Grate danes
Writer tells how people of Denmark are not happy that streaming giant has relocated shooting of Scandi Noir series to Edinburgh and Glasgow
AMAJOR new Netflix drama with a stellar Scots cast, including Kelly Macdonald, Mark Bonnar and Shirley Henderson, has upset the people of Denmark.
Department Q is a detective thriller based on the bestselling Scandi Noir crime novels by Danish author Jussi Adler-Olsen.
But River City creator Stephen Greenhorn, who is writing for the show, said the Danes cannot understand why the drama has relocated to Scotland.
Stephen, who also wrote the musical film and play Sunshine on Leith, said he was thrilled to be brought on board to write for the show which has a staggering 10 series in the pipeline.
He said: “I agreed to do Netflix’s next big detective show, the Nordic Noir series Department Q, because it was being filmed on my doorstep but the people in Denmark are fuming.”
English language news outlet The Copenhagen Post wrote: “Many will be asking why Edinburgh is being preferred to Copenhagen for the proposed Jussi Adler-Olsen small screen adaptation.”
It’s possible Adler- Olsen’s dislike of five Danish film adaptations of his novels, including 2013’s The Keeper of Lost Causes, may not have helped.
For Stephen, who lives in the capital, it’s a great opportunity to be involved in a Netflix juggernaut. And he’s keen to use his local knowledge for locations he hopes Scots will appreciate.
He said: “Department Q is on a big scale and the expectations are high. The joy for me is that it is going to be shooting locally. I’m writing episodes in and around Edinburgh and I keep trying to shove in locations the producers might not have thought about.
“Because I live here, I’m thinking we should do a scene on Portobello beach or up at the ski centre at Hillend and places in Edinburgh they may not have discovered yet.”
Filming of the eight-part series, which will also feature Glasgow, has started – with scenes being shot in Wester Hailes, Edinburgh, last week when residents in Calder Crescent saw the area turned into a film set.
A letter to residents ahead of filming revealed plans “to film scenes for a chilling new detective drama series being made for one of the large streaming channels in and around Edinburgh”.
Department Q is being directed by Scott Frank, who created Netflix hit The Queen’s Gambit in 2020, and being made by Left Bank Pictures.
Stephen, 59, said: “I’m very excited about it because obviously Scott Frank is really good. He’s been behind some really great projects in the past and the
company that’s making it has been involved in The Crown, Outlander and Wallander. So this could be quite a big hit for Netflix.
“It’s all heavy hitters and quite a big pedigree, so it’s daunting to step into that world and sit down with Scott, pitching writing a show where there is a whole world of people with massive experience.”
The show focuses on troubled detective Carl Morck, played by The Crown star Matthew Goode.
Carl is a former top-rated detective in Edinburgh assigned to a new cold case while wracked with guilt following an attack that left his partner paralysed and another policeman dead.
Netflix said: “At first, being sidelined suits Carl. Over the course of the series, his detective instincts are reawakened and his new department – Department Q – becomes a magnet for misfits and mavericks.”
Kelly, 47, plays therapist Dr Rachel Irving, who is charged with getting officers back on the front line. She’s smart and soon gets the measure of Carl, his trauma and his superiority complex. Intrigued by one another, the two develop a deeper connection.
Alongside her is Trainspotting co-star Shirley Henderson, 58, as Clare Marsh. Chloe Pirrie, who was in The Queen’s Gambit, and Guilt’s Jamie Sives, as DS Hardy, and Mark Bonnar, as Stephen, are also cast, as is Game of Thrones’ Kate Dickie as Moira.
For Stephen it’s a far cry from Shieldinch. He said: “I had no idea when I created River City it would still be going after 20 years. I was thinking about creating a story that could last for three, four or five years ahead.”
He has also worked on Doctor Who and Around the World in Eight Days with David Tennant.
Stephen also revealed he only got the go-ahead from Charlie and Craig Reid for Sunshine on Leith, using their back catalogue as the soundtrack, because they thought it would never happen.
Before approaching the Proclaimers twins, he had considered a raft of other Scottish acts.
He said: “I considered a musical with Gerry Raf ferty and other singer-songwriters and bands from Scotland then chose The Proclaimers.
“The musical opened and all hell broke loose and people remembered The Proclaimers were great songwriters and a great band.
“It helped spur a renaissance for Craig and Charlie and they ended up doing massive festival gigs after a quiet time. The timing was perfect but accidental.
“We asked them for permission to use the songs but I found out afterwards Craig and Charlie thought it would never work.”
On his wide-raging career, Stephen laughed: “I’ll go to a meeting with a TV company who look at my CV and tell me they don’t know what to make of it and I go, ‘ You’re telling me’.”