The top Swedish TV drama executive and former SVT Head of Drama will take on his new position in Stockholm in September. He will report to Antony Root, EVP Original Programming and Production. 

Wikander will relocate to his native Sweden from London, where he has worked since 2016 for the co-financing, production and development outfit Twelve Town (formerly Pinewood Television). Nordic TV dramas that he co-produced for the UK company include Jordskott 2, Conspiracy of Silence, and the upcoming series Max Anger: With One Eye Open produced by Nice Drama for Viaplay.

A long-time in-house TV executive at SVT - first as Head of Drama & Entertainment at SVT West (Göteborg), then as Head of Drama, Wikander commissioned numerous acclaimed TV shows for the Swedish public service including Real Humans, The Bridge, Midnight Sun, and The Truth About Marika. Earlier on, he founded and ran TV Spartacus, behind the successful brands Hotel Caesar, Seven Sisters (Sju systrar) and Three Crowns (Tre kronor). 

“I am absolutely delighted that Christian has agreed to join us in this senior role,” said Antony Root. “His track record, reputation and wide range of experience in Scandinavia and internationally will be a huge asset as we move into the next phase of growth for our Nordic original programming.”

Wikander added: “Joining HBO Europe will be an honour for me that I take on with a lot of joy and respect. The company stands for quality and a unique creative environment. It will be tremendously exciting to be part of the continued development of HBO’s Nordic original productions.”

The Swedish drama executive takes over from Hanne Palmquist who will move to Endemol Shine Group September 1st. 
HBO Nordic’s original series already launched across Scandinavia include the Swedish comedy drama Gösta (Memfis Film) and the Norwegian sci-fi Beforeigners (Rubicon). 

Among the upcoming premium series are: 

  • the Swedish drama Beartown (Filmlance) directed by Peter Grönlund from a novel by best-selling author Fredrik Backman  
  • the Norwegian quirky comedy Untamed (Paradox) directed by Dagur Kári from a script by Kim Fupz Aakeson 
  • the Danish drama Kamikaze (Profile Pictures) adapted from Norwegian author Erlend Loe’s novel’ Muleum’. 

HBO Nordic is available in the Nordics as a premium SVOD service directly to consumers and through operator partners in Sweden, Norway, Finland and Denmark.