Viaplay Slates Below as Next Norwegian Original

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Below, a dark comedy-drama starring Maria Austgulen (Made in Oslo), is set to be the latest Viaplay original from Norway.

The series follows Fanny (Austgulen), who is involved in an accident after a night out that kills her best friend Kurt and leaves her paralyzed from the waist down. Forced to move in with her sister who she had avoided since childhood, she longs to return to her fourth-floor apartment and her old life.

Screenwriter Tina Rygh (Sigurd Can’t Get Laid, Basic Bitch) makes her debut as a creator with Below, which is directed by Siri Seljeseth (Young and Promising). It is produced by Bård Fjulsrud and Aurora Bjørnhaug at Monster Scripted, with Tanya Nanette Badendyck as executive producer for Viaplay Group. Distributed worldwide by Viaplay Content Sales, the six-part series will premiere exclusively on Viaplay this fall.

Rygh said: “I wanted to make a series about people in crisis—it’s a fruitful starting point for painful, intimate and embarrassing encounters. But Fanny doesn’t fit the template of someone who’s supposed to be grieving. In a sense, she rejects the situation at the same time as she can’t escape it. It’s so great that Viaplay has seen the same comic and tragic potential in this story.”

Filippa Wallestam, Viaplay Group’s chief content officer, said: “This sharp and quirky show challenges your expectations at every turn. It takes on complex themes through a multi-layered character—and the more Fanny pushes away everything around her, the closer you’re drawn to her. Our latest addition to Viaplay’s Norwegian slate has the makings of a huge viewer hit, both locally and internationally.”