Content London: Bille August’s The Count of Monte Cristo takes honour, hot Nordic shows, and key takeaways

Framed between two awards ceremonies - the European Broadcasters Union (EBU)’s Rose d’or on December 1st and the C21 Drama Awards December 4 - C21’s flagship Content London was an opportunity for 3,000+ accredited delegates -including from the Nordics-to take the pulse of the market in the new content economy, to pitch, network and be inspired.

“Content London is a must for us,” said Marike Muselaers, VP International Financing and Co-productions at Nordisk Film Production. “We chose Content London to show the first episode of our Prime Video Nordics original Snake Killer (Slangedræber), plus we premiered the first clips of Sogn Murders (Mord i Sogn) at the Norwegian Drama session. But most importantly, Content London is where we bring our development slate to possible co-financiers, and we’ve had good meetings already with German, British, French, American, and Irish co-producers, broadcasters and streamers,” she told us.

Wild Bunch TV’s Managing Director Diana Bartha added. “Content London remains a highly strategic market for us, as it offers a unique opportunity to engage early in premium content conversations and connect with English-language projects at their inception. This year, I was particularly impressed by the exceptional quality of Norwegian content,” said the Paris-based executive, who attended the Norwegian Drama session held December 2 at Content London’s King’s Place hub.

Here are five takeaways:

Kudos to Bille August’s The Count of Monte Cristo and Norway’s The Box

In a drama year under the reign of Netflix’s bold UK drama Adolescence, triple Rose d’or winner, and Craft prize recipient at the C21 Drama Awards, Danish veteran filmmaker Bille August was honoured for his Italian/French period drama The Count of Monte Cristo (Le Comte de Monte-Cristo), voted Best Non-English Language Drama Series at the C21 Drama Awards. This Mediawan Rights series, acquired by the five Nordic PSB alliance, shared the accolade with Sky Atlantic’s Italian drama Mussolini: Son of the Century (Mussolini: Il figlio del secolo) (All awards: CLICK HERE). Meanwhile, Norway grabbed a Rose d’or in the Competition Reality section for The Box (Boksen) (all awards: CLICK HERE).

Hot Norwegian shows

The “Coming Next from Norway”, backed by the Norwegian Film Institute, the Norwegian Embassy in London, NRK, and TV 2 Norway, spotlighted four event dramas, all above €1 million per episode.

NRK’s The Strain (Grønne fingre) toplines Pia Tjelta as Karla, a solitary gardener forced to join a criminal network to save her child. The Norwegian star’s own daughter, fast-rising talent Sofia Tjelta (Delete Me, The Entertainment System is Down), will play Karla’s estranged daughter. The show co-penned by Lars Gudmestad and Harald Rosenløw Eeg of Netflix’ La Palma fame, will be directed by Eva Sørhaug. “Eva has had a great career in the US, with standout shows such as Your Honor and Tokyo Vice. It will be great to welcome her back in Norway,” Rubicon TV’s Ivar Køhn said on stage. Delivery is set for 2027.

NRK’s Bosnia-war set Young at War (Gud er norsk) reunites Rod Knock (Rådebank) producer Fenomen with creator Linn-Jeanethe Kyed and director Daniel Fahre. This six-part series, inspired by true stories, will be delivered in 2028.

Amazon and TV 2 Norway’s WW2 thriller Rinnan, produced by Miso Film Norway, turns on the rise and fall of the notorious Norwegian Gestapo agent Henry Rinnan. Kenneth Karlstad (Nordisk Film & TV Fond prize winner 2023 for Kids in Crime) directs. The show, handled internationally by Fremantle, will be ready late 2026.

TV 2 Norway’s crime drama Sogn Murders, produced by Nordisk Film Production Norway, with support from Nordisk Film & TV Fond, is based on Jørgen Jæger’s best-selling crime novels about police investigator Ole Vik and his colleague Cecilie Hopen, played by Kristofer Hivju (Game of Thrones) and Eili Harboe (Thelma). “It’s a cosy crime for the family, a whodunnit set in a beautiful scenery, with loveable characters,” said Nordisk Film’s Sigurd Mikal Karoliussen. The premiere is set for the spring of 2026.

Nordic trio at Drama Pitch-Finnish All the Girls world premiere

Three other anticipated Nordic series were showcased at Content London Drama Series Pitch, which attracted over 90 submissions for eight slots.

Billed as a “show about life, love and labia”, The Norwegian comedy drama Ladyparts is set in a gynaecology clinic. Tuva Novotny is confirmed in the lead as the “extraordinary gynaecologist who takes care of everyone but herself,” said creator/writer Julie Skaufel. Seasoned producer Anders Tangen, known for Lilyhammer and Norsemen (Vikingane), said a yet undisclosed-Nordic streamer has boarded the show, slated for a 2027 launch.

The six-part Finnish crime The Truth is the first project coming out of Reinvent Yellow since REinvent Studios’ merger with Finland’s Yellow Film & TV Group in October. The story. penned by Iiro Panula, is due to launch in 2026 via MTV Finland.

From the Faroe Islands, The English-language Reyna is a conspiracy thriller/family drama positioned as a British/Nordic co-production between the Faroese GRÓ Studios and the UK’s Red Herring Story. Trom creator Torfinnur Jákupssonshares the creator-executive producer credits with Benjamin McGrath. Jón Hammer produces.

In a separate sponsored event, Finnish group Rabbit Films screened the first episode of the crime show All the Best Girls(Munkkivuori), on the heels of its strong launch on the leading streamer Elisa Viihde earlier this week.

Global drama trends, microdrama craze In post-peak TV, marked by industry consolidation (at press time Netflix was set to buy Warner Bros Discovery for $82.7 billion), shifting consumer habits, high inflation and micro-economics putting pressure on media spend, producers were invited at Content London to adapt, strengthen partnerships, protect their IP, and look for cheaper and innovative ways to create content. Tapping into the creator economy to diversify revenues, and adopting AI as an empowering tool, were suggestions from heavyweight speakers, but microdrama was by far the buzziest word. Media analyst Maria Rua Aguete from Omdia said the sector, valued at $11 billion in 2025 and dominated by China (83% of the market) ahead of the US (9%), is set to rise to $22 billion in 2030. “The vertical drama business is a model we all need to get involved in,” said Fremantle CEO Commercial and International Jens Richter.

Help your commissioner!

Within the tradition drama financing model, pubcasters NRK, SVT, VRT, and ZDF within the New8 alliance said at a panel that building trust and understanding their respective editorial priorities and financial challenges was quintessential. “Our relationship has evolved. We discuss early in development, and know that a project first needs to be relevant in the country of origin, but also has the potential to travel. Today we are able to raise the bar higher and work in a true collaborative way,” said Yle Head of Drama Jarmo Lampela.

In another session, about lessons learned by commissioners-turned-producers, former NRK Head of Drama Ivar Køhn, now at Rubicon TV, said he’s happier as a producer, freed from the pressure to say yes [to projects]. At a time when commissioners are “terrified to make a decision in the fear of losing their job”, according to Køhn, he and Josefine Tengblad (Nordic Drama Queens co-founder, formerly Head of Drama at TV4/C4 Sweden) said producers could perhaps be better at communicating and pitching. “We need to be partners to commissioners, try to make our projects as clear to them as possible, and help them in their decision-making. You can’t be driven by fear. It’s never going to be positive. We need to help each other,” Tengblad said.