Wallander is a British television series broadcast from 2008 to 2016. It was adapted from a Swedish series based on the Swedish novelist Henning Mankell's Kurt Wallander novels and starring Kenneth Branagh as the eponymous police inspector. It was the first time the Wallander novels had been adapted into an English-language production. Yellow Bird, a production company formed by Mankell, began negotiations with British companies to produce the adaptations in 2006. In 2007 Branagh met Mankell to discuss playing the role. Contracts were signed and work began on the films, adapted from the novels Sidetracked, Firewall and One Step Behind, in January 2008. Philip Martin was hired as lead director. Martin worked with cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle to establish a visual style for the series.
The first three-episode series, produced by Yellow Bird, Left Bank Pictures and TKBC for BBC Scotland, was filmed in Ystad, Sweden, and broadcast on BBC One in November and December 2008. The second series was filmed from July to October 2009 and was broadcast in January 2010.BBC Press Office (11 December 2009). "Network TV BBC Week 1: Sunday 3 January 2010". Press release. Retrieved 11 December 2009. The third series was filmed in the summer of 2011 in Ystad and Riga, Latvia, and aired in July 2012. The fourth and final series was shot from October 2014 to January 2015 and premiered on German TV, dubbed into German, in December 2015. The final series aired in the original English on BBC One in May 2016. Critics have written positively of the series, which has won a Broadcasting Press Guild Award (Best Actor for Branagh) and six British Academy Television Awards, including Best Drama Series.
Characters The series is based on Kurt Wallander (Branagh), a police detective inspector in the small town of Ystad, Sweden. Branagh describes Wallander as "an existentialist who is questioning what life is about and why he does what he does every day, and for whom acts of violence never become normal. There is a level of empathy with the victims of crime that is almost impossible to contain, and one of the prices he pays for that sort of empathy is a personal life that is a kind of wasteland."Dickson, E Jane (29 November–5 December 2008). "Death Becomes Him", Radio Times, BBC Magazines, pp. 12–16. In the novels, Wallander regularly listens to opera in his apartment and his car. This signature hobby has been dropped for this adaptation; producer Francis Hopkinson believes it would make Wallander too similar to Inspector Morse, whose love of opera is already familiar to British viewers. Branagh did not watch any of the Swedish Wallander films before playing the role, preferring to bring his own interpretation of the character to the screen.
Wallander's team at the Ystad police station is made up of: Anne-Britt Hoglund (Smart), Kalle Svedberg (Beard) and Magnus Martinsson (Hiddleston). Of Wallander and Hoglund, Smart said, "Our relationship is based on this impeccable mutual respect which is all very Scandinavian and, actually, more interesting to play." The team is joined at murder scenes by Nyberg (McCabe), a forensics expert. The team is overseen by Lisa Holgersson (Shimmin), Ystad's chief of police. Away from the police station, Wallander has a tempestuous relationship with his daughter, Linda (Spark), and his father, Povel (Warner), whom Wallander discovers in Sidetracked has recently been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. Wallander's father spends his days sitting in an art studio, painting the same landscape repeatedly while in the care of his new wife, Gertrude (Hemingway).
Cast Kenneth Branagh as Kurt Wallander Sarah Smart as Ann-Britt Höglund (Series 1–3) Tom Hiddleston as Magnus Martinsson (Series 1–2) Richard McCabe as Sven Nyberg Tom Beard as Kalle Svedberg (Series 1) Sadie Shimmin as Lisa Holgersson (Series 1–2) Jeany Spark as Linda Wallander, Kurt's daughter David Warner as Povel Wallander, Kurt's father (Series 1–2, 4) Polly Hemingway as Gertrude, Kurt's step-mother (Series 1–2) Saskia Reeves as Vanja Andersson (Series 2–3) Rebekah Staton as Kristyna (Series 3) Mark Hadfield as Stefan Lindeman (Series 3) Barnaby Kay as Lennart Mattson (Series 3–4)
Production
In 2006 Yellow Bird managing director Morten Fisker opened discussions with British production companies about developing English-language adaptations of the Kurt Wallander novels, to which Yellow Bird holds the distribution rights. The BBC and Channel 4 were believed to be involved in discussions; the BBC had already announced plans to adapt Mankell's The Return of the Dancing Master. Fisker wanted to bring a new detective to British screens to replace Inspector Morse, who had been killed off on-screen in 2000. Actors proposed to play Wallander were Trevor Eve, Neil Pearson, Jason Isaacs, David Morrissey, Clive Owen and Michael Gambon.Duval Smith, Alex; Rob Sharp (2 July 2006). "Just what we need instead of miserable Morse...a gloomy Swedish detective", The Observer, Guardian News and Media. Retrieved 18 April 2008. Negotiations were still under way in 2007, when Kenneth Branagh met Henning Mankell at an Ingmar Bergman film festival and asked to play Wallander. Branagh had started reading the Wallander books "relatively late" but enjoyed them, and read all nine translated novels in a month.Hoggart, Paul (29 November 2008). "Sleuthing Swede", The Times, Times Newspapers. Retrieved 29 November 2008. Mankell agreed to let Branagh play the role, and Branagh visited Ystad in December to scout for locations and meet Film i Skånes chief executive Ralf Ivarsson.Engvall, Carl Johan (11 December 2007). "Kenneth Branagh letar inspelningsplatser i Ystad ", (in Swedish), Ystads Allehanda, Skånemedia AB. Retrieved 8 October 2008.
A series of three 90-minute adaptations was commissioned by BBC Scotland's Anne Mensah and BBC Controller of Fiction Jane Tranter in January 2008. Like Morten Fisker, the BBC wanted a returning series that would have the same audience appeal as Inspector Morse, Prime Suspect and Cracker. Yellow Bird was contracted as a co-producer, working with Left Bank Pictures, a production house formed in 2007 by former ITV Controller of Comedy, Drama and Film Andy Harries. Harries described Wallander as "more than just a detective series" and that it would be visually "very picture postcard". The first series consists of adaptations of Sidetracked, Firewall and One Step Behind.Thomas, Liz (9 January 2008). "Branagh to star in Harries crime drama", Broadcastnow, Emap Media. Retrieved 2 September 2008. Philip Martin was hired as lead director of the series, and met with Branagh, Harries and Left Bank producer Francis Hopkinson in January. The four discussed how the adaptations would appear on screen, agreeing that the characterisations, atmosphere and ideas would be difficult to portray on screen. Richard Cottan was hired to adapt Mankell's novels, and delivered his first scripts in February.Martin, Philip (26 November 2008). "On location: Wallander", Broadcastnow, Emap Media. Retrieved 27 November 2008. Cottan changed the plots of some of the books in order to fit them into a 90-minute adaptation, though made sure the scripts retained Wallander's "journey".Nilsson, Ola. (16 May 2008). Vi träffar BBC's Wallander [Video]. Sydsvenskan. Retrieved 10 June 2008. The following month, Martin began discussions with cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle about what visual style the films would have. They agreed to use the Red One digital camera to shoot on, which has a near-35 mm resolution and is not as expensive as 35 mm; Dod Mantle said that the BBC "has politics" about the cheaper 16 mm and Super 16.Strauss, Will (13 May 2008), "Anthony Dod Mantle interview", Broadcastnow, Emap Media. Retrieved 2 September 2008. Casting of British actors, which was done in London, was completed by April, and the whole crew moved over to Ystad to begin rehearsals. Martin wanted the actors playing police officers to know how to fire a gun, so arranged for them to spend time at a firing range using live ammunition. Wallander's distinctive mobile phone ringtone was specially composed by Lee Crichlow.
Series 1 A £6 million budget was originally assigned to the first series, which increased to £7.5 million.Harries, Andy (October 2008). "Memorandum submitted by Left Bank Pictures", parliament.uk, Parliament of the United Kingdom. Retrieved 27 November 2008. Half of that came from the BBC, and the rest from pre-sale co-production funding from American WGBH Boston and German ARD Degeto, and a tax deduction for filming in Sweden.Armstrong, Stephen (27 October 2008). "'Making mischief is a good thing'", The Guardian, Guardian News and Media. Retrieved 27 October 2008.Staff (28 July 2008). "Kenneth Branagh to star as Wallander On Masterpiece Mystery!", buddyhollywood.com. Retrieved 27 October 2008. ARD Degeto and WGBH are credited as co-producers for their budget contribution. Using scripts adapted by Richard Cottan and Richard McBrien, filming ran for 12 weeks from April to July 2008 in Wallander's hometown of Ystad, Sweden.
Location filming was principally set in Ystad. Interior sets were constructed at Ystad Studios under the supervision of Anders Olin, who also designed the sets of the Swedish Wallander films. The main police station set is 500 square metres, twice the size of Olin's previous sets.Mårtensson, Ulf (2 April 2008). "De bygger kulisser till BBC-Wallander" (in Swedish), Ystads Allehanda, Skånemedia AB. Retrieved 22 April 2008. For exterior shots of the police station, a combination of the Ystad railway station and swimming pool was used.Eriksson, Bengt (8 January 2009). "Dirty Kurt från Ystad" (in Swedish). Trelleborgs Allehanda (Skånemedia AB). Mock-ups of Ystads Allehanda, a local newspaper, were produced as working props. Producer Simon Moseley explained that the mock-ups use Swedish words that can be understood by English-speaking audiences.Mårtensson, Ulf (30 May 2008). "Kenneth Branaghs liv som Kurt Wallander" (in Swedish), Ystads Allehanda, Skånemedia AB. Retrieved 9 June 2008. Moseley also explained that some pronunciations of Swedish words are Anglicised (such as the pronunciation of "Ystad" and "Wallander"), as "the authentic local accent is very strange to English ears and we didn't want to stray into 'Allo 'Allo! territory". Like Branagh, Philip Martin did not watch any of the Swedish-language Wallander films so that he could bring a fresh interpretation to the films.Arbsjö, Karin (17 April 2008), "Han är nye Wallander" (in Swedish), TT Spectra, Kuriren. Retrieved 5 June 2008. Filming was scheduled for 66 days over 12 weeks in Sweden; each film would be shot back-to-back over 22 days. Martin directed the first and third films and Niall MacCormick directed the second. Dod Mantle was keen to conceive a good style for what could become a long-running series.