The Walter Presents creator on why we should all give subtitled foreign dramas a go

For as long as I can remember, I’ve been passionate about international drama. I was raised in Italy, watching programmes from France, Germany, Spain and Latin America, and it’s been my dream to launch a foreign-language drama channel myself.

In 2015, after working 20 years as a TV executive here in the UK, I pitched my idea to my former bosses at Channel 4. They loved it and Walter Presents, with its home on All 4, Channel 4’s on-demand service, was born.

Many people were sceptical that British viewers would take to subtitles, but I felt the success of Scandi shows like The Killing and The Bridge on this side of the North Sea had whetted people’s appetite for international series.

Lo and behold, when Walter Presents kicked off in 2016 – after I’d sifted through thousands of hours of foreign-language programmes to choose what I thought were the best on offer – we hit the jackpot. Our launch show, riveting German spy thriller Deutschland 83, aired on Channel 4 and became one of the UK’s most popular subtitled dramas ever. Hits like the French political drama Spin and Spanish prison thriller Locked Up followed, many also having their first episode shown on Channel 4 or More 4.

There is overwhelming proof that watching an international drama makes you more inclined to learn a foreign language because you warm to the actors and want to know more about the place where it is set.

Learning a new language at whatever age can slow down the ageing of the brain and improve your cognitive skills. Seeing such programmes broadens the mind in other ways too. For instance, we constantly get enquiries from viewers keen to visit locations they’ve seen in our dramas. We’ve even got a name for them – set-jetters!

So what’s new to look forward to? This week alone there’s Before We Die, a Swedish crime drama about a washed- up detective whose estranged son’s life is being put at risk by a cloak-and-dagger new case, and Rebecka Martinsson: Arctic Murders, in which a big-time lawyer returns to her remote hometown and tries to solve the mystery of her friend’s murder.

So foreign-language drama fans are going to be spoilt for choice. The British have always been keen travellers, but are less known for their foreign language skills. Perhaps the success of subtitled dramas will help with that. Ciao! Before We Die, Tuesday, 11pm, Channel 4, and Rebecka Martinsson: Arctic Murders, Friday, 9pm, More 4. Visit walterpresents.com.