Sky Arts has closed a deal to acquire the UK broadcast rights to The Legacy (AKA Arvingerne), the Danish drama series which hails from the production company behind The Killing & Borgen and started airing on DR1 in Denmark earlier this month.
Created by Maya Ilsøe, The Legacy picks up following the death of progressive internationally-renowned artist Veronika Grønnegaard and traces the story of Veronika’s four adult children, whose distinctive upbringing has affected their lives in very different ways. The division of Veronika’s estate marks the beginning of a journey into a complex set of secrets and lies for her four children. The series paints a portrait of a Danish family and their children, coming to terms with the challenges of change and the traces of violent upheaval from their past. The 10 episode series is produced by DR Fiktion and stars Trine Dyrholm, Jesper Christensen, Lene Maria Christensen, Carsten Bjørnlund, Mikkel Boe Følsgaard, Marie Bach Hansen and Trond Espen Seim.
“At Sky we know great drama is something our customers feel passionate about”, said James Hunt, Director of Sky Arts. “Sky Arts is the home of critically-acclaimed foreign language dramas from Italy, Israel, France, Portugal and Spain, and now, with its award-winning pedigree, acclaimed production team, director and cast, we’re extremely excited to bring this brilliant and gripping Danish drama to the UK exclusively for the first time.”
This is the latest foreign language drama to land at Sky Arts, who have been directly competing in that genre with BBC Four for the past couple of years. Other foreign language series to have previously aired on Sky Arts include Grand Hotel, Romanzo Criminale, Isabel, Hard and Prisoners of War (AKA Hatufim), the original Israeli series which forms the basis of the Showtime series Homeland. The pick up also comes at a time when competition for foreign language dramas is increasing now that Channel 4 has re-entered the fray with the recent acquisitions of French drama The Returned (AKA Les Revenants) and the Norwegian drama series Mammon.
