Department Q (Danish: Afdeling Q) is a series of ten DanishNordic noircrime novels by author Jussi Adler-Olsen[1] which have been adapted in an ongoing series of highly successful Danish films and a forthcoming English language TV adaptation for Netflix which changes the setting from Denmark to Scotland.
Novels
Originally written in Danish, the novels have been translated into numerous languages, including English, Bulgarian, Chinese, Croatian, Czech, Dutch, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hungarian, Icelandic, Italian, Japanese, Latvian, Lithuanian, Macedonian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Slovakian, Slovenian, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish and Vietnamese.[2]
Despite using the same translations, the Penguin Group titled the first five novels differently in the UK and the USA. Their editions use the same English titles as the film adaptations.
The first four films were produced by Peter Aalbæk Jensen and Louise Vesth through Zentropa, however despite their commercial and critical success, author Jussi Adler-Olsen was unhappy with the results and the casting, feeling that the films and characters departed from his novels too much and that his suggestions were being ignored, leading to Nordisk Film (who had already distributed the prior films in Denmark) and producer Mikael Rieks [da] taking over for the remainder of the series, with all the recurring roles recast.[8]
English language TV series
In April 2023, it was announced that an English-language adaptation of the successful Danish crime series of books would be adapted for the streaming service Netflix by filmmaker Scott Frank.[9] Frank first acquired the US television rights for the novels in 2014 and initially planned to set the series in Boston, Massachusetts instead of Denmark. The eight-part series is being produced by Left Bank Pictures and Sony Pictures Television with the setting finally being Scotland and filming taking place in Edinburgh.[10] Frank is showrunner and is directing the first two episodes. He also co-wrote the series alongside Chandni Lakhani, Stephen Greenhorn and Colette Kane.[11]
Zaki Youssef [da] was unable to return as Assad after The Marco Effect [da; ca; cy; de; fr; sv] due to having recently become a father and having other scheduling conflicts with the filming of Boundless [da; sv], which started on 5 September 2022, half a year earlier than planned.[14]
The films have been massively successful, selling over three million tickets in Denmark alone, where the installments regularly top the yearly box-office. The Purity of Vengeance [da; ca; cy; de; es; fa; fr; it; ko; no; sv] (2018) became the highest grossing Danish film of all time upon release,[28] with a gross of 72,500,000 DKK, The Absent One (2014) the second highest with 68,1 M. DKK, A Conspiracy of Faith (2016) the fourth with 64,3 M. DKK, and The Keeper of Lost Causes (2012) the fifth with 59,01 M. DKK. The Purity of Vengeance is additionally the 11th overall highest grossing film in Denmark.[15] The fifth film The Marco Effect [da; ca; cy; de; fr; sv] however, which marked a complete recast, was significantly less successful despite a larger budget. The sixth film, Boundless [da; sv], had the best opening for a Danish film since Checkered Ninja 2 in 2021, three years prior,[29] and is currently the most watched film of 2024 in Danish cinemas.[27]
