After its investment in the Norwegian dramedy show Lilyhammer, Netflix has agreed to back the third season of the Danish comedy-drama Rita produced by SF Production for TV2.
The major US streaming service had already carried the first two seasons of Rita. “Denmark is world famous for great TV dramas and Rita is beloved by many Netflix members,” said Ted Sarandos, Netflix Chief Content Officer. The third season written again by Christian Torpe has also received support from the Copenhagen Film Fund and the Danish Film Institute’s Public Service Television Fund.
Mille Dinesen (pictured) will return as the series’ main character, the politically incorrect teacher Rita. Season 1 premiered on TV2 in 2012 and season 2 in 2013. Both are sold internationally by Levelk. The third season directed by Lars Kaalund is set to premiere this spring on TV2 and it will be available on Netflix shortly afterwards.
Meanwhile TV2’s other flagship series Badehotellet (Seaside Hotel) produced again by SF Production, had an excellent opening for its second season in six episodes, with a 55% audience share and 1,339,000 viewers on Monday evening. The period piece from co-writers Stig Thorsboe and Hanna Lundblad had also a strong likability of 4.4 on a scale of 5. Badehotellet is sold internationally by Nordic World.
Badehotellet Season 2 and Rita Season 3 are part of TV2’s aggressive push in local prime time drama in 2015.
Two other TV shows produced by SF Production will air this spring: the crime drama Norskov (10x42’) backed by Nordisk Film & TV Fond, and the mini-series Hjørdis, spin-off series of Rita from the same creative team. Zentropa will also create its own mini-series Lykken er (Happiness Is) as part of an anti-cancer campaign. The script is written by Peter Asmussen.
TV2’s Christmas calendar Juleønsket (The Christmas Wish) will be written by Ina Bruhn and directed by Carsten Myllerup for Cosmo Film.