Discovery+ digs up ‘The Mole’ for Sweden

Discovery+ has revived The Mole adventure competition format for Swedish audiences.

Originally broadcast on local network Kanal 5 from 2000-2004, the show, known locally as Mullvaden, will now return on the streaming service later this year, with the 8 x 60-minute revival series produced by Warner Bros. International Productions Sweden.

The Mole format, which is distributed by Brussels-based Primitives, was originated by Woestijnvis in Belgium in 1998 and has since been produced for more than 20 countries.

It sees 10 contestants travel to an unknown destination with the mission of ideniftying which member of their group is the mole, who is out to sabotage the groups efforts. The more contestants learn about the mole, the greater their chances of reaching the final.

A cast of celebrities has been announced, including Anders Lundin, Carina Lidbom and Ellen Bergström, with the prize for the person who uncovers the identity of the the mole is one million kronor ($120,000).

Aron Gabrielsson, who is serving as executive producer for Mullvaden at Discovery+, commented: “The Mole is a nerve-wracking format with a great production team, but above all: ten fantastic participants. It will be extremely exciting to see when both the participants and everyone who watches do everything they can to try to reveal The Mole in this castle mystery.”

A spokesperson for Primitives added: “This is a big year for The Mole, 23 years old and it is breaking ratings records in Benelux and enjoying successful comebacks in territories such as Finland and now Sweden. The move to a SVOD service highlights the value of the format and brand internationally as a subscription driver”.