Walter Presents Picks Up Two Nordic Dramas

The new Channel 4 venture, Walter Presents, which launches in January in the UK, has struck a deal with Fremantle which includes several Nordic dramas. The first two to air will be Danish procedural Dicte and Norwegian drama Acquitted (Frikjent).

Dicte is a 20 part Danish procedural that follows recently divorced crime reporter Dicte Svendsen (Iben Hjejle) as she returns to the small town of Aarhus with her daughter. As she begins to rebuild her life, she starts to work on a case that opens old wounds. The series is based on the Elsebeth Egholm’s series of novels, and averaged an audience of over 1.2 million for season one when it premiered on TV2 Danmark, giving it a viewing share of 49%.

Written by Siv Rajendram Eliassen (Those Who Kill) and Anna Bache-Wiig, Acquitted follows Aksel Borgen (Cleve Broch) a business man who has worked his way to the top during his 20 years in Asia, having left his native town after being acquitted of the murder of his high school sweetheart. When his home town’s cornerstone business is threatened by bankruptcy, Borgen returns to save the place that once turned its back on him. The past has not been forgotten. His arrival tears old wounds apart and new conflicts arise as the past meets the present.

After a record breaking opening in Norway for a drama series on TV2 (660,000 viewers), Acquitted had a 30.5 % share with 1,038,000 Swedish viewers when it premiered on SVT1, making it a five year record for a Nordic TV series on SVT.