The Bridge (Danish/Swedish TV series)

The Bridge
Series one DVD for the Australian release
Also known as	Bron, Broen
Genre	Serial crime drama, thriller
Created by	Hans Rosenfeldt
Written by	Hans Rosenfeldt
Starring	Sofia Helin Kim Bodnia Dag Malmberg Ellen Hillingsø Puk Scharbau
Composer(s)	Johan Söderqvist Patrik Andrén Uno Helmersson
Country of origin	Sweden Denmark
Original language(s)	Swedish Danish
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	20
Production
Executive producer(s)	Stefan Baron Klaus Bassiner Tomas Eskilsson Wolfgang Feindt Tone Rønning
Producer(s)	Gunnar Carlsson Bo Ehrhardt Anders Landström
Editor(s)	Sofia Lindgren Kristofer Nordin Margareta Lagerqvist
Location(s)	Malmö, Sweden Copenhagen, Denmark
Running time	58 minutes
Production company(s)	Nimbus Film Filmlance International
Distributor	ZDF
Broadcast
Original channel	SVT1, DR1
Original run	21 September 2011 (2011-09-21) – present
External links
Official Danish website

The Bridge (Danish: Broen; Swedish: Bron) is a Scandinavian crime drama television series, co-produced by Sveriges Television and Danmarks Radio as well as German ZDF, two seasons of which have so far been completed. The first season started with a police investigation following the discovery of a dead body on the Øresund Bridge connecting Sweden and Denmark. It was first broadcast on SVT1 and DR1 during the autumn of 2011.

The Bridge was a joint creative and financed production between Sweden and Denmark. It was created and written by Hans Rosenfeldt.^[1]

The second season aired in Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland and Iceland over ten weeks from 22 September to 24 November 2013,^[2][3][4] and began airing in the United Kingdom on BBC Four from 4 January 2014.^[5]

Production of the third season started at the end of 2014.^[6]

Plot

Series One

What appears to be the body of a female Swedish/Icelandic politician is discovered in the middle of the Øresund Bridge, which connects Copenhagen in Denmark with Malmö in Sweden. The body, cut in half at the waist, has been placed precisely on the border between the countries, thus falling under the jurisdiction of both the Danish and Swedish police agencies. After further examination, it turns out that the body is that of two separate corpses, with one half belonging to a Danish prostitute. Saga Norén, from the Swedish side, and Martin Rohde, from the Danish, lead the investigation to catch the murderer.^[7][8]

The investigation quickly escalates as a journalist, Daniel Ferbé, whose car was used in the crime, begins receiving phone calls. The caller, who becomes known as the "Truth Terrorist", claims to be committing his crimes in order to draw attention to various social problems. A social worker, Stefan Lindberg, whose sister becomes a victim of the Truth Terrorist, becomes an early suspect. However, events soon lead the Danish and Swedish teams to conclude that the killer has connections to the police.

In the course of the investigation, Martin and Saga develop a close working relationship, although they are very different people. Martin has an eighteen-year-old son from his first marriage, August, who is now living with Martin and his current wife, Mette, by whom Martin has three children; after Martin has had a vasectomy, Mette discovers that she is expecting twins. Saga lives alone and does not seem to feel she needs a serious relationship, instead picking up men in bars for casual sex. She displays symptoms consistent with Asperger syndrome or a similar autistic spectrum disorder, including poor social skills and difficulty empathising with others, which leads to her coming across as insensitive and blunt; the show's creators have stated that they have been intentionally vague on the exact nature of Saga's social issues, not wanting a generic diagnosis to define expectations of the character, but Saga has nonetheless been noted as a positive representation of a character apparently in the autistic spectrum as, despite her social ineptitude, she is clearly of above-average intelligence, with a fine eye for detail and strong analytical skills.^[9] She is clearly not a malicious person, genuinely making an effort to learn from her mistakes and mend feelings she may have hurt. Nevertheless, she does have difficulty in establishing relationships and feels inadequate in being able to manage people. For this, she refuses a promotion. Her superior, Hans - and later Martin - provides her with supervision whenever she struggles or messes up in social situations, usually through interrupting her or whispering in her ear afterwards.

After the killer has murdered several people, his true motivation begins to seem personal.^[10] They discover that the crimes have been planned over a period of several years.

Series Two

The second series starts thirteen months after the end of the first series. A coaster veers off course and rams into the Øresund Bridge. Saga arrives on the scene and finds the ship deserted save for five people – three Swedish and two Danish – chained below deck. Saga arranges to have Martin assigned to the case. After the victims on the coaster die from pneumonic plague, a viral video appears in which four disguised eco-terrorists claim responsibility for the incident. They embark on further attacks, including blowing up a petrol tanker and distributing poisoned food. As the police close in on the group, they are all found dead in a shipping container, thus raising the question of whether there are other terrorist cells or a larger group.^[11]

Cast

Main

• Sofia Helin as Saga Norén, the lead homicide detective in Malmö
• Kim Bodnia as Martin Rohde, the lead homicide detective in Copenhagen
• Dag Malmberg as Hans Petterson, a senior criminal police officer in Malmö
• Sarah Boberg as Lillian, a senior criminal police officer in Copenhagen
• Rafael Pettersson as John Lundqvist, IT-expert for Malmö police (recurring season 1, main season 2)
• Lars Simonsen as Jens Hansen/Sebastian Sandstrod, a former police colleague of Martin Rohde turned serial killer
• Christian Hillborg as Daniel Ferbé, a journalist at Aftonposten in Malmö (season 1 only)
• Magnus Krepper as Stefan Lindberg, a social worker in Malmö (season 1 only)
• Puk Scharbau as Mette Rohde, Martin Rohde's wife

Recurring (Series 1)

• Emil Birk Hartmann as August Rohde, Martin Rohde's eldest child
• Dietrich Hollinderbäumer as Goran Söringer, a property developer
• Ellen Hillingsø as Charlotte Söringer, Goran Söringer's wife
• Maria Sundbom as Sonja Lindberg, Stefan's sister
• Johan Hedenberg as Axel Mössberg

Recurring (Series 2)

• Vickie Bak Laursen as Pernille, Danish junior police detective involved in the case
• Henrik Lundström as Rasmus Larsson, Swedish junior police detective involved in the case
• Tova Magnusson as Viktoria Nordgren, owner of the Medisonus pharmaceutical company, diagnosed with an incurable disease and with six months to live
• Sven Ahlström as Oliver Nordgren, brother of Viktoria, shareholder in Medisonus
• Camilla Bendix as Gertrud Kofoed, chief scientist at Medisonus and wife of Oliver
• Fredrik Hiller as Marcus Stenberg, shipping owner
• Lotte Munk as Caroline Brandstrup-Julin, head of the Copenhagen EU environment summit meeting
• Lotte Merete Andersen as Bodil Brandstrup, publishing editor, biographer of Viktoria Nordgren and sister to Caroline Brandstrup-Julin
• Peter Christoffersen as Julian Madsen, owner of Copenhagen IT Consulting

Production

Series two started shooting in October 2012, and began to air in Denmark and Sweden on Sunday 22 September 2013 (20.00 in Denmark and 21.00 in Sweden).^[12]

Series Three

The writer of the show, Hans Rosenfeldt, revealed in January 2014 that he is writing series three, with a return of most of the main characters, including Martin Rohde.^[13] Filming started in September 2014 with an expected air date in Scandinavia starting in Autumn 2015. In June 2014 it was announced that Kim Bodnia, who plays Martin Rohde, would not appear in the third series. Initially it was reported that Bodnia left after becoming unhappy with the way his character was evolving.^[14] Bodnia and Helin later clarified that his character was not written into the script and that series 3 will focus on Saga coping with losing her only friend. Both suggested the possibility that Bodnia's character may return.^[15]

Broadcast

Series One Episodes

Series one consisted of ten episodes. Each episode is 60 minutes in length. They were first broadcast on Wednesday nights at 8pm in Denmark and 9pm in Sweden.

Ratings

Ep.	Denmark		Sweden		United Kingdom
	First broadcast (DR1)	Official TNS Gallup ratings[16]	First broadcast (SVT1)	Official MMS ratings	First broadcast (BBC Four)	Official BARB UK ratings
1	2011-09-28	876,000 + 108,000 DR HD	2011-09-21	1,030,000[17]	2012-04-21	1,262,000 (excl. BBC HD)
2	2011-10-05	660,000 + 128,000 DR HD	2011-09-28	970,000[18]	2012-04-21	1,093,000 (excl. BBC HD)
3	2011-10-12	712,000 + 57,000 DR HD	2011-10-05	787,000[19]	2012-04-28	1,020,000 (excl. BBC HD)
4	2011-10-19	589,000 + 79,000 DR HD	2011-10-12	865,000[20]	2012-04-28	890,000 (excl. BBC HD)
5	2011-10-26	652,000 + 86,000 DR HD	2011-10-19	925,000[21]	2012-05-05	1,084,000 + 102,000 BBC HD
6	2011-11-02	668,000 + 48,000 DR HD	2011-10-26	915,000[22]	2012-05-05	858,000 + 118,000 BBC HD
7	2011-11-09	668,000 + 71,000 DR HD	2011-11-02	834,000[19]	2012-05-12	1,040,000 + 100,000 BBC HD
8	2011-11-16	610,000 + 120,000 DR HD	2011-11-09	880,000[23]	2012-05-12	930,000 + 127,000 BBC HD
9	2011-11-23	803,000 + 89,000 DR HD	2011-11-16	945,000[24]	2012-05-19	1,190,000 + 112,000 BBC HD
10	2011-11-23	803,000 + 89,000 DR HD	2011-11-23	935,000[25]	2012-05-19	1,110,000 (excl. BBC HD)

The first airing of the series was screened on Sweden's SVT1 weekly from Wednesday 21 September 2011 at 21.00. Denmark's DR1 followed a week later in their 20.00 slot every Wednesday. By screening the final episode immediately after episode 9, DR1 managed to screen episode 10 simultaneously with SVT1.

On several occasions, The Bridge failed to have sufficient viewers to be placed in SVT1's weekly Top 10 programmes. This was mainly due to competition from commercial broadcaster TV4 with its offering gaining over a million viewers. In Sweden, The Bridge won its time slot for the first five episodes against weak competition from Hawaii Five-0 on TV4. From episode 6, it aired against the popular reality show Berg flyttar in , which would beat The Bridge until the final episode, when they virtually tied.

International distribution

Sveriges Television reported that up to November 2013, the first series had been purchased for broadcasting in 134 countries worldwide^[26] and the Daily Telegraph reported in February 2014 that The Bridge was on screen in 174 countries.^[27]

In the UK, the series was shown in weekly two-episode blocks on BBC Four and BBC HD from 21 April 2012.^[7] In Germany, it was shown by broadcaster ZDF from 18 March 2012.^[28] In Poland, the series was broadcast in double episodes from 2 May to 30 May 2012 on Ale Kino+. In Brazil, the series premiered on +Globosat channel on 13 August 2012 at 22h. The series premiered in Australia on Wednesday, 5 September 2012 on SBS Two,^[29] where the first episode had overnight ratings of 101,000 viewers.^[30] It was also screened in Israel on September 30 on HOT VoD. On January 9, 2014 it also started screening on yes VoD with both series 1 and 2 available. Co-producers NRK screened the series in Norway with audiences in excess of 600,000 viewers. NRK are also keen to participate in the production of the second series.^[31] In Ireland, the show will air on TG4 beginning in autumn 2013.^[32]

Series Two Episodes

International distribution

Episodes are also aired close to the Danish/Swedish premiere in the other Nordic countries. Finland's YLE TV1 air new episodes as simulcasts with SVT1.^[33] Norway's NRK1 and Iceland's RÚV air episodes the following day, with the first episode airing there on 23 September.^[34]

It was shown in the United Kingdom on BBC Four and BBC Four HD on 4 January 2014, as with the first series, in two episode blocks at 21:00 and 22:00.^[35]

Soundtrack

The opening and closing music is Hollow Talk by Choir of Young Believers from Copenhagen, Denmark.

Awards

In 2014, The Bridge won two Golden Nymph Awards: for Best European Drama Series, and Best Actor in a Drama Series for Kim Bodnia.^[36]

Remakes

United States and Mexico

In late July 2012, US network FX ordered a pilot episode to be made of the series for an American audience. It is set in the US and Mexico, between El Paso and Juárez, and the discovery of a body on the border of the two countries sets the story in motion. Meredith Stiehm (who had previously worked on Cold Case) and Elwood Reid of Hawaii Five-0 were involved in the production.^[37] The series starred Diane Kruger as U.S. Detective Sonya Cross, Demián Bichir as Mexican Detective Marco Ruiz, Annabeth Gish, Thomas M. Wright and Ted Levine.

On 12 February 2013, Deadline.com announced that FX had picked up drama series The Bridge for a 13-episode order. It began filming in April and premiered on 10 July 2013, the 13-episode first season airing until 2 October.^[38] On 24 September 2013, FX renewed the American version of The Bridge for a 13-episode second season that aired in 2014.^[39] The series was not renewed for a third season.^[40]

United Kingdom and France

In January 2013, sister production companies Kudos and Shine France announced a joint Franco-British production called The Tunnel.^[41] The plot involves the discovery of the body of a French politician at the half-way point of the Channel Tunnel between France and England.^[42] It began airing in October 2013, on Sky Atlantic in the UK and Canal+ in France.^[43]

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to The Bridge (Danish/Swedish TV series).

• The Bridge at BBC Programmes
• Broen at DR
• Bron at SVT
• The Bridge at the Internet Movie Database