Sløborn (titled ''The Island'' in English release) is an apocalyptic German-Danish television series produced by Syrreal Entertainment,

ZDF ZDF (), short for (; ), is a German public-service television broadcaster based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. Launched on 1 April 1963, it is run as an independent nonprofit institution, and was founded by all federal states of Germany ( ...

, Tobis Film, and

Nordisk Film Nordisk Film A/S () is a Danish entertainment company involved in film production and distribution and a subsidiary of Egmont Group. The multimedia entertainment company is also involved in television production, cinemas, computer games and ...

. It consists of 3 seasons and 20 total episodes released between July 2020 and February 2024.

Background

Christian Alvart was the primary creator of the series and its director. It aired for three seasons between 2020 and 2024. The series concerns a worldwide pandemic as it affects the residents of the fictional German island Sløborn located in the North Sea. The first season was filmed before the

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

pandemic broke out, and debuted on the German

ZDFneo ZDFneo is a German free-to-air television channel, programmed for an audience aged 25 to 49 to complement the primarily older-skewing main channels of public broadcasters ZDF and ARD. It replaced ZDF's documentary channel ZDFdokukanal on 1 N ...

channel in July 2020. The parallels of the storyline to actual worldwide events helped fuel popularity of the series.(27 July 2020)
TV drama goes viral: the German-Danish series that foresaw COVID-19
''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

''Tieschky, Claudia (22 July 2020)
Nein, das ist nicht die Serie zu Corona
''

Süddeutsche Zeitung The ''Süddeutsche Zeitung'' (; ), published in Munich, Bavaria, is one of the largest and most influential daily newspapers in Germany. The tone of ''SZ'' is mainly described as centre-left, liberal, social-liberal, progressive-liberal, and ...

'' The vast majority of the show is in German, but the first season especially has scenes where characters with Danish background such as the roles played by

Roland Møller Roland Møller (; born 28 May 1972) is a Danish actor. He won the Bodil Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role for '' Land of Mine'' (2015), and Best Actor in a Supporting Role for ''Nordvest'' (2013). He has appeared in high-profile films li ...

and Mads Hjulman converse in Danish. In the third season, two lesser characters speak English, and the main cast switch to English when addressing them. The title of the show is a play on the English phrase "slow burn", for a story that takes time to develop, which is most apparent in the first season of the show as the teenagers and adults on the island deal with more ordinary challenges of life as the "Taubengrippe" (Pigeon flu) begins to change their world. The use of the " ø" in the title, a Scandinavian letter used in Danish, conveys that the fictional island is in a border area of Germany and Denmark.(23 July 2020)
Kino+ #308 - Sløborn, Out of Play, Yummy
''Kino Plus'' (YouTube) Under the English title ''The Island'', seasons 1 and 2 of the show have been released with English subtitles.(14 July 2023)
Sløborn: Release date, cast and trailer for Channel 4 virus thriller
''

Radio Times ''Radio Times'' is a British weekly listings magazine devoted to television and radio programme schedules, with other features such as interviews, film reviews and lifestyle items. Founded in September 1923 by John Reith, then general manage ...

''Ellwood-Hughes, Pip (6 March 2024)
Walter Presents: ‘Sløborn’ Season 2 coming to C4 Streaming in April
''Entertainment Focus''

Seasons

The first season (eight episodes) debuted on television in Germany on

on July 23, 2020, when the first four episodes were aired, and the whole first season made available online on

's website ZDFmediathek. In November 2020, ZDF announced that the series had been renewed for a second season, with shooting to being in February 2021. ZDF stated at the time that it had been the most successful streaming ZDFneo series to date.(26 November 2020)
neoriginal "Sløborn" geht weiter / Dreharbeiten im Frühjahr 2021
ZDF Presse In English, the series debuted on the UK's

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

streaming service on July 14, 2023. The second season (six episodes) debuted online in Germany on January 7, 2022, and three episodes played on television on ZDFneo on January 11 and 12, 2022, and in two-episode offerings on ZDF starting on February 21, 2022.Schmid, Julia (29 November 2021)
Starttermin, Handlung, Besetzung - Alle wichtigen Infos
''Serien Fuchs''(10 January 2022). https://taz.de/Slborn-Fortsetzung-bei-ZDFneo/!5824849/ Schutzlos auf der Insel], ''

Die Tageszeitung ''Die Tageszeitung'' (, "The Daily Newspaper"), stylized as ''die tageszeitung'' and commonly referred to as ''taz'', is a German daily newspaper. It is run as a cooperative – it is administered by its employees and a co-operative of sharehol ...

'' The third season (six episodes) debuted online on February 2, 2024, and was broadcast in Germany on ZDFNeo during the night of February 2-3, 2024.

Cast

The primary cast includes Emily Kusche,

Alexander Scheer Alexander Scheer (born 1 June 1976 in East Berlin) is a German actor and musician. He has won several national awards for his performances in film and theater, including one German Film Award for "Best Actor in a Leading Role" and one Bavarian F ...

, Mads Hjulmand,

Lea van Acken Lea van Acken (born 20 February 1999) is a German actress. Career Lea van Acken had her first appearance on stage at the Karl May Festival in Bad Segeberg in 2011. She was the leading actress in the 2014 drama film ''Stations of the Cross'' ...

Karla Nina Diedrich, Adrian Grünewald, and

Wotan Wilke Möhring Wotan Wilke Möhring (born 23 May 1967) is a German actor. Biography Möhring was born in Augustdorf near Detmold and grew up in Herne. His father was an army officer and his mother worked as a teacher. He has a sister and two brothers. O ...

References

External links

Sløborn on IMDb
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sloborn 2020 German television series debuts 2024 German television series endings Apocalyptic television series German drama television series Television shows set in Germany 2020s German drama television series Danish drama television series