Arctic Circle (TV series)

Arctic Circle
Ivalo
Genre
Created by
  • Olli Haikka
  • Petja Peltomaa
  • Joona Tena
  • Jón Atli Jónasson
Directed byHannu Salonen
Starring
ComposerVladislav Delay
Country of origin
  • Finland
  • Germany
Original languages
  • Finnish
  • English
  • Russian
No. of seasons3
No. of episodes21
Production
Production locations
Running time50 minutes
Production companies
Original release
Network
Release2018 (2018)

Arctic Circle (Finnish: Ivalo) is a Finnish-German crime drama television series that premiered on Finnish streaming service Elisa Viihde at Christmas 2018 and later on Yle.[1] The series stars Iina Kuustonen, Maximilian Brückner, Pihla Viitala, Clemens Schick[2] and Susanna Haavisto.

Arctic Circle is the first co-production between Finland's Yellow Film & TV and Germany's Bavaria Film, picked up for world distribution by Paris-based Lagardère Studios. The series was created by Yellow Film & TV CEO Olli Haikka and Head of Drama Petja Peltomaa with Joona Tena who shares the writing credit with Iceland's experienced Jón Atli Jónasson.[3] Arctic Circle is directed by Finnish-born, Germany-based Hannu Salonen, Juha Lankinen and Jussi Hiltunen.

Plot

Set in an icy Finnish Lapland, in series 1, Finnish police officer Nina Kautsalo (Iina Kuustonen) finds a nearly dead prostitute in a cabin in the wilderness. The case takes a surprising turn when a deadly virus is found in the prostitute's body. Nina and German virologist Thomas Lorenz (Maximilian Brückner) start investigating the case.

Cast and characters

Season 1

Season 2

Episodes

SeriesEpisodesOriginally released
First releasedLast released
11021 December 2018 (2018-12-21)4 January 2019 (2019-01-04)
2619 December 2021 (2021-12-19)2 January 2022 (2022-01-02)
364 October 2023 (2023-10-04)8 November 2023 (2023-11-08)

Season 1 (2018-19)

No.
overall		No. in
season		TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal air date
11"Cellar" (Kellari)Hannu SalonenUnknown21 December 2018 (2018-12-21)
22"Traces in the Snow" (Jäljet lumessa)Hannu SalonenUnknown21 December 2018 (2018-12-21)
33"The Storm Rises" (Myrsky nousee)Hannu SalonenUnknown21 December 2018 (2018-12-21)
44"Eye for an Eye" (Silmä silmästä)Hannu SalonenUnknown29 December 2018 (2018-12-29)
55"God Is Good" (Jumalan terve)Hannu SalonenUnknown29 December 2018 (2018-12-29)
66"The First Victim"  (Ensimmäinen uhri)Hannu SalonenUnknown29 December 2018 (2018-12-29)
77"Predator" (Saalistaja)Hannu SalonenUnknown29 December 2018 (2018-12-29)
88"Carrier" (Taudinkantajat)Hannu SalonenUnknown4 January 2019 (2019-01-04)
99"Murmansk" (Murmansk)Hannu SalonenUnknown4 January 2019 (2019-01-04)
1010"Venla" (Venla)Hannu SalonenUnknown4 January 2019 (2019-01-04)

Season 2 (2021-22)

No.
overall		No. in
season		TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal air date
111"The Latest Police" (Uusin poliisi)Jussi HiltunenIiro Küttner19 December 2021 (2021-12-19)
122"In the Middle of Nowhere" (Keskellä ei mitään)Jussi HiltunenIiro Küttner19 December 2021 (2021-12-19)
133"Catch" (Saalis)Jussi HiltunenReeta Ruotsalainen26 December 2021 (2021-12-26)
144"Justice" (Oikeus ja kohtuus)Jussi HiltunenReeta Ruotsalainen2 January 2022 (2022-01-02)
155"Guilty" (Syyllinen)Jussi HiltunenAleksi Delikouras9 January 2022 (2022-01-09)
166"Parents" (Vanhemmat)Jussi HiltunenAleksi Delikouras16 January 2022 (2022-01-16)

Season 3 (2023)

No.
overall		No. in
season		TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal air date
171"Return" (Paluu)Juha LankinenIiro Küttner4 October 2023 (2023-10-04)
182"Lost and Found" (Löytötavara)Juha LankinenIiro Küttner11 October 2023 (2023-10-11)
193"Hide and Seek" (Piilossa)Juha LankinenIiro Küttner18 October 2023 (2023-10-18)
204"Mess" (Sotku)Juha LankinenIiro Küttner25 October 2023 (2023-10-25)
215"Breaking and Entering" (Murto ja varkaus)Juha LankinenIiro Küttner1 November 2023 (2023-11-01)
226"Event" (Julkistus)Juha LankinenIiro Küttner8 November 2023 (2023-11-08)

Production

In November 2017, it was announced that the main cast would consist of Iina Kuustonen, Maximilian Brückner, Clemens Schick and Pihla Viitala.[4] It was also announced that filming of season one would begin in Finland later that month, on the 27th of November 2017.[5] Filming of season 2 took place in Finnish Lapland during the autumn of 2020 and later winter/early spring of 2021.[6]

Release

The series aired on ZDF in Germany in 2020.[7] In North America the rights to the series were acquired by Topic. As part of its ongoing distribution deal Lagardère Studios Distribution also sold the rights to Polar+ (France), RTS (Switzerland), BeTV (Belgium), Videotron (Canada), NPO (The Netherlands), IVI (Russia), Canal Plus (Poland), RTP (Portugal), Cosmopolitan TV (Spain), Elisa (China) and FTV Outre-mer 1e (France overseas).[8]

See also

References

  1. ^ Pham, Annika (3 April 2017). "Yellow Film & TV and Bavaria prepare for Arctic Circle". Nordisk Film & TV Fond.
  2. ^ White, Peter (7 November 2017). "'War Horse' Star Maximilian Brückner & 'Casino Royale's Clemens Schick To Front Euro Drama Series". Deadline. Retrieved 19 January 2019.
  3. ^ Economou, Vassilis (1 March 2018). "TV series Arctic Circle goes beyond polar landscapes". Cineuropa. Retrieved 4 January 2022.
  4. ^ Clarke, Stewart (7 November 2017). "Cast Assembled for Nordic Noir 'Arctic Circle'". Variety. Retrieved 4 January 2022.
  5. ^ LS Distribution (7 November 2017). "Pan-European coproduction Arctic Circle to commence filming". LS Distribution. Retrieved 4 January 2022.
  6. ^ Lapland Film (31 May 2021). "Arctic Circle, Season 2 – Pandemic Prophecy: Filming During a Virus Outbreak". Lapland Film. Retrieved 4 January 2022.
  7. ^ Kaminska, Karolina (10 July 2019). "ZDF explores Arctic Circle". C21 Media. Retrieved 4 January 2022.
  8. ^ Keslassy, Elsa (20 November 2020). "Topic Acquires North American Rights to Season 2 of Nordic Thriller 'Arctic Circle' (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved 4 January 2022.