Carmen Curlers conquers over a million Danish viewers after six days

Last Sunday episode 2 of the period series starring Morten Hee Andersen as Axel, creator of the electric hair curlers, was followed by 664,000 viewers on DR against 498,000 for a political duel involving Denmark’s Prime Minister at the same time on TV2 Denmark, although the Danes are soon to cast their vote for general elections on November 1.

The opening episode of Carmen Curlers that premiered on DRTV September 30 and on DR1 October 2, went straight to the top of the TV charts with 767,000 consolidated viewers (linear and online) according to Nielsen, beating the popular entertainment shows The Great Danish Bake-Off and Strictly Dancing.

After six days, the eight-part series reached one million consolidated viewers for episode 1 and 1.21 million after 12 days. “We’re very happy with the numbers,” said producer Stinna Lassen.

Carmen Curlers was also praised by local reviewers from BT, Soundvenue, Jyllands-Posten that gave it 4 out of 6 stars, while the trade publication Ekko cast a strong 5 out of 6 stars.

The high-end series is headlining DR Sales’ Mipcom slate including as well the crime series Nordland ’99, produced by Nevis Productions’ Anni Faurbye Fernandez (the Millennium trilogy) and Iben Søtang for DR.

The 8x25’ show from rising showrunner Kasper Møller Rask stars Elias Budde Christiensen (Boys, When the Dust Settles), Emilie Kroyer Koppel (You Disappear, Collision), Troels Lyby (Accused, The Keeper of Lost Causes) and newcomer Noa Risbro Hjerrild. Nordland ’99 -part of DR Sales’ ‘Next Generation’ label, is due to premiere on DRTV October 14.

The sales company will also bring to Cannes four new documentaries to be delivered later this year:

• Hostage Takers (Gidsel) co-directed by Puk Damsgaard and Søren Klovborg.
  The film follows the IS group known as The Beatles, who brutally murdered several hostages including US war correspondent James Foley. The co-directors used archive footage, personal recordings, first-hand interviews with witnesses and dramatisation, to recreate the time during captivity in Syria 2013/2014 up to present time.
• Murder at Sea (Drabet på Færgen) is a true crime in two parts about a German tourist who was killed on the passenger ship Viking Sally in 1987. Nicolaj Kenneth Pedersen is directing.
• Soviet Bus Stop (55’) by Kristoffer Hegnsvad follows Canadian photographer Christopher Herwig, on his road trip from Kiev to Vladivostok to capture bus stops with his camera.
• Melania (Ujeti Melanio) directed by Jurij Gruden for AVI Film is a portrait of former US First Lady Melania Trump.

From its Children & Youth programmes, DR Sales will also offer global buyers:

• Team Nuggets (Karlas Fantalastiske Klasse), 52x7’ animated series for 6-8 years-old, co-directed by Michael Hegner, Tor Fruergaard for Sparre Productions, Godo Films for DR Ramasjang. The series will be delivered early 2023.
• Børste (5x3’) animated series for 1-3 years-old which posted an average of 1.2 million streams per episode between 2021-2022. An extra 32 episodes will premiere in December.