The three Scandinavian broadcasting partners in the Scandi Alliance – TV4 Sweden, TV2 Denmark and TV2 Norway – have announced their first joint drama bet “Royal Blood” (“Blått Blod”), currently in early development at Miso Film Norway, part of Miso Film, a Fremantle company.
Head-writers of the mega-historical project are the multi-awarded Stephen Uhlander (“Nobel,” “The Girl from Oslo”) and Emma Broström (“STHLM Blackout,” “Knocking”) who serve as co-creators alongside Monica Boracco (“Mars & Venus”) and Katarina Launing (“Battle”). A director has yet to be attached.
Picked among 75 Scandinavian series submissions, the project was unveiled today Jan. 28 by drama honchos Alice Sommer from TV2 Norway, Mette Nelund from TV2 Denmark and Johanna Lind from TV4 Sweden. The announcement was made at a Scandi Alliance panel, staged at Göteborg’s TV Drama Vision.
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The shoe is set in Scandinavia, 1807. “As Europe’s great powers clash, a fierce struggle for power and control erupts in Denmark-Norway and Sweden. Royal families face challenges to their supremacy from ambitious power players, using all means available to them-money, sex, deceit, and even murder-in their quest for power, which will come to shape the future of their countries,” reads the logline.
Sommer said that since the launch of the Scandi Alliance venture in September 2023 and the opening of their first call for submission, she and her colleagues had been looking for “a truly organic Scandinavian story.
“Royal Blood” is precisely that,” she added. “It isn’t forced into a trilateral co-production, but spurs interest in all countries by the sheer force of the story’s DNA.”
Expanding on the storyline she noted: “‘Royal Blood’tells the intense, gripping and ferocious story of howmodern-day Scandinavia and its present geo-political government and division actually came about. The story gives us a deep dive into the beginning of the 1800s, to show the most turbulentpower and royal battle our part of the north-western hemisphere has ever seen.”
Concurring with her counterpart, Lind said: “What makes ‘Royal Blood’ stand out from a Scandinavian perspective, is that is offers equal relevance to allthree countries. This is not an easy feat. Several concepts were promising and engaging, but held relevance to only two of the countries – or even just one.”
“Our present-day democracy is actually derived from the ruthless battles conducted by a select number of nobles, royals and military leaders who held no prisoners and stabbed each other in the back at the blink of an eye,” Lind added.
Royal Blood
Courtesy of Miso Film
“This is our past and our common heritage, which is not really all that distant. Not only may ‘Royal Blood’help us understand what our Scandinavian societies are built on, but it will put into perspective the present-day political upheavals and warfare where erratic battles are commonplace, and which we tend to view as completely ‘distant’ from complacent Scandinavian high-trust democracies; when in fact it is part of our own not-too-distant past.“
Nelund underscored the character-driven storyline and human motivations of its protagonists, that make the show relevant for today’s Scandinavian and global viewers. “The core of this turbulent royal-political power play is a handful of highly complex characters in prominent positions from Sweden, Denmark and Norway. They are under huge pressure in these unstable times in the early 1800s. This allows us to explore timeless aspects of human conduct, such as the limits that people in high places can be driven to in terms of dreams, fears, ambitions, revenge, idealism, loyalty and deceit.”
“Incessantly worrying about outer threats and dishonest intent of both friends and foes, our main characters are driven not only by forward-looking ambition and high hopes, but just as much by the fear of not being able to protect yourself, your social standing, your kind or even your country.”
Quizzed about the Scandi Alliance’s joint financial and creative contribution, Sommer said: “The financial plan is a work in progress, but our financial commitment is in accordance with the call we sent out to the industry in 2023. We have committed to investing a total of NOK 90 million ($7.9 million) for Nordic exclusive rights, and Miso Film can sell world rights (except the Nordics) at a range of 30-50% of the total budget.“
“Creatively, we have established a ‘hub’ of channel executives from all three countries, where we all have equal say in creative matters. The dialogue and cooperation with Miso is facilitated by our Norwegian executive, but we also have regular meet-ups with all the parties,” Sommer noted.
According to Kristin Ulseth, producer at the Norwegian outpost of the Fremantle-owned Scandinavian powerhouse Miso Film, the project is due to start rolling in spring 2026.
“For Miso Film, with a strong presence in Norway, Denmark, and Sweden, it is deeply inspiring to develop a drama series with natural relevance and a strong resonance across Scandinavia. We are very grateful for the unique opportunity the Scandi Alliance collaboration provides, enabling us to bring an ambitious project to life, particularly during a time when the industry is grappling with significant challenges and tighter budgets,” said Ulseth who produces the show with Miso Film Norway’s managing director Are Heidenstrøm.
The Scandi Alliance is among a handful of partnerships between Nordic, European public and commercial broadcasters, set up in recent years to finance ambitious, internationally-driven series and secure rights to audience draws in a highly competitive market.
Earlier efforts on a Nordic level include N12 (Nordic 12) between pubcasters DR, SVT, NRK, YLE and RÚV which has yielded around 70 projects in the last seven years.
Very much aligned to the N12 model, the New8 public service partnership launched in the fall 2023, takes in DR, SVT, NRK, Yle, RÚV, as well as ZDF in Germany, NPO in The Netherlands, and VRT in Belgium.
Göteborg’s TV Drama Vision runs Jan.28-29.