''State of Happiness'' ( no, Lykkeland) is a

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe *Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway *Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including the ...

period drama A historical drama (also period drama, costume drama, and period piece) is a work set in a past time period, usually used in the context of film and television. Historical drama includes historical fiction and romance film, romances, adventure f ...

television series about the discovery of

oil in the North Sea North Sea oil is a mixture of hydrocarbons, comprising liquid petroleum and natural gas, produced from petroleum reservoirs beneath the North Sea. In the petroleum industry, the term "North Sea" often includes areas such as the Norwegian Sea and ...

, and subsequent growth of the petroleum industry in

Stavanger Stavanger (, , American English, US usually , ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Norway. It is the fourth largest city and third largest metropolitan area in Norway (through conurbation with neighboring Sandnes) and the a ...

, beginning in 1969. It is directed by

Petter Næss Petter Næss (born 14 March 1960 in Oslo, Norway) is a Norwegian actor and film director. His first film as a director was the comedy ''Absolutt blåmandag'' in 1999. Næss is best known for his work directing two of the three films about Ingvar ...

and

Pål Jackman Pål Jackman (born 20 September 1967, in Haugesund, Norway) is a Norwegian film director and musician. As a musician he appears under the name Jackman, both as a solo artist and with his own alternative rock trio. In the trio format has with hi ...

and is coproduced by

NRK NRK, an abbreviation of the Norwegian ''Norsk Rikskringkasting Aksjeselskap, AS'', generally expressed in English as the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation, is the Norwegian government-owned radio and television public broadcasting company, and ...

and

Maipo Film Maipo Film is a Norwegian film production company founded in 2000. It created the Oscar-nominated film "Elling" (2001), starring Per Christian Ellefsen (Elling), Sven Nordin (Kjell Bjarne), Marit Pia Jacobsen (Reidun), Jørgen Langhelle (Frank Åsl ...

. Its first season premiered on NRK1 in 2018, and is set during the years 1969 to 1972. Its second season, covering the years 1977 to 1980, premiered in 2022. A third season, covering the years 1987 to 1990, was ordered in October 2022, with filming commencing in March 2023. The series has drawn comparisons to the American period drama ''

Mad Men ''Mad Men'' is an American period drama television series created by Matthew Weiner and produced by Lionsgate Television. It ran on the cable network AMC from July 19, 2007, to May 17, 2015, lasting for seven seasons and 92 episodes. Its fict ...

.''

Cast and characters

*Anne Regine Ellingsæter as Anna Hellevik, a secretary and Christian's fiancée *Amund Harboe as Christian Nyman (season 1), an oil rig diver and Anna's fiancé *Paal Herman Ims as Christian Nyman (season 2) *

Bart Edwards Bart Edwards is a British actor. Edwards played the role of Jasper Hunt in Lifetime/Hulu drama series ''Unreal'', and starred as Jonathan Kay in NRK drama '' Lykkeland''. Edwards is set to star in Giles Alderson's thriller ''The Dare'', to be ...

as Jonathan Kay, a lawyer from

Phillips Petroleum Company Phillips Petroleum Company was an American oil company incorporated in 1917 that expanded into petroleum refining, marketing and transportation, natural gas gathering and the chemicals sectors. It was Phillips Petroleum that first found oil in the ...

*Malene Wadel as Toril Torstensen, a young mother and worker at Fredrik Nyman's company *

Pia Tjelta Pia Merete Tjelta (born 12 September 1977, in Stavanger) is a Norwegian actress. Tjelta graduated from the Norwegian National Academy of Theatre in 2006, but had already appeared in many films. She made her film debut in 2001 in the film ''Mon ...

as Ingrid Nyman, a socialite, wife of Fredrik, and mother of Christian *Per Kjerstad as Fredrik Nyman, owner of a fish canning company in Stavanger, husband of Ingrid, and father of Christian *

Mads Sjøgård Pettersen Mads Sjøgård Pettersen (born 21 January 1984) is a Norwegian actor known for his role of Fredrik Kayser on mini-series ''The Heavy Water War'' and for his portrayal of Håvard Bakkeli on the series '' Nobel''. Career In 2009 he portrayed T ...

as Martin Lekanger, an oil rig diver *

Adam Fergus Adam Fergus is an Irish film, television and stage actor. Early life Born in Drogheda, County Louth and raised in the nearby village of Laytown, he is the son of a nurse and a recruitment specialist. He attended Clongowes College before going ...

as Ed Young, a businessman from Phillips Petroleum Company *Ole Christoffer Ertvaag as Rein Hellevik, Anna's brother *

Laila Goody Laila Elin Goody (born 22 March 1971) is a Norwegian actress. She was born to an English father who worked in the oil industry and a Norwegian mother. She was born in Stavanger and grew up in Rosendal, Hordaland between the ages of two to ten, b ...

as Randi Torstensen, Toril's mother, and a devout Christian *Vegar Hoel as

Arne Rettedal Arne Rettedal (25 July 1926 – 28 December 2001) was Norwegian engineer, businessperson and politician for the Conservative Party. He is best known as the Minister of Local Government and Labour from 1981 to 1986, mayor of Stavanger from 1965 to ...

, a Stavanger politician *Roar Kjølv Jenssen as Leif Larsen, the mayor of Stavanger

Awards and accolades

The first season of the series received five

Gullruten Gullruten ("Golden Screen") is an annual award for the Norwegian TV industry, founded in 1998 by ''Norske Film- og TV-produsenters forening''. The awarding committee has representatives from the major national TV companies, NRK, TV 2, TV3 and TV ...

awards from among eight nominations in 2019, including best drama series and best actor (Anne Regine Ellingsæter). Its second season received another nine nominations, winning five Gullruten awards in 2022. Internationally, the series won awards for best screenplay and best music at the inaugural Canneseries in 2018. It received nominations in three categories during the 2019

Monte-Carlo Television Festival The Monte-Carlo Television Festival is held every year in June in the Monaco, Principality of Monaco at the Grimaldi Forum, under the Honorary Presidency of H.S.H. Albert II, Prince of Monaco, Prince Albert II of Monaco. The opening ceremony ...

, but did not win.

International release

Internationally, broadcasters in more than 60 countries have bought rights to the series, according to NRK. The series is known by the title "State of Happiness" in English. In the UK, the series was acquired by BBC Four. It was also acquired for Topic's streaming platform in the United States.

Reception

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

Carol Midgley said that the series,"has a hypnotic charm and easily stands on its own merit", giving it four out of five stars.

References

External links

* * {{IMDb title, 7005636, State of Happiness Television shows set in Norway Television series set in the 1970s Norwegian drama television series 2018 Norwegian television series debuts Works about petroleum