''The Killing'' ( da, Forbrydelsen, lit=The Crime) is a Danish
police procedural
The police show, or police crime drama, is a subgenre of procedural drama and detective fiction that emphasizes the investigative procedure of a police officer or department as the protagonist(s), as contrasted with other genres that focus on eit ...
drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has b ...
television series created by
Søren Sveistrup and produced by
DR in co-production with
ZDF Enterprises. It premiered on the Danish national television channel
DR1
DR1 (DR Et) is the flagship television channel of the DR (broadcaster), Danish Broadcasting Corporation (DR). It became Denmark's first television station when it began broadcasting in 1951 – at first only for an hour a day three times a we ...
on 7 January 2007, and has since been broadcast in several other countries.
The series is set in
Copenhagen
Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...
and revolves around Detective Inspector Sarah Lund (
Sofie Gråbøl
Sofie Gråbøl (; born 30 July 1968) is a Danish actress. She has starred in a number of films, with her breakthrough role in the 1986 Danish film '' Early Spring'', directed by Astrid Henning-Jensen, playing the lead role in the film version of ...
). Each series follows a murder case day-by-day. Each fifty-minute episode covers twenty-four hours of the investigation. The series is noted for its
plot twist
A plot twist is a literary technique that introduces a radical change in the direction or expected outcome of the plot in a work of fiction. When it happens near the end of a story, it is known as a twist or surprise ending. It may change the au ...
s,
season-long storylines, dark tone and for giving equal emphasis to the stories of the murdered victim's family and the effect in political circles alongside the police investigation. It has also been singled out for the photography of its Danish setting, and for the acting ability of its cast.
''The Killing'' has proved to be an international success, particularly in the United Kingdom, Germany and the Netherlands, receiving numerous awards and nominations including a
BAFTA Award
The British Academy Film Awards, more commonly known as the BAFTA Film Awards is an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) to honour the best British and international contributions to film. The cer ...
and an
International Emmy
The International Emmy Awards, or International Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. Bestowed by the New York–based International Academy of Television Arts and Sci ...
. It has become something of a
cult show. Novelisations of each series have been published by
Macmillan.
Production
Development
Søren Sveistrup, series creator and head writer, worked closely with lead actress Sofie Gråbøl throughout the writing process to develop the character of Detective Inspector Sarah Lund. Gråbøl, in particular, became eager to defend her character. Gråbøl had a history of playing emotionally demonstrative characters on Danish televisionshe had worked with Sveistrup before on the TV-series ''
Nikolaj og Julie''he approached her direct to play the part of Lund before work on the script began.
Filming
Despite her insistence that she wanted to play an "isolated person
ho is
Ho (or the transliterations He or Heo) may refer to:
People Language and ethnicity
* Ho people, an ethnic group of India
** Ho language, a tribal language in India
* Hani people, or Ho people, an ethnic group in China, Laos and Vietnam
* Hiri Mo ...
unable to communicate" Gråbøl initially found it difficult to strike the right balance for the emotionally-distant Lund and then realised that the only people she knew, who were like the character, were men. As a result, she began "acting like a man" until the character took shape.
During filming of the first series, Sveistrup also refused to reveal the identity of the murderer or even specific plot points to members of the cast, including Gråbøl. The actors would receive the scripts only on an episode-by-episode basis just moments before shooting was scheduled to begin. Only Gråbøl was told that she was not the killer.
Series 1
![Police HQ Copenhagen](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cc/Police_HQ_Copenhagen.JPG)
![Sofie Gråbøl](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/df/Sofie_Gr%C3%A5b%C3%B8l.jpg)
The first series consists of twenty fifty-minute episodes, which follow the police investigation into the murder of a young woman from its commencement on 3 November to its conclusion on 22 November.
The first ten episodes were shown on
DR1
DR1 (DR Et) is the flagship television channel of the DR (broadcaster), Danish Broadcasting Corporation (DR). It became Denmark's first television station when it began broadcasting in 1951 – at first only for an hour a day three times a we ...
each Sunday from early January to the middle of March 2007 and the intention was to show the remaining ten episodes in January–March 2008; it was so popular in Denmark that in early March it was announced that the final ten episodes would be brought forward to the autumn of 2007; they were shown from late September to late November 2007.
Synopsis
Main cast
* Inspector Sarah Lund:
Sofie Gråbøl
Sofie Gråbøl (; born 30 July 1968) is a Danish actress. She has starred in a number of films, with her breakthrough role in the 1986 Danish film '' Early Spring'', directed by Astrid Henning-Jensen, playing the lead role in the film version of ...
* Inspector Jan Meyer:
Søren Malling
* Chief Inspector Erik Buchard: Troels II Munk
(episodes 1–11)
* Chief Inspector Lennart Brix:
Morten Suurballe
Morten Sasse Suurballe (born 8 March 1955) is a Danish actor, best known for playing Detective Chief Inspector Lennart Brix in the three television series '' The Killing'' (Danish: ''Forbrydelsen'', “The Crime”) in which he played alongside S ...
(episodes 11–20)
* Troels Hartmann:
Lars Mikkelsen
Lars Dittmann Mikkelsen (born 6 May 1964) is a Danish actor. He has played Copenhagen mayoral election candidate Troels Hartmann in the drama series '' The Killing'', Charles Augustus Magnussen in the third series of '' Sherlock'', the Russian ...
* Mayor Poul Bremer:
Bent Mejding
Bent Mejding (born 14 January 1937) is a Danish actor, stage director and theatre manager. He won a Danish Film Academy Award in 1985 and 2007. He is married to the actress Susse Wold.
Career
Mejding had his debut at Folketeatret
Folketeate ...
* Rie Skovgaard:
Marie Askehave
Marie Askehave (born 21 November 1973) is a Danish actress and singer.
She was born in Nibe, graduated from Statens Teaterskole in 2003, and since 8 July 2006 has been married to colleague David Owe
David de Coninck Owe (born 2 December 1977) ...
* Theis Birk Larsen:
Bjarne Henriksen
* Pernille Birk Larsen:
Ann Eleonora Jørgensen
* Vagn Skærbæk:
Nicolaj Kopernikus
Nicolaj Kopernikus (born Nicolaj Christiansen, 9 August 1967 in Glostrup) is a Danish actor most famous for his portrayal of Vagn Skærbæk in the first series of the crime drama series '' The Killing''. Kopernikus won a Bodil Award for Best Ac ...
* Rama:
Farshad Kholghi Farshad is a given name of Iranian origins. Farshad may refer to:
*Farshad Ahmadzadeh, Iranian football midfielder
*Farshad Alizadeh, Iranian wrestler
*Farshad Bahadorani (born 1982), Iranian football midfielder
*Farshad Bashir (born 1988), Dutch p ...
* Morten Weber:
Michael Moritzen
* Nanna Birk Larsen:
Julie Ølgaard
Julie R. Ølgaard (born 29 September 1981 in Copenhagen, Denmark) is a Danish actress.
Career
In 2000, Ølgaard relocated to Los Angeles, where she trained as an actress at the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute. After three years, she retur ...
Episodes and ratings
Series 2
''Forbrydelsen II'' is set two years later and consists of ten episodes. It aired in Denmark between 27 September and 29 November 2009. Episodes were screened eleven days later on Thursdays on Norwegian
NRK1
NRK1 (pronounced as ''"NRK en"'' or ''"- ein"'') is the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation's (NRK) main television channel.
History
Test broadcasts started on 12 January 1954, regular test broadcasts started on 13 April 1958 and regular broadca ...
. It was shown on German TV channel
ZDF
ZDF (, short for Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen; ; "Second German Television") is a German public-service television broadcaster based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. It is run as an independent nonprofit institution, which was founded by all fe ...
and on Swedish
SVT in the autumn of 2010. In the United Kingdom, it was shown on
BBC Four, starting from 19 November 2011, following the success of the first series, on the Belgian channel,
Canvas, starting on 25 November 2011,
and in Australia on
SBS Two
SBS Viceland (stylised as SBS VICELAND) is an Australian free-to-air television channel owned by the Special Broadcasting Service (SBS). It began as SBS TWO on 1 June 2009, and was branded as SBS 2 between 2013 and 2016. On 8 April 2017, SBS ...
, starting from 21 March 2012. The Region 2 DVD with English subtitles was released on 19 December 2011.
Plot
Inspector Ulrik Strange arrives at a port where Lund is working as a
border guard, on the orders of her former boss, Brix, to ask her to return to help investigate the murder of Anne Dragsholm, a military adviser found murdered in
Ryvangen Memorial Park. Lund suspects that the murder is not as straightforward as it seems, despite the
forced confession
A forced confession is a confession obtained from a suspect or a prisoner by means of torture (including enhanced interrogation techniques) or other forms of duress. Depending on the level of coercion used, a forced confession is not valid in rev ...
of Dragsholm's husband. Meanwhile, Thomas Buch, the newly appointed
Minister of Justice
A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...
, suspects that his predecessor was involved in the cover-up of a massacre of
Afghan
Afghan may refer to:
*Something of or related to Afghanistan, a country in Southern-Central Asia
*Afghans, people or citizens of Afghanistan, typically of any ethnicity
** Afghan (ethnonym), the historic term applied strictly to people of the Pas ...
civilians by Danish soldiers and that this incident is connected with the murder. Lund is about to be discharged from the case when a second killing, that of a Danish military veteran, leads to fears that
Islamic extremists are involved. Jens Peter Raben, a
sectioned
Involuntary commitment, civil commitment, or involuntary hospitalization/hospitalisation is a legal process through which an individual who is deemed by a qualified agent to have symptoms of severe mental disorder is detained in a psychiatric hos ...
war veteran, knew both victims and tells his story of the execution of an Afghan family by a
special forces officer named "Perk". Raben escapes, and two other members of the unit are murdered. Suspicion falls on senior military officers, including Raben's father-in-law, Colonel Jarnvig.
Buch and his secretarial team uncover further evidence of the cover-up, but the cabinet pressures him to continue pinning the murders on Muslims in order to assure the passage of an anti-terrorism bill. Raben takes refuge in a church presided over by a former
army chaplain
A military chaplain ministers to military personnel and, in most cases, their families and civilians working for the military. In some cases they will also work with local civilians within a military area of operations.
Although the term '' ch ...
, who tries to convince him to give himself up and stop investigating the killings. Lund discovers the chaplain's body and pursues the perpetrator. She arranges for the exhumation of Perk's body. When Lund and Strange catch up with Raben, he calls out Perk's name before Strange shoots him. An injured Raben persists in accusing Strange of being the officer responsible for the massacre, yet it is later officially confirmed that he had left Afghanistan before the killings. Lund is uneasy about Strange's
alibi
An alibi (from the Latin, '' alibī'', meaning "somewhere else") is a statement by a person, who is a possible perpetrator of a crime, of where they were at the time a particular offence was committed, which is somewhere other than where the crim ...
s for the murders, but takes him with her to Afghanistan to investigate a new suspect. Lund's persistence results in the discovery of the bones of the Afghan civilians.
Upon returning to Denmark, Lund meets her mother, who has had a
premonition
A premonition is a feeling that some event will happen, typically a forewarning of something unwelcome.
Premonition(s) or The Premonition may also refer to:
Film and television
* "Premonition" (''Alfred Hitchcock Presents''), an episode of ' ...
of Lund lying dead. Following a further search of a military
barracks, suspicion falls on Captain Bilal, an anti-
Taliban
The Taliban (; ps, طالبان, ṭālibān, lit=students or 'seekers'), which also refers to itself by its state name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a Deobandi Islamic fundamentalist, militant Islamist, jihadist, and Pasht ...
Muslim who kidnaps Raben's wife Louise. Raben and Jarnvig lead Lund and Strange to Bilal, who
is killed by an explosion before they are able to question him. Strange volunteers to return Raben to the mental hospital, but Lund insists on driving them. On the way, they make a stop at the scene of Dragsholm's murder, where Lund points out to Strange the reasons why Bilal is unlikely to have been involved. Strange reveals a detail that only the murderer could know, and confesses to the murders before shooting Lund with her own gun, which he then plants on Raben. He phones the police and is about to shoot Raben when Lund hits him over the head. When Strange tries to retrieve his gun, Lund shoots him dead. As the police arrive at the scene, Lund walks away, removing her
bullet-proof vest.
Main cast
* Inspector Sarah Lund:
Sofie Gråbøl
Sofie Gråbøl (; born 30 July 1968) is a Danish actress. She has starred in a number of films, with her breakthrough role in the 1986 Danish film '' Early Spring'', directed by Astrid Henning-Jensen, playing the lead role in the film version of ...
* Chief Inspector Lennart Brix:
Morten Suurballe
Morten Sasse Suurballe (born 8 March 1955) is a Danish actor, best known for playing Detective Chief Inspector Lennart Brix in the three television series '' The Killing'' (Danish: ''Forbrydelsen'', “The Crime”) in which he played alongside S ...
* Inspector Ulrik Strange:
Mikael Birkkjær
Mikael Birkkjær (born 14 September 1958) is a Danish actor.
Raised in Copenhagen, Birkkjær trained at Skuespillerskolen at Odense Teater in 1985. He is best known internationally for his roles as Phillip Christensen in the Danish TV political d ...
* Justice Minister Thomas Buch:
Nicolas Bro
Nicolas Bro (born 16 March 1972) is a Danish actor born in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Background
Bro grew up in a family of actors; his mother is Danish actress Helle Hertz and father is the actor Christoffer Bro.
His brother Anders Peter Bro is a ...
* Prime Minister Gert Grue Eriksen:
Kurt Ravn
Kurt is a male given name of Germanic or Turkish origin. ''Kurt'' or ''Curt'' originated as short forms of the Germanic Conrad, depending on geographical usage, with meanings including counselor or advisor.
In Turkish, Kurt means "Wolf" and i ...
* Colonel Torsten Jarnvig:
Flemming Enevold
Flemming is a surname and a male given name referring, like the more common ''Fleming (disambiguation), Fleming'', to an inhabitant (or descendant thereof) of Flanders,
* Major Christian Søgaard:
Carsten Bjørnlund
Carsten Bjørnlund (born 28 June 1973) is a Danish theatre, film and television actor.
Bjørnlund's first leading film role was Rasmus in 2008's ''One-Way Ticket to Korsør''. He played one of the leading characters in the second series of ''Fo ...
* Sergeant Jens Peter Raben:
Ken Vedsegaard
Ken Vedsegaard (born 14 October 1972) is a Danish actor.
Biography
Son of a restaurateur and raised in Copenhagen, Vedsegaard trained at the Skuespillerskolen at Aarhus Teater between 1996 and 2000. He is currently known for his role as Jesper ...
* Louise Raben:
Stine Prætorius
* Carsten Plough:
Preben Kristensen
Preben Kristensen (born 14 March 1953) is a Danish actor. He first came to attention as one of the musical comedy trio Linie 3 in 1979.
He was educated from the drama school of Aarhus Theatre in 1978 and has since the played at most major th ...
* Karina Munk Jørgensen:
Charlotte Guldberg
* Erling Krabbe:
Jens Jacob Tychsen
* Captain Said Bilal:
Igor Radoslavjevic
*
VPD Ruth Hedeby:
Lotte Andersen Lotte may refer to:
Businesses
* Lotte Corporation, a South Korean industrial conglomerate
** Lotte Holdings, a Japanese holding company
** Lotte Capital, a South Korean financial company
** Lotte Card, a South Korean credit card provider
** Lo ...
Episodes and ratings
Series 3
''Forbrydelsen III'', premiered on Danish television on 23 September 2012. It commenced on NRK1 in Norway on Monday 8 October 2012, with an audience of 436,000.
Series 3 on BBC Four in the UK began on 17 November 2012 with 1.04 million viewers.
Short summary
This final ten-part series begins with the murder of a sailor. Sarah Lund's investigation turns to the financial and governmental communities during the
global financial crisis
Global means of or referring to a globe and may also refer to:
Entertainment
* ''Global'' (Paul van Dyk album), 2003
* ''Global'' (Bunji Garlin album), 2007
* ''Global'' (Humanoid album), 1989
* ''Global'' (Todd Rundgren album), 2015
* Bruno ...
.
Main cast
* Chief Inspector Sarah Lund:
Sofie Gråbøl
Sofie Gråbøl (; born 30 July 1968) is a Danish actress. She has starred in a number of films, with her breakthrough role in the 1986 Danish film '' Early Spring'', directed by Astrid Henning-Jensen, playing the lead role in the film version of ...
*
VPD Lennart Brix:
Morten Suurballe
Morten Sasse Suurballe (born 8 March 1955) is a Danish actor, best known for playing Detective Chief Inspector Lennart Brix in the three television series '' The Killing'' (Danish: ''Forbrydelsen'', “The Crime”) in which he played alongside S ...
* Mathias Borch:
Nikolaj Lie Kaas
Nikolaj Lie Kaas (; born 22 May 1973) is a Danish actor whose career rose in the 1990s. Kaas graduated from the National Theater School in Denmark in 1998. He first appeared on screen in Søren Kragh-Jacobsen's film ''The Boys from St. Petri'' i ...
* Inspector Asbjørn Juncker:
Sigurd Holmen le Dous
* Robert Zeuthen:
Anders W. Berthelsen
Anders W. Berthelsen (born 28 September 1969) is a Danish actor. He has appeared in more than 40 films and television shows since 1994.
Selected filmography
References
External links
*
1969 births
Living people
Danish male film act ...
* Maja Zeuthen:
Helle Fagralid
Helle Fagralid (born 11 May 1976) is a Danish actress who has appeared in number of feature films and television series.
Career
Fagralid played Iben in the TV-series '' Nikolaj og Julie'' (2002–2003), Freja, the goddess of love, in the TV-s ...
* Niels Reinhardt:
Stig Hoffmeyer
Stig or STIG may refer to:
People
* Stig (given name)
* Nickname of Robert Stigwood (1934–2016), musical act manager
Arts and entertainment
* The Stig, a masked racing driver on the UK television show ''Top Gear''
* Stig (singer), Finnish perf ...
* Prime Minister Kristian Kamper:
Olaf Johannessen
* Kristoffer "Stoffer" Kamper:
Jonatan Spang
Jannik Kåre Jonatan Spang Olesen (born February 4, 1978) is a Danish standup comedian, actor and former theater director at Nørrebro Teater. Spang debuted as a standup comedian in 1998. The following year he was admitted to the School of Acti ...
* Karen Nebel:
Trine Pallesen
* Birgit Eggert:
Tammi Øst
Tammi Øst (born 1 October 1958) is a Danish actress.
Øst was born in Copenhagen, and was trained at the Danish National School of Theatre and Contemporary Dance in 1982. In 1988 she played the leading role of Katinka in Max von Sydow's film o ...
* Deputy Public Prosecutor Tage Steiner:
Peter Mygind
* Rosa Lebech:
Sara-Marie Maltha
Episodes and ratings
Figures for the UK broadcast of episodes 1 – 8 do not include the ratings for BBC HD.
Overseas success
In the wake of the successful ''
Wallander'' series, ''The Killing'' became another Scandinavian crime hit with British viewers when it was shown on
BBC Four in the spring of 2011. Although subtitled, it attracted more viewers than ''
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 f ...
'', scored audience appreciation figures of 94%, and was described as "the best series currently on TV". The success created an interest in all things Danish, and the female detective's
Faroese jumper was the subject of newspaper articles as well as becoming a sought after online item.
As well as the UK, DR also sold the series to a number of other broadcasters worldwide, and ''The Killing'' was eventually shown in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Germany, Japan, Russia, Spain and the US with varying degrees of success. Producer Piv Bernth described the broad appeal of the show as "groundbreaking", and explained what she believed to be the root of its popularity:
"It's the first time you have a detective drama over 20 episodes – other series had one killing per episode. And we also have this three-plot structure – what does it murdermean for a police investigator, what does it mean for the parents, what does it mean for the politicians. It's not just about finding the murderer. That's important, but it's not all."
Over 120 countries have purchased the first two seasons of The Killing. The first series has also been shown in other countries, as follows:
* 2007: Norway on
NRK1
NRK1 (pronounced as ''"NRK en"'' or ''"- ein"'') is the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation's (NRK) main television channel.
History
Test broadcasts started on 12 January 1954, regular test broadcasts started on 13 April 1958 and regular broadca ...
(as ''Forbrytelsen'')
* 2007: Finland on
Yle Fem
Yle Fem (''Yle Five'') was Yle's Finland-Swedish national television channel, providing television programmes in the Swedish language in Finland. It was a public-service channel principally intended for Finland's Swedish-speaking minority. Cre ...
(as ''Brottet'') and
AVA (as ''Rikos'')
* 2007: Faroe Islands on
SvF (as ''Brotsgerðin'')
* 2008: Sweden on
SVT1 (as ''Brottet'')
* 2008: Iceland on
RÚV
Ríkisútvarpið (RÚV) (pronounced or ) ( en, 'The Icelandic National Broadcasting Service') is Iceland's national public-service broadcasting organization.
Operating from studios in the country's capital, Reykjavík, as well as regional cent ...
* 2008: Germany on
ZDF
ZDF (, short for Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen; ; "Second German Television") is a German public-service television broadcaster based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. It is run as an independent nonprofit institution, which was founded by all fe ...
(as ''Kommissarin Lund: Das Verbrechen'')
* 2009: Austria on
ORF
ORF or Orf may refer to:
* Norfolk International Airport, IATA airport code ORF
* Observer Research Foundation, an Indian research institute
* One Race Films, a film production company founded by Vin Diesel
* Open reading frame, a portion of the ...
* 2010: Belgium, France, Germany on
ARTE
Arte (; (), sometimes stylized in lowercase or uppercase in its logo) is a European public service channel dedicated to culture.
It is made up of three separate companies: the Strasbourg-based European Economic Interest Grouping ARTE, plu ...
(as ''The Killing'')
* 2010: Australia on
SBS One
SBS is a national public television network in Australia. Launched on 24 October 1980, it is the responsibility of SBS's television division, and is available nationally. In 2018, SBS had a 7.7% audience share.
As of 2022, SBS is the lowe ...
* 2010: Belgium on
Canvas
* 2011: United Kingdom on
BBC Four (as ''The Killing'')
* 2011: Russia on
Channel One (as ''Убийство'')
* 2011: Spain on AXN (as ''The Killing: Crónica de un asesinato'')
* 2011: Portugal on
AXN Black
AXN Black is a channel operated by Sony Pictures Television International Networks Europe. Its programming is basically focused on action and crime television series and movies. The channel was first launched in Portugal, Angola and Mozambique ...
(as ''The Killing: Crónica de um assassinato'')
* 2011: Poland on Ale Kino+ (as ''The Killing'')
* 2012: Japan on Super! drama TV (as ''The Killing'')
* 2012: Brazil on Globosat HD (as ''The Killing: História de Um Assassinato'')
* 2012: Netherlands on
Nederland 2
NPO 2 (''NPO twee'', formerly Nederland 2 until 2014) is a Dutch television channel, sister channel of NPO 1 and NPO 3. It was established on 1 October 1964 at 20:00, initially with a 2.5 hours schedule until 22:30.
NPO 2 tends to broadcast art ...
by the
KRO (as ''The Killing'')
* 2012: Hungary
* 2012: New Zealand on SoHo TV (as ''Forbrydelsen'')
* 2012: Belgium, France, Germany on
ARTE
Arte (; (), sometimes stylized in lowercase or uppercase in its logo) is a European public service channel dedicated to culture.
It is made up of three separate companies: the Strasbourg-based European Economic Interest Grouping ARTE, plu ...
(as ''The Killing'')
* 2012: Italy on RAI4 (as ''Killing'')
* 2012: Croatia on HRT3 (as ''Ubojstvo'')
* 2013: Estonia on ETV (as ''Kuritegu'')
* 2013: Czech Republic on
ČT2
ČT2 (ČT Dva, Česká televize 2, "''Dvojka''") is Czech public television channel, operated by Česká televize. ČT2 broadcasts documentaries nature-oriented shows, frequently showing foreign films in the original versions with Czech subtitles ...
(as ''Zločin'')
* 2013: Greece on
Mega Channel
MEGA Channel, also known as MEGA TV or just MEGA, is a television network in Greece, that broadcasts a mix of foreign and Greek programming.
It is the first and the oldest private television network in Greece.
History Mega Channel (1989–2018) ...
(as ''The Killing'')
* 2013: Turkey on
Dizimax
beIN Series, formerly DiziMax, is a series of satellite television channels available on Turkish satellite television provider Digiturk. It consists of DiziMax, DiziMax HD, and DiziMaxMore and is available on Sinema Paketi (Cinema Package).
It wa ...
(as ''Forbrydelsen'')
* 2013: Serbia on
RTS1
RTS1 (Serbian Cyrillic: РТС1; First program of RTS ( sr, Први програм РТС-а/), First channel of RTS (/ ) or only First (/ )) is a Serbian public mainstream TV channel operated by RTS.
Previously on RTS1
Serbian TV series
*Ј ...
(as ''Ubistvo'')
* 2013: Taiwan on
PTS (as ''The Killing'')
* 2013: Latin America on
AXN Central & South America (as ''The Killing: Crónica de un asesinato'')
* 2013: Republic of Ireland on
TG4
TG4 ( ga, TG Ceathair, ) is an Irish free-to-air public service television network. The channel launched on 31 October 1996 and is available online and through its on demand service TG4 Player in Ireland and beyond.
TG4 was formerly known ...
(as ''The Killing'')
* 2014: Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan on
BBC Persian
BBC Persian ( fa, بیبیسی فارسی) is the Persian language broadcast station and subsidiary of BBC World Service which conveys the latest political, social, economical and sport news relevant to Iran, Afghanistan, and Tajikistan, an ...
(as ''Ghatl dar Kopenhag''
urder in Copenhagen
* 2015: Slovenia on TV3 Medias (as ''Investigation'')
* 2020: Canada on
Knowledge Network
Knowledge Network, also branded as British Columbia's Knowledge Network, is a Canadian publicly funded educational cable television network serving the province of British Columbia. It is owned by the Knowledge Network Corporation, a Crown co ...
(as ''The Killing'')
* 2021: Israel on
Kan 11 (as ''The Murder'')
* 2021: The USA on
Amazon Prime (as ''The Killing'')
Awards and nominations
''The Killing'' has been awarded a number of awards and recognitions from various festivals and organisations from around the globe since it began in 2007. Because of the time-lapse in airdates between countries, honours awarded to the first two series are spread out over an unusual number of years.
In the UK, the first series won the 2011
BAFTA award in the "Best International" category. It was also nominated for the Audience Award but lost to reality show ''
The Only Way is Essex
''The Only Way Is Essex'' (often abbreviated as ''TOWIE'' ) is a British reality television series based in Brentwood, Essex, England. It shows "real people in modified situations, saying unscripted lines but in a structured way." Originally b ...
''. The second series was again nominated for "Best International" in 2012, but lost out to fellow Danish programme ''
Borgen
Borgen may refer to:
Places
* Borgen, Akershus, Norway
* Borgen, Oslo, a neighborhood of Oslo, Norway
**Borgen (station)
* Borgen, Østfold, a suburb of Sarpsborg, Norway
* Borgen, Ullensaker, Norway
* ''Borgen'' ('the castle'), colloquial name ...
''.
Subtitled programmes in the UK
Following both its critical and ratings success in the United Kingdom, the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
began importing and broadcasting more subtitled programmes from a number of different countries. In 2012 the popular Danish drama ''
'' both aired on BBC Four with similarly high viewing figures, while in the same year
''. In late 2011 digital channel
''.
Although BBC Four had shown subtitled dramas before, notably the Swedish version of ''
'', controller of the channel Richard Klein described ''The Killing'' as "a game-changer". Vicky Frost of ''
'' noted how it was ''The Killing'' which "paved the way for a wave of subtitled European crime dramas" appearing on UK television, while head of programming at FX Toby Etheridge also confirmed his belief that "''The Killing'' proved it was possible
.
.
The original series was not broadcast in the US. A remake was produced by
. It premiered on 3 April 2011
and ran for two seasons before being cancelled on 27 July 2012. However, on 8 November 2012, it was confirmed that Fox Television Studios were in final negotiations with
in order to continue the series for a third season. AMC, who had originally cancelled the show, was also included in part of the deal. The deal in question gives the network the privilege of airing the new episodes before they are hosted by Netflix in return for sharing any associated production costs with Netflix. The original US production team are expected to return. A fourth season, consisting of six episodes, was produced by and is available on Netflix.
On 8 April 2011, Sofie Gråbøl, the star of the Danish series, was interviewed on the BBC Radio 4 programme ''Woman's Hour'' when she explained the American remake was necessary because Americans "for some reason cannot read subtitles, or they don't want to". Gråbøl herself has made a guest appearance in one episode of the American show playing a minor role.
A Turkish remake, ''
, premiering 7 January 2014.
Despite being ordered for 13 episodes, it was cancelled after 5 due to low ratings.
A Egyptian remake, ''Mounatef Khater'' was produced, the rights were previously acquired by MBC and Charisma Group.
A novelisation based on the first series and titled ''The Killing: Book One'' was published by Macmillan in 2012. The book was written by British author
. This was followed by ''The Killing: Book Two'' in January 2013, and ''The Killing: Book Three'' in February 2014.