The fourth season of the political series Borgen, produced by SAM Productions, is due to start filming this winter. 

Netflix is set to launch the show globally eight days after the DR premiere in 2022. The US giant has also secured streaming global rights for the first three seasons, that will be available later this year. 

Borgen Season 1-2-3 was a smash hit at home between 2010-2013 and turned into an international sensation. It played in more than 80 territories and won numerous awards such as a BAFTA Award-Best International Drama in 2012 and a Prix Italia 2010. 

According to creator/writer Price, the new eight-part series will both return to the classic Borgen universe and be anchored in today’s reality, with “a new international layer that will reflect the time we live in.”

Global viewers will be pleased to be reunited with the two iconic female characters-politician Birgitte Nyborg and journalist Katrine Fønsmark, played respectively by Sidse Babette Knudsen and Birgitte Hjort Sørensen whose careers sky-rocketed after the show. DR’s short outline of the story is the following: 

Birgitte Nyborg has been recently appointed Foreign Minister after a long period in opposition. She is challenged by a number of events that are growing in importance and which end up threatening both her position in the government but also Denmark's relation to its closest allies. The case is also having serious domestic policy implications and not least climate policy consequences.

Meanwhile Katrine Fønsmark has continued her career in journalism and, at the beginning of the new season, lands one of the most important leadership positions as news director for a large, nationwide TV station. Her executive role challenges her both privately and professionally. Now, for the first time, she feels that as a boss, she has to make a number of very political decisions about news coverage in Denmark. Her impartiality over her old boss, Birgitte Nyborg, will play a big role.

Price said: “It is a great pleasure again to enter the political universe and not least the character gallery from Borgen. It's like seeing old close friends!” Explaining why he came back to Borgen, nine years after the third season aired on DR, the creator/writer said:  “In the years that have passed, we have talked several times about how it would be interesting to return to the universe and our protagonists after a number of years in which both the political climate and the people of power that they are, have evolved over time. It has always been crucial to me that we had the right story to tell if we were to return to Borgen. We have it now. And without saying too much, power is the central, universal theme we still relate to. How having power affects and potentially poisons people - and thus their ideals and private relationships,” he says.

In a statement, Christian Rank, DR Head of Drama says that Borgen is “a classic Danish democracy narrative, but at the same time it emphasises the ambition of DR to use the series and its universe to put a current political theme into public debate.”

“Borgen' is a very special DR series with unique public service qualities,” he says. “The series, which has received high acclaim both at home and abroad, gave a rare insight into how power is managed at the highest political level and what human consequences it can have for those performing these tasks. We are very excited that we now have the opportunity to revive the universe and the characters in a season where we focus on a highly current theme in Danish politics that can have a major impact on Denmark's position in the world community.”

Lina Brouneus, Head of Co-production and Acquisition at Netflix added: "Ten years ago, Borgen helped redefine the global television landscape, showing that great stories can come anywhere and be loved everywhere. We are immensely proud to partner DR and the whole creative team to bring this worldwide phenomenon back and to give Borgen's legion of fans the chance to be gripped once again."

SAM Productions’ CEO Meta Louise Foldager Sørensen told nordicfilmandtvnews.com: “We are very excited to announce that we have landed the commissioning of the show and that we have started working on the scripts.” Sørensen acts as executive producer and Stine Meldgaard Madsen as producer of Borgen. 

Co-founded by Sørensen, Price and co-writer Søren Sveistrup with Studiocanal, SAM Productions has two other shows with Netflix: the Norwegian language fantasy drama Ragnarok season 1&2, and Sveistrup's upcoming crime book-to-screen adaptation The Chestnut Man. 

Price won the 2018 Nordisk Film & TV Fond Prize for the series Ride Upon the Storm.