Ride Upon The Storm A Collaborative Process

Ahead of next month’s return of Ride Upon The Storm (Herrens Veje), which won Best Drama at this year’s Robert Awards, lead writer Adam Price (Borgen) has revealed that the process for season two was a much more collaborative effort than the first.

Ride Upon the Storm follows a family, headed by Johannes (Lars Mikkelsen), who have been priests for more than 250 years. However, his sons are now desperate to free themselves from his tyranny, so the devout August becomes an army chaplain in the Middle East, while wayward Christian heads to Tibet.

The first season ended with the death of a central character, so the theme for the second season is about finding light in sorrow. But finding the right balance in telling that story required lengthy discussions not only in the writers’ room, but also with key cast members.

Adam Price told Ritzau: “When you have actors as strong as Lars (Mikkelsen) and Ann Eleonora (Jørgensen), who are so experienced and have invested so much in their characters, you reach a point as a writer where they have as much ownership over the characters as you do.”

“Lars does not play Johannes, Lars is Johannes, and it’s the same with Ann Eleonora. That means that they might come to me and say ‘No, I don’t think I would do that. I will do it like this for these scenes.’ So I have to talk with them, and the best argument wins.”

“If you want to have all of the power all of the time, then write a novel. TV shows are a collaborative process that end up being bigger than us all.”

The second season of Ride Upon The Storm premieres 14th October on DR in Denmark.