The two series offer fresh takes on relationships from a woman perspective, with rising female talents on both sides of the screens.

The YA romcom Handen på Hjärtat (lit 'The hand on the heart’) is written and directed by Lina Åström (So Damn Easy Going), with Breakable Films’ Elin Falk serving as producer and Sonja Hermele as executive producer for C More and TV4.

Toplining the cast is Sara Shirpey (Top Dog, State of Happiness), playing alongside Hannes Fohlin (The Head, Two Sisters), Sanna Sundqvist (Suburbia, Call Mom!) and Christer Fant (Young Royals, The Bonus Family).

In the series, Shirpey plays couple therapist Ava, who is very good at her job, but pretty bad at finding love herself. However, she has a special talent: by placing her hand on someone's heart, she can see crucial moments in people's love life.

“We are very happy about the collaboration with Breakable Films’ Lina Åström and Elin Falk. They represent the talents of the new generation,” said Piodor Gustafsson, TV4 Media’s Nordic Director of Scripted Content. “It’s also extra fun to get to see our next big star Sara Shirpey do her first lead role. We are very much looking forward to following the filming of our first romcom series,” he added.

Handen på hjärtat is among a handful of YA series due to premiere on C More in 2022.

The Nordic streamer has also come on board the Icelandic relationship drama As Long as We Live, produced by Glassriver for Stöð 2 Iceland.

The series was created and written by actress Aníta Briem (The Tudors, The Minister) who took inspiration from her own experience. Starring opposite Briem will be Swedish actor Martin Wallström (Mr Robot, Beck).

Katrín Björgvinsdóttir (Trapped) will be directing all six episodes.

Briem plays a former queen of pop, now a struggling mom in a stale marriage, longing for the thrills of her past life. When a young man enters her home and introduces her and her husband to flirting games, the couple’s relationship gets rekindled, but their marriage is put to test.

Speaking to nordicfilmandtvnews.com about her series and first step as creator/writer, Briem said she has tried to study and dissect the feelings of “love, lust and longing, this unfathomable force we seem to be born with and drives us to connect”.

“As an actor I could channel my need to tell this story into my character, lace the existing script with these themes I’m passionate about. But as a writer, I can construct an entire world and all the characters in it, in order to grab what I want to get across. It’s a real privilege to be taking my first steps as a writer, with wonderful producers at Glassriver, whose support has been hugely empowering in my honing my voice as a female writer.”

Commenting on the Icelandic show, Gustafsson said: “It's one of the very best series we've been presented the last couple of years. The scripts are outstanding, and the creative team has a great vision.”

As Long as We Live is due to start production this summer. Eccho Rights handles global distribution.