WorldScreenings: Dynamic’s The Sommerdahl Murders

The Sommerdahl Murders series creator and head writer Lolita Bellstar spoke to TV Drama via video conference about adapting the books for the small screen.

A blue-sky take on the Nordic noir genre, The Sommerdahl Murders is set in a picturesque town on the Danish coastline. Each episode of the procedural drama centers on a murder investigation solved by Dan Sommerdahl (Peter Mygind; Flame and Citron) and his best friend Detective Superintendent Fleming Torp (André Babikian; The Protectors).

The show is based on Anna Grue’s Dan Sommerdahl book franchise, which has been published throughout Europe, earning particular success in Germany and France. Conceived as a 12-part book series, eight books have been published thus far.

In the beautiful Danish coastal town of Helsingør, Detective Chief Inspector Dan Sommerdahl is the undisputed hero at North Sjælland Police. But while he can look back at a remarkable history of solved homicides, things aren’t going as well at home with his wife, Chief Criminal Technician Marianne Sommerdahl, who feels neglected and distant from her husband. When the body of a young woman washes up on a beach, Dan and his best friend and colleague, Detective Flemming Torp, quickly determine this wasn’t an accident, and they are in hot pursuit to find the murderer and the baby the female victim had just given birth to. At the same time, when Dan finds out that his best friend is in love with his wife and the admiration is mutual on the wife’s end, these new dynamics put these relationships to the test, under the stress of trying to solve new murders and keep the city safe.

The Sommerdahl Murders is a co-production between Dynamic Television, NDF, Sequoia Global Alliance, ZDF and Danish broadcaster TV2. The series premiered on March 1 on TV2 Charlie and was an instant hit, with more than 500,000 viewers and a 25 percent market share. TV2 picked up the series for a second season, slated to premiere in spring 2021.

Dynamic Television has notched up a slew of global sales for the Scandi hit, including to Acorn TV for the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Ireland, Australia, New Zealand and Latin America. The series kicks off the first of its eight-episode run on Acorn TV on June 29, with a premiere in the U.K., Australia and New Zealand on July 13.

See Dynamic Television’s Summer 2020 Showcase here.