Breaking Borders: The international success of Danish Television Drama

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In Denmark, the Sunday night dramas of the public service broadcaster DR are somewhat of a national ritual. Until recently, Danes thought these series to be only for the Danes, but since 2002 they have also found international acclaim and distribution. The Killing and Borgen are the most recent examples of this success. Based on theories of media creativity, genre and globalization, this chapter addresses how to understand the international interest in series from a small national television culture. We analyse the production framework of DR’s in-house drama unit, which has concepts such as ‘one vision’ and ‘double storytelling’ as guidelines for creating quality drama. Moreover, the chapter focuses on audience patterns for the series and aspects of their international distribution and reception.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationEuropean Cinema and Television : Cultural Policy and everyday life
EditorsIb Bondebjerg, Eva Novrup Redvall, Andrew Higson
Number of pages25
Place of PublicationHoundmills, Basingstoke
PublisherPalgrave Macmillan
Publication date1 Jun 2015
Pages214-238
Chapter10
ISBN (Print)978-1-137-35687-1
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jun 2015
SeriesPalgrave European film and media studies

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