DR’s much anticipated new high end drama Rides Upon the Storm created by Adam Price (Borgen) starts filming this month with Lars Mikkelsen and Ann Eleonora Jørgensen (pictured) in the main roles.

Inspired by the myth of Abel and Cain, the series focus on a family of priests in the Church of Denmark. Mikkelsen and Jørgensen who both appeared in DR’s cult series The Killing (Forbrydelsen) play the parents, and Simon Sears (Follow the Money) and newcomer Morten Hee Andersen are the adult sons. 

Next to Price who developed the script in a writers’room are episodic writers Karina Dam (Borgen 3) and Poul Berg (Time Travel) and Kaspar Munk (Time Travel, Hold Me Tight) is concept director. Other crew members include cinematographer David Katznelson (Downton Abbey), Production Designer Knirke Madelung (Borgen 3) and music composers Kristian Leth and Fridolin Nordsø. 

Speaking about the series, Adam Price said: “Despite the fact that the Danes might not see themselves as a particularly religious nation, we are surrounded by faith in our daily life. Faith fills the public debate, when atheists encourage people to leave the church, when we discuss integration, the refugee crisis, terrorism or the US presidential election. But also when we look inwards and nurture mindfulness, hipster-Buddhism or the familiar blend of superstition and spirituality, and agree that “there are more things in heaven and earth”. 

Producer Camilla Hammerich added: “The series deals with the concept of faith in a broader context, namely the one that leads us through life. The awakening—when faith seizes us—and perdition—when faith abandons us—are the dramatic counterpoints of the series, and the extremes that most of the main characters have to go through on their journeys through Rides Upon the Storm.”

The DR series is co-produced by French/German ARTE and SAM le Français, in association with StudioCanal that handles worldwide distribution. The first ten episodes of Rides Upon the Storm will be broadcast on DR1 in the autumn 2017 and a second season is scheduled for 2018.