11/09/2013 - The UK television series Midsomer Murders leaves the English county-side to shoot the anniversary episode in the Danish capital with the producers of The Killing

Detective chief inspector Tom Barnaby (Neil Dudgeon - photo) will leave his county of (non-existing) Midsomer for Denmark’s Copenhagen, not to consult with his Danish colleague Sarah Lund (Sofie Gråbøl) of The Killing, but to solve The Killings at Copenhagen, the 100^th unique episode of the Midsomer Murders series, which will be made with Danish pubcaster DR, the producer of the Danish award-winning TV series.

The body of a Midsomer resident is discovered in the Danish capital, so Barnaby and his sidekick Nelson (Gwilym Lee) go to Copenhagen where they collaborate with local police Ann Eleonora Jørgensen (The Killing) and Birgitte Hjorth Sørensen (Borgen).

“We see the different styles of detective work as the two duos knock up against each other,” British executive producer of Midsomer Murders Jo Wright told UK’s The Independent. “Here Barnaby has been running for 12 years, winning 40 per cent of the audience share. I’m a great fan of Nordic Noir and we wanted to do something special to mark the 100th episode.”

Based on the books by Caroline Graham, originally adapted by Anthony Horowitz and first aired in 1997, Barnaby’s investigations of 281 murders, 12 accidental deaths and 11 suicides have internationally sold to 225 territories. Written by Paul Logue, The Killings at Copenhagen will be produced by Bentley Productions for ITV, in collaboration with the new Copenhagen Film Fund. 

Last week (September 3) the fund’s CEO Thomas Gammeltoft confirmed that the fund, which has a €4.7 million budget, had approved its first project, Danish director Natasha Arthy’s SBS TV series Heartless, produced by Fridthjof Film, and given the green light for the agreement with Bentley.