''Valkyrien'' ( English: ''Valkyrie'') is a 2017 Norwegian TV series first broadcast by

NRK1 NRK1 (pronounced as ''"NRK en"'' or ''"- ein"'') is the main television channel of the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK). History Test broadcasts started on 12 January 1954, regular test broadcasts began on 13 April 1958, and regular bro ...

. The series combines elements of the " Scandi noir" school of television with

medical drama A medical drama is a Television film, television movie or film in which events center upon a hospital, clinic, doctor's office, a paramedic, or any other medical topic or environment. Most recent medical drama (film and television), dramatic progra ...

crime drama Crime film is a film belonging to the crime fiction genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and fiction. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine with many other genres, such as Drama (film and television), dr ...

and "a palpable sense of the paranoia induced by operating on the edges of society", drawing favorable comparisons with

AMC AMC may refer to: Film and television * AMC Theatres, an American movie theater chain * AMC Networks, an American entertainment company ** AMC (TV channel) ** AMC+, streaming service ** AMC Networks International, an entertainment company *** ...

's ''

Breaking Bad ''Breaking Bad'' is an American crime drama television series created and produced by Vince Gilligan for AMC (TV channel), AMC. Set and filmed in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the series follows Walter White (Breaking Bad), Walter White (Bryan Cran ...

''. The series is named for Valkyrien, closed metro station in

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

Premise

Surgeon Ravn Eikanger becomes furious when his supervisors do not allow him to test experimental medical procedures on his dying wife. In desperation, Eikander fakes her death as an apparent suicide and brings her to a makeshift clinic in the abandoned subway station

Valkyrie In Norse mythology, a valkyrie ( or ; from ) is one of a host of female figures who guide souls of the dead to the god Odin's hall Valhalla. There, the deceased warriors become ('single fighters' or 'once fighters').Orchard (1997:36) and Li ...

. He is aided by Leif Lien, a paranoid prepper, who allows Ravn stay hidden if he operates an underground hospital where those who do not trust the Norwegian health care services can seek help.

Cast and characters

Sven Nordin Sven Audun Nordin (born 6 February 1957) is a Norwegian actor. He was hired by Oslo Nye Teater in the autumn of 1981 and had his debut in the play "Vikinger" by Johan Borgen. He is best known for his roles as Nils in the situation comedy '' Mo ...

as Ravn Eikanger – a brilliant surgeon who has become disillusioned and embittered after colleagues refused to allow his terminally ill wife to undergo an untested experimental treatment. * Pål Sverre Hagen as Leif Lien – a " doomsday prepper" and a Chief Technical Officer with the Sivilforsvaret—Norway's

civil defence Civil defense or civil protection is an effort to protect the citizens of a state (generally non-combatants) from human-made and natural disasters. It uses the principles of emergency management: prevention, mitigation, preparation, response, ...

agency—responsible for the security and maintenance of a network of

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

-era bunkers beneath Oslo. * Pia Halvorsen as Vilma Eikanger – Ravn's wife, a neuroimmunologist working to develop a

bacteriophage A bacteriophage (), also known informally as a phage (), is a virus that infects and replicates within bacteria. The term is derived . Bacteriophages are composed of proteins that Capsid, encapsulate a DNA or RNA genome, and may have structu ...

for use as an

antibiotic An antibiotic is a type of antimicrobial substance active against bacteria. It is the most important type of antibacterial agent for fighting pathogenic bacteria, bacterial infections, and antibiotic medications are widely used in the therapy ...

in humans. * Ellen-Birgitte Winther as Unn Vikebø – a former colleague of Ravn and Vilma at the

Oslo University Hospital Oslo University Hospital (; OUS) is a university hospital in Oslo, Norway. With over 24,000 employees it is List of hospitals by staff, the largest hospital organization in Europe. It is affiliated with the University of Oslo Faculty of Medicine, F ...

. * Mikkel Bratt Silset as Teodor "Teo" Naustvik – Leif's friend, wanted by the police for his part in a bungled bank robbery and on the run with

NOK Nok is a village in Jaba, Nigeria, Jaba Local Government Area of Kaduna State, Nigeria. The village is an archeological site. Archaeology The discovery of terracotta figurines at this location caused its name to be used for the Nok culture, ...

62 million (

EUR The euro (symbol: €; currency code: EUR) is the official currency of 20 of the member states of the European Union. This group of states is officially known as the euro area or, more commonly, the eurozone. The euro is divided into 10 ...

6.7 million;

USD The United States dollar (symbol: $; currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introduced the U.S. dollar at par with the Spanish silver dollar, divided it int ...

7.8 million;

GBP Sterling (symbol: £; currency code: GBP) is the currency of the United Kingdom and nine of its associated territories. The pound is the main unit of sterling, and the word '' pound'' is also used to refer to the British currency general ...

6 million). * Gine Cornelia Pedersen as Marit Naustvik – Teo's pregnant wife. *

Laila Goody Laila Elin Goody (born 22 March 1971) is a Norwegian actress. She was born to an English father who worked in the oil industry and a Norwegian mother. She was born in Stavanger and grew up in Rosendal, Hordaland, between the ages of two and ten ...

as Grethe – the head of Vilma's research team at Oslo University Hospital. * Ameli Isungset Agbota as Siv – Vilma's daughter. * Joachim Rafaelsen as Per Olav – a police officer determined to track down Teo. * Svein Harry Schöttker Hauge as the prison guard.

Episode list

Series 1 (2017)

Remake

Mark Strong Mark Strong (born Marco Giuseppe Salussolia; 5 August 1963) is a British actor best known for his film roles such as Prince Septimus in '' Stardust'' (2007), Archibald in '' RocknRolla'' (2008), Lord Henry Blackwood in ''Sherlock Holmes'' (200 ...

stars in a British remake of Valkyrien set in London named

Temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a place of worship, a building used for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. By convention, the specially built places of worship of some religions are commonly called "temples" in Engli ...

which first aired on Sky One in the UK in September 2019 and was produced by Hera Pictures.

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 5170828, Valkyrien NRK original programming Norwegian drama television series Norwegian crime television series 2017 Norwegian television series debuts