Plotting for success
murder, mystery & megabucks
This season, Henning Mankell’s Inspector Wallander will hit TV screens in a major new English language series starring Kenneth Branagh. As international demand for Scandinavian dramas rises, Sterling investigates why they pack such a punch
words by Pierre De Villiers
Ever since popular screen detective Inspector Morse was killed off in 2000, TV executives in the UK have been looking for an able replacement. Where, though, do you find a sleuth with bags of charisma and a beat to match? In southern Sweden, that’s where. Filling Morse’s boots on British TV from November onwards will be Kurt Wallander, the quick-tempered, hard-drinking and thoroughly captivating policeman who calls Ystad, near Malmö, home.
Created by author Henning Mankell, the character has appeared in 10 best-selling books and more than a dozen Swedish films. Among the detective’s fanbase is Oscar-nominated actor Kenneth Branagh who plays Wallander in the new BBC series, which consists of three 90-minute episodes based on books One Step Behind, Firewall and Sidetracked.
“Wallander is a wonderfully complex and compelling character,” says Branagh. “Mankell has produced something huge and I hope the world will be interested in seeing a character with universal appeal.”
Executive producer Francis Hopkinson is convinced Wallander will win over British audiences. “I think they’ll recognise him as very human and an everyman who is concerned about the world,” he says. “British audiences won’t see Wallander as that different just because he is Swedish. He has a vulnerability that people, irrespective of their nationality, will relate to. Then, thrown into the mix, you have the fact that he solves crimes in such a beautiful part of the world.”
The three production companies (two British and one Swedish) putting together the new Wallander adventures realised early on that the town of Ystad would be crucial to the success of the series. It would be simply impossible to replicate its unique beauty on a back lot in the UK. So, in April this year, a largely British cast and a predominantly Swedish crew invaded Ystad. What followed was an extraordinary four-month shoot in which the UK and Swedish TV industries swapped ideas and worked together like never before.
“It was a fantastic experience,” says producer Daniel Ahlqvist. “We had to create a mix between the UK system and a Swedish system. The difference is that we work with a smaller crew in Scandinavia. We normally have 30 people and on Wallander we had almost 80. The bigger the crew, the smaller the area of responsibility. The work is divided up more. So it was a learning experience. I think ultimately the industries were able to learn from each other and become stronger.”
Kenneth Branagh can’t say enough positive things about the Swedish crew. “We talked about how we could work things better and that happened very naturally,” the actor explains. “I find that very pleasing. If you ask me what a Swedish person is, I’ll tell you – a Swedish person could be a collection of wonderful things.”
It shouldn’t really come as a surprise that a Scandinavian crew would have such high skill levels. After all, Scandinavia has a proven track record when it comes to producing innovative TV shows that strike a chord with audiences around the world. Just ask Australian viewers who slavishly watch FC Nerds, the top-rated reality show that is based on Danish hit series FC Zulu. Also scoring high ratings Down Under, and in 12 other countries, is Danish paranormal docudrama Sensing Murder while Norway’s first ever reality show 71 Degrees North – which sees contestants travel from Lindesnes to Nordkapp – is huge in Holland. Most recently, popular Danish soap opera 2900 Happiness was picked up in France, Belgium, Holland and the US.
“In Scandinavia we work with small budgets compared to bigger markets like the US or UK but we are still able to make very high quality shows,” says Karoline Spodsberg, International Director at Nordisk Film TV, one of the leading Nordic producers of successful TV formats, whose shows have been sold for local adaptation around the world. “We have a very well educated viewer group that demands high quality on television. Then there is also the fact that Scandinavian culture is one that really values innovation very highly. It is not just in the TV industry that we are good at innovation. We are strong in design and other creative businesses as well. That creativity translates into television.”
The new Wallander series certainly benefited greatly from Scandinavian creativity, especially when it came to merging a British cast with their very Swedish surroundings. “One of the things that we had to discuss a lot was how we would deal with a story for an English audience taking place in a foreign country,” explains Ahlqvist, whose production company Yellow Bird Films is based in Ystad. “How do we deal with cars, signs, papers and things like that? Should we let all the English actors go on Swedish courses? Should they pronounce ‘Wallander’ like they do in Sweden or like they do in England? What side of the road should Kurt Wallander drive on? That was a challenge. Ultimately we have a story taking place in Sweden with everything that is Swedish – police cars, costumes, signs – but with people talking English. We hope the setting makes it more intriguing and exciting.”
The Wallander cast and crew were helped immeasurably in their efforts by the people of Ystad. “You say the name Wallander and it opens a lot of doors in Ystad,” chuckles Ahlqvist. “The character is really part of the town. Everywhere you go and talk to people, they are familiar with Wallander. The local community were so excited that we were filming there that they were happily letting us into their homes to shoot and helping us with roadblocks.”
While researching his role, Branagh found the local police officers to be extremely approachable. “We have been helped and encouraged across the board in Ystad,” he says. “We have had some very interesting conversations with the police who just offered up a sense of what we could introduce into what we were doing.”
For the team’s executive producer Francis Hopkinson, the attitude of the local community brought home just how special Kurt Wallander really is.
“You could see how proud the people of Ystad were that their local detective would now be seen by people in the UK,” says Hopkinson, who reveals that a further three Wallanders are already in the pipeline. “We really got the sense that we were dealing with a character who has touched the lives of many people. Now it is the turn of UK audiences to spend some time with this extraordinary man called Wallander.”
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