The Killing (Danish TV series)
The Killing (Danish: ‘Forbrydelsen‘ which translates to ‘The Crime’) is a Danish police procedural drama 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 on 7 January 2007, and has since been broadcast in several other countries.
- Has 3 series
- 40 Episodes
- Genre: Crime drama, Psychological thriller, Mystery, Scandinavian noir
- An aim to appeal to an international audience :: Why?
- Both The killing and No Offence has both female dominant signifiers. This is different to the majority of many other shows and shows a target to appeal to other audiences globally.
- The series is set in Copenhagen: This is Denmark’s real capital and sits on the costal islands.
- It Revolves around Detective Inspector Sarah Lund (Sofie Gråbøl). [The Dominant signifier]
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 twists, 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.
| Episode | Title | Original Danish air date | Danish Ratings (DR1) | Original UK air date | UK Ratings (BBC Four) |
| 1 | “Episode 1” | 7 January 2007 | 1,550,000 | 22 January 2011 | 472,000 |
- “TNS Gallup TV-Meter”. TNS Gallup (in Danish) – Danish ratings
- “BARB”. Broadcasters’ Audience Research Board. – UK ratings
- The Broadcasters Audience Research Board (BARB) is a British organisation that compiles audience measurement and television ratings in the United Kingdom. It was created in 1981 to replace two previous systems whereby ITV ratings were compiled by JICTAR (Joint Industry Committee for Television Audience Research), whilst the BBC did their own audience research.
- “It is a diamond of a series – complex, dramatic, thoroughly gripping,” said BBC4 controller Richard Klein.