"Lilyhammer mixes sharp wit and American big city ways with the beauty of the Norwegian mountains and folksy nature of a small town - a perfect combination for a razor-sharp drama about cultural mores. I am delighted the BBC Four has acquired this drama and I am sure our viewers are going to have a good time!" said Richard Klein, Controller BBC Four.
Launched in Norway on January 25, the ‘fish-out-of-water' series starring Sopranos star Stevie van Zandt reached an overall share of 56.3%, resulting in an all-time high for NRK1, the best ratings for a Norwegian made drama series ever. With 44.2% in the commercial demographics, Lilyhammer outperformed NRK's average by 245%. The second episode performed even stronger with 46,5 % in the commercial demographics.
Since Monday, the dramedy series is also available on the US SVoD service Netflix which is airing all eight episodes simultaneously to its viewers in the US, Canada and Latin America. Lilyhammer is the first series that the US giant is airing as part of its new original series.
For the BBC, the acquisition of the NRK's series indicates its wish to continue to bet on UK audiences' growing appetite for foreign language series beyond the crime genre. "Lilyhammer is fresh, funny and offbeat - it makes a highly original addition to BBC Four's rich Scandinavian drama slate", said Sue Deeks, BBC´s Head of Programme Acquisition BBC4.
The BBC also had great critical and ratings success with the Nordic crime series Wallander, The Killing, and now with DR's political drama Borgen whose final episode was aired on BBC4 last Saturday at 9PM. On Monday, the series was already available on DVD via Arrow Films.