You can’t keep a good detective down, even one who looks as though he could really do with a holiday. The BBC has acquired ‘Wallander‘, a new Swedish-language adaptation of Henning Mankell’s hugely popular crime novels, with Gustaf Skarsgård (Vikings, Oppenheimer) taking on the role of the troubled detective. The three-part drama will be available on BBC iPlayer and BBC Four, bringing another helping of Nordic noir to UK screens.
Produced for Swedish broadcaster TV4 by Jarowskij/Yellow Bird, part of Banijay Nordic, the new adaptation consists of three feature-length films, each running for 90 minutes. And while the name will be very familiar to crime drama fans, this version brings Kurt Wallander into the present day, with a particular focus on the rather spectacular mess that is his personal life.
At 42, Wallander has recently separated from his wife after 20 years of marriage and is estranged from his daughter. He drinks too much, sleeps too little, and is weighed down by the cases he hasn’t managed to solve. Unfortunately for him, the murders don’t stop just because his life is falling apart. The series follows the detective as he investigates serious crimes while struggling to keep himself together.
The films are based on three of Mankell’s novels: One Step Behind, Sidetracked and Faceless Killers. The first, One Step Behind (known as Steget efter in Swedish), sees the police in Ystad shaken when one of their own is brutally murdered. For Wallander, the investigation becomes deeply personal, forcing him to confront uncomfortable truths about both his colleague and himself.
Alongside Skarsgård, the cast includes Sophia Martinsson (Festen) as Wallander’s estranged daughter, Ana Gil de Melo Nascimento (Jordskott) as his wife, and Göran Ragnerstam (Kopps) as his father.
Elin Kvist, CEO of Jarowskij/Yellow Bird, said: “Set in today’s world, Wallander is not only a brilliant and intuitive detective, but also a complex and vulnerable character struggling as a father, partner and friend. Gustaf Skarsgård delivers a powerful and nuanced performance, and with his role behind the camera too, he has helped create a drama with incredible depth and emotional intensity.”
There’s also a rather lovely bit of casting history here. Skarsgård isn’t entirely new to the character, having previously played a younger Kurt Wallander in the 2007 film The Pyramid, part of an earlier run of Swedish adaptations. Nearly two decades later, he’s graduated to playing the main version of the famously world-weary detective. Quite the career progression, even if the job comes with a terrible work-life balance.
Of course, UK audiences already have plenty of history with Wallander. Kenneth Branagh (Tenet, Dunkirk) starred in the BBC’s English-language ‘Wallander’ adaptation, which ran for four series, while earlier Swedish-language versions also found a home on BBC Four. Netflix later introduced a different take on the character with ‘Young Wallander’, starring Adam Pålsson (Before We Die). This latest series returns to Mankell’s original novels and to Swedish-language storytelling.
The new films are directed by Molly Hartleb and the filmmaking duo Pella Kågerman and Hugo Lilja, with scripts from Antonia Pyk, Josefin Johansson and Jörgen Bergmark. Banijay Rights has also secured sales to MHz Choice in the US and Canada, along with broadcasters in the Netherlands, Belgium, Croatia and Lithuania.
The first film is scheduled to debut in Sweden in spring 2027, although the BBC has not yet announced when UK viewers will get to see it. Still, it’s good news for anyone who likes their detective dramas atmospheric, emotionally complicated and populated by people who could probably benefit from a decent night’s sleep.
‘Wallander‘ Season 1 is coming to BBC iPlayer and BBC Four. A UK premiere date has yet to be announced.
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