Danish Television Drama

This book explores how to understand the international appeal of Danish television drama and Nordic Noir in the 2010s. Focusing on production and distribution as well as the series and their reception, the chapters analyse how this small nation production culture was suddenly regarded as an example of best practice in the international television industries, and how the distribution and branding of particular series - such as Forbrydelsen/The Killing, Borgen and Bron/The Bridge - led to dedicated audiences around the world. Discussing issues such as cultural proximity, transnationalism and glocalisation, the chapters investigate the complex interplays between the national and international in the television industries and the global lessons learned from the way in which screen ideas, production frameworks and public service content from Denmark suddenly managed to travel widely. The book builds on extensive empirical material and case studies conducted as part of the transnational research project 'What Makes Danish Television Drama Travel?'

Anne Marit Waade is Professor in Global Media Industries at University of Aarhus, Denmark. She is the author of Locating Nordic Noir (2017) and Wallanderland (2013) and other publications on television drama and crime series, media tourism, creative industry and place branding. Her research has been supported by funding bodies such as The Danish Innovation Fund, H2020, AHRC and DDF. Eva Novrup Redvall is Associate Professor at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark, where she heads the Section for Film Studies and Creative Media Industries. She is the author of Writing and Producing Television Drama in Denmark: From The Kingdom to The Killing and many other publications on Nordic film and television, screenwriting and production. Pia Majbritt Jensen is Associate Professor in Media Studies at Aarhus University, Denmark, and Co-Director of The Centre for Transnational Media Research. An audience, industry and production scholar, her current research interests and projects include crime narratives in television, film and literature and the production and reception of audiovisual fiction and cross-media storyworlds for children and young people.