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New Swedish-Norwegian thriller series to be shown on Viaplay

Saturday, September 14, 2019

"The Machinery" is a new thriller series that will premiere on Viaplay in 2020. The eight-part TV series has now finished shooting in Sandefjord in Norway. The script was created by Kjersti Ugelstad and Niclas Ekström from Manusfabriken.

The Machinery is an action-packed thriller series that takes place in the border area between Sweden and Norway, but also in the borderlands between truth and lies. The central character is Olle Hultén, an ordinary dad who wakes up on the car ferry between Sandefjord and Strömstad after a drunk work conference. He has no memory of the night before, but finds a bag full of cash, a pistol and a robbery mask. He instinctively escapes police who are after him and the fight to prove his innocence to the police and his family begins.

"The Machinery is a unique series in its genre, which offers levels of tension that we have not seen previously in Nordic series. Made by a real dream team on both sides of the camera, we are really looking forward to presenting this extremely exciting series to viewers in 2020." announces Fredrik Ljungberg, in charge of Viaplay Originals. 

Norwegian actor Kristoffer Joner (The Revenant) occupies the main role as Olle Hultén, with  Richard Holm, who previously directed  Gåsmamman and Heder , is chief director.

Manusfabriken's Niclas Ekström (30 grader i februari, Starke man, Molanders) and Kjersti Ugelstad (Wisting, Torpedo) are the main writers for the series. 

"When we wrote the script for The Machinery, our ambition was to show that you can make an exciting action series which is also a character-driven drama; that you can be both of these things without compromising. The Swedish-Norwegian mix is exciting too. We have made the border areas in Strömstad and Sandefjord work as a similar kind of backdrop to how the Oresund region was used in the Bridge." says Niclas Ekström, the series scriptwriter.

"It's been a lot of fun to write for some of the best actors in Scandinavia, such as Jakob Eklund and Kristoffer Joner."

Read more about The Machinery

The Machinery is a Viaplay Original, with eight 45 minute episodes that will be premiering on Viaplay all over Scandinavia in 2020. The series is produced by Anagram Sverige as a co-production with Film i Väst, Viaplay, Nordic Entertainment Group and Helsinki Filmi. The project was also developed with support from Lindholmen Science Park, Film i Skåne, SFI and Creative Europe MEDIA. Filming took place in Sandefjord, as well as in Strömstad and Gothenburg.