More4 wades into Heavy Water War noir

Channel 4’s UK digital network More4 has acquired The Heavy Water War, a Norwegian noir that aired to huge ratings on NRK.

The six-part show, from Filmkameratene AS, the UK’s Headline Pictures and Denmark’s Sebasto Film & TV, went to More4 via Arrow Films, which has distribution rights in the UK.

The series begins in Stockholm, Sweden in 1933 as German scientist Werner Heisenberg is awarded a Nobel Prize and follows the Nazis’ subsequent efforts to create a nuclear bomb and the Allies’ desperate attempts to stop them.

The title is in reference to a daring sabotage of a heavy water factory in Norway in 1943, and the show features a cast of Norwegian, German and English actors.

The show has been a big hit in Norway, with the final episode drawing in around 1.4 million viewers – around 30% of the country’s population.

“As the producer of The Heavy Water War it has been fantastic to see how this series has broken every record for a television drama series in Norway since NRK started its modern statistical rating system,” said John M. Jacobsen, a producer at Filmkameratene AS.

“This was a unique opportunity for a partnership between Norwegian and British producers to make a world class drama about events that could well have changed the outcome of the Second World War,” added Headline’s Stewart Mackinnon.

“Selling this back into the UK to More4 and Arrow Films is indicative of the new opportunities to make drama for the international market with our European partners”.

Distributor Svensk Filmindustri has previously shopped the series MHz in the USA, Lumiere in the Benelux region, RTÉ in Ireland, RTV in Slovenia, TV2 in Denmark, SVT in Sweden, RUV in Iceland and YLE in Finland.