BBC 4 is to screen Swedish crime thriller series Beck, loosely based on the Martin Beck detective novels.
The highly influential books by writing duo Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö were originally published between 1965 and Wahlöö's death in 1975.
Beck (played by Peter Haber) and his impulsive partner Gunvald Larsson (Mikael Persbrandt) are arguably the originators of the modern Scandinavian good-cop, bad-cop blueprint.
But while all 10 novels have been adapted for film over the years, this later series of feature-length films transposes the main characters to new stories set in modern-day Sweden.
The series has stretched to 30 episodes so far, with most of the screenplays by Rolf and Cilla Börjlind. Surprisingly it seems the BBC will begin this autumn by screening the fifth and possibly final season, which was filmed earlier this year. The first episode to be shown, from the end of season four, will be broadcast on 12 September at 9pm on BBC 4.
In the four episodes from season five Beck investigates the death of a woman strangled in a hotel room, a gangster kingpin executed by a sniper in front of his family, a terrorist attack and a suspicious hospital death.
The Bridge III
This autumn BBC 4 will also be screening five new episodes of the Swedish crime drama Arne Dahl, plus the third series of The Bridge (Broen/Bron).
This latest season of the Swedish-Danish co-production features detective Saga Norén (Sofia Helin) again, but not the Martin Rohde character (Kim Bodnia).
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