SCOTLAND meets Scandinavia in the witty new detective series Annika, which lands exclusively on BritBox on November 18, fresh from its UK premiere.
Keen to know more? Here are 10 fast facts:
- Annika follows the life of Detective Inspector Annika Strandhed (Nicola Walker), a Norwegian single mum who has returned to Glasgow to head up the Marine Homicide Unit, solving crimes and unexplained murders.
- Based on a popular BBC Radio 4 programme also starring Walker, the story has been relocated from Oslo to Scotland.
- Annika breaks “the fourth wall” and speaks directly to viewers, sharing her wry observations of cases and life – peppered with literary and historical references.
- In one episode, she uses Greek mythology to help solve a crime. In another, she makes reference to Moby Dick and in yet another, her colleague Michael (Jamie Sives) tells her, “Go and solve your crime with your Collected Works of Chaucer,” and she shouts back at him, “It’s Twelfth Night this time!”
- Annika has a brilliant yet complex teenage daughter, Morgan (Silvie Furneaux), who is struggling to adjust to her new life, causing friction between the two.
- The Scottish countryside has a starring role, with cases taking the team from Glasgow’s Clyde River to the Isle of Bute and the picturesque Loch Katrine.
- Annika was shot in various locations, including the Scottish west coast seaside village of Largs.
- Walker can also be seen on BritBox South Africa in all four seasons of British crime drama Unforgotten, starring opposite Sanjeev Bhaskar.
- Walker starred in the spy drama Spooks for many years, was nominated twice for a BAFTA for Last Tango in Halifax, and won the 2013 Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actress for the play The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.
- Walker says: “I’ve played a lot of detectives over the years. But I’ve been Annika for a long time now … [and] I was very keen to see how she worked transposed to life in Scotland. I hope people will think that we have taken them on a very unusual, sometimes deeply sad, sometimes incredibly funny, but always unexpected ride. I hope they feel like they are being let into a very unusual brain. Above all, I hope audiences will watch Annika and just go, ‘Wow!’”
BritBox is available to stream via the web, on Android and Apple mobile/tablets, FireTV, AppleTV, Samsung Smart TV and LG Smart TV. Enjoy one week’s free trial, sign up at R99.99 per month or R999.99 for 12 months, and register for email updates here.
Follow BritBox on Twitter and Instagram @BritBox_ZA and on Facebook @BritBoxZA.
