Danish broadcaster DR announces two new crime dramas

As readers will know, we like to keep up with what’s happening with our Scandinavian and Nordic friends across the water, and yesterday Danish broadcaster DR announced two new crime dramas that will air this autumn and winter in its flagship Sunday-night, 8pm slot.

First up is series two of Mord Uden Grænser (Murder Without Borders), in which mass murder has been committed at a bed and breakfast hotel in Marskgården in Sønderjylland, a refuge for refugees – all indicating a terrorist attack.

Series one featured the likes of Scandi and European crime drama favourites like Lars Mikkelsen, Filip Peeters and Ida Engvoll, but in series two Marie Bach Hansen stars in the eight-part drama with Troels Lyby, Waage Sandø, Josephine Park, Anders Juul, Esben Dalgaard and Kristian Halken. Murder Without Borders will debut in Denmark on 19th August.

Finally, and of interest to UK viewers (series one and two were broadcast by BBC Four) series three of Bedrag (Follow The Money) is also mooted to be coming back, albeit in 2019. Lead characters Nicky and Alf (played by Esben Smed Jensen and Thomas Hwan) are joined by a new female character played by Maria Rich. Series three of Follow The Money is set to debut 2019, although some will be streamed on the channel’s VOD service, DRTV.

More news when we get it.

Vera begins filming series nine; plotlines revealed

Quietly and assuredly, Vera has become one of the most watched crime dramas in the UK. Adapted from multi-award-winning author Ann Cleeves’ best-selling novels, Brenda Blethyn has become one of the staples of British television because of it.

Now we hear that series nine is go, and, what’s more, some plotlines have been revealed. (So don’t read on if you don’t want to know.)

With filming underway for the first episode, entitled Blind Spot written by Paul Logue, Brenda is joined by a strong ensemble cast, which includes Peter Davison, James Atherton, Jodie McNee, Adrian Lukis and Paul Kaye.

Bright and ambitious, Joanne Caswell is a newly qualified HMP forensic psychologist working in Newcastle. When her body is found dumped on a landfill site far from home, Vera alights on the fact that Joanne had been looking into the crime of a former patient who had recently committed suicide. Vera must follow the trail that Joanne has left behind to uncover who might have had a motive to kill her.

Kenny Doughty returns as Detective Sergeant Aiden Healy, who over the years has proved himself to be a strong and reliable partner to DCI Stanhope. Completing Vera’s team is Jon Morrison who plays DC Kenny Lockhart, Riley Jones who plays DC Mark Edwards and television newcomer Ibinabo Jack who plays Vera’s newest recruit, DC Jacqueline Williams, who transferred from the Fraud Squad in series eight.

The four self-contained crime stories have once again been inspired by the best-selling novels and characters created by acclaimed crime writer Ann Cleeves, who received the Diamond Dagger Award at the Crime Writer’s Association in 2017 for a lifetime achievement for sustained excellence.

The fourth episode, entitled The Seagull, has been adapted from Ann’s latest book of the same title. Vera has to open up a cold case when she discovers not one but two skeletons hidden in a culvert near Whitley Bay. One of the skeletons is suspected to be a missing person, Robbie Marshall. And when an old acquaintance of Robbie’s is murdered in the present, Vera suspects that the two deaths must be connected.

Look out for it in early 2019.

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