 2011 22.00 | 535,000 |
| 17 | 19 March 2011 21.00 | 613,000 |
| 18 | 19 March 2011 22.00 | 551,000 |
| 19 | 26 March 2011 21.00 | 603,000 |
| 20 | 26 March 2011 22.00 | 599,000 |
An American remake was produced by Fox Television Studios for the American cable network AMC. It premiered on April 3, 2011.[15]
The second series, Forbrydelsen II, takes place two years after the first and consists of ten episodes. It first aired in Denmark between 27 September and 29 November 2009.[16] Episodes were screened eleven days later on Thursdays on Norwegian NRK1. [17] It was shown on German TV channel ZDF[18] and on Swedish SVT [19] in the autumn of 2010. It was shown on BBC4 starting on 19 November 2011, following the success of the first series,[20][21] and on the Belgian channel Canvas starting on 25 November 2011.[22] The Region 2 DVD with English subtitles was released on 19 December, 2011.[23]
Warning: Contains Spoilers
Ten days after a female lawyer, Anne Dragsholm, has been found murdered, the head of the homicide department in Copenhagen, Lennart Brix, realises that his group is faced with a case much more complicated than it seemed at first. So, desperate for a breakthrough, he sends DI Ulrik Strange to approach former DI Sarah Lund and ask her to have a look at the case. Lund, who was demoted after the Nanna Birk Larsen case in the first series and currently works as a passport controller in Gedser in southern Denmark, is not interested at first, but quickly changes her mind, suspecting that the murder is not as straightforward as it seems, despite the forced confession of Dragsholm's husband.
A second plot strand concerns the growing awareness of newly-appointed Justice Minister Thomas Buch that his predecessor had been involved in the cover-up of a killing of civilians in Afghanistan, involving Danish soldiers, which is connected with the murder.[24] Lund is about to be discharged from the case when a second murder, that of a Danish military veteran, leads to the conclusion that Islamic extremists are at work. Jens Peter Raben, currently incarcerated in a mental hospital after showing signs of being disturbed after his return from Afghanistan, knew both victims and sticks to his story that his troop were present at the execution of a civilian family by a Danish Special Forces officer named "Perk". Raben escapes, and two other members of the group are murdered, with suspicion falling on senior military officers including Raben's father-in-law, Colonel Jarnvig, and his deputy Major Søgaard (who is in love with Raben's wife Louise).
In the course of the investigation, Lund and Strange become fond of one another. Meanwhile, Buch and his secretarial team, Carsten Plough and Karina Munk Jørgensen, uncover further evidence of the cover-up. Buch finds it impossible to convince his government colleagues of the plot, particularly after the death of the former Justice Minister, and is pressured to continue to blame Muslims for the murders in order that the government can pass stringent anti-terrorism laws.
Raben has taken refuge in the church presided over by a former army chaplain, who tries to deter him from any further investigation of the crimes and urges him to give himself up. After Raben leaves, the chaplain's dying body is discovered by Lund, who pursues the killer and is surprised when he does not take an easy opportunity of killing her. Lund arranges for the body of a former Danish army officer, Per K Møller, to be exhumed, suspecting him of involvement in the events leading up to the murders. Her investigations appear to lead to a dead end until it is learned that someone is still using Møller's identity. When Lund and Strange catch up with Raben, he calls Strange "Perk" and Strange shoots him. The wound is not fatal, and Raben persists in accusing the detective of being the officer responsible for the civilian deaths. Although Strange is known to have been in the armed forces, it is officially confirmed that he had already left Afghanistan at the time of the killings.
Lund continues to be uneasy about Strange's alibis for the murders in Denmark, but takes him with her to Afghanistan to investigate a new suspect, the brother of one of the soldiers killed under Raben's command. This also proves a dead end, but Lund's persistence results in the discovery of the bones of the Afghan civilians. On her return to Denmark, Lund meets her mother, who has recently remarried, and who has had a premonition of Lund lying dead. Following a further search of the military barracks, suspicion falls on an anti-Taliban Muslim officer, Bilal, and evidence of the planning of the soldiers' murders is found in his possession. Bilal kidnaps Louise, but releases her when confronted by Raben, Lund and Strange. He then blows himself up; they escape only thanks to Strange's quick-witted actions. Strange volunteers to return Raben to the mental hospital but Lund insists on going with them, and makes a stop at the scene of Anne Dragsholm's murder, pointing out to Strange the reasons why Bilal is unlikely to have been involved. Strange gives himself away by revealing a detail that only the murderer could know, and confesses to the murders before shooting Lund with her own gun, which he then plants on Raben. He is about to shoot Raben when Lund hits him over the head. Raben is incapacitated by Strange's sudden revelation that Raben himself had been actively involved in the civilian deaths, a fact that Raben had blanked out of his memory. When Strange tries to retrieve his gun, Lund shoots him dead. She then walks away from the scene, removing the bullet-proof vest she had been wearing.
| Episode | Originally aired UK | Official ratings |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 19 November 2011 21.00 | 1,206,000 |
| 2 | 19 November 2011 22.00 | 883,000 |
| 3 | 26 November 2011 21.00 | 1,063,000 |
| 4 | 26 November 2011 22.00 | 846,000 |
| 5 | 3 December 2011 21.00 | 1,090,000 |
| 6 | 3 December 2011 22.00 | 859,000 |
| 7 | 10 December 2011 21.00 | 1,044,000 |
| 8 | 10 December 2011 22.00 | 902,000 |
| 9 | 17 December 2011 21.00 | 1,080,000 |
| 10 | 17 December 2011 22.00 | 928,000 |
The third series, Forbrydelsen III, is currently in production, with co-star Nikolaj Lie Kaas and is due to be aired in Denmark late September 2012.[25] The final series of Forbrydelsen will explore the global financial crisis as the ostensibly random murder of a sailor leads Sarah Lund through the financial community. [26]