Rita is a Danish comedy-drama television series created by Christian Torpe for TV 2. It premiered in Denmark on 9 February 2012, and concluded on 20 July 2020, with 40 episodes broadcast over five seasons. Produced by SF Studios, the series was filmed in Rødovre, Zealand, and executive-produced by Keld Reinicke, Karoline Leth, Lars Bjørn Hansen, Birdie Bjerregaard, Christian Rank, Jennifer Green, and Torpe, who also served as head writer. All episodes are available internationally on streaming service Netflix , who partnered with TV 2 to produce the later three seasons, becoming a Netflix Original.
Mille Dinesen portrays the lead role of Rita Madsen, a headstrong and unconventional teacher and single mother who protects and helps her students but struggles to manage her own personal life.
A spin-off titled Hjørdis, centered on Rita's friend and colleague Hjørdis, (Lise Baastrup), was broadcast for one season between 18 May and 8 June 2015, consisting of four episodes.
Upon airing, Rita received generally favorable response from critics.
Contents
Premise
Rita Madsen, a compulsive smoker, is an unconventional secondary education teacher who, according to her, chose this profession "to protect students from their parents". While she goes out of her way to advise and help her pupils, Rita's personal and family life seems to need the same kind of assistance. Her youngest son, Jeppe, is discovering his sexuality, while the older ones, Ricco and Molly, are experiencing the mishaps of adulthood. Other main characters include Hjørdis, a naive teacher who becomes Rita's best friend; Rasmus, the school headmaster with whom Rita has an on-again, off-again relationship; Helle, school counselor and Rita's former rival; Uffe, Hjørdis' husband; and Jonas, a former school headmaster who is a self-assured teacher at Rita's school.
Cast and characters
Main
Mille Dinesen as Rita Madsen, an unconventional teacher and single mother. Tessa Hoder portrays a young Rita in season 4
Lise Baastrup as Hjørdis, a naive teacher and Rita's best friend.
Carsten Bjørnlund as Rasmus (seasons 1–3 and 5), school headmaster in seasons 1-2, and on-again, off-again boyfriend with Rita and Helle
Ellen Hillingsø as Helle (seasons 1–3; guest season 5), school counselor in seasons 1-3
Nikolaj Groth as Jeppe Madsen (seasons 1–3 and 5, guest season 4), Rita's youngest son
Morten Vang Simonsen as Ricco Madsen (seasons 1–2; guest season 3), Rita's oldest son
Sara Hjort Ditlevsen as Molly Madsen (seasons 1; guest seasons 2–5), Rita's daughter
Kristoffer Fabricius as Uffe (season 3-5, guest season 1-2), Hjørdis' boyfriend and, eventually, husband
Charlotte Munck as Lea (season 4), Rita's childhood friend
Ari Alexander as Ole (season 5), a farmhand and Jeppe's crush
Recurring
Lisbet Lundquist as Lillebeth Schmidt Kronborg (season 1), Rita's mother
Lykke Sand Michelsen as Bitten Dyrehave (seasons 1–2), Ricco's wife
Carsten Nørgaard as Tom Dyrehave (seasons 1–2), Bitten's father and Rita's ex-boyfriend
Lotte Andersen as Jette Dyrehave (seasons 1–2), Bitten's mother
Elena Arndt-Jensen as Stine (seasons 1–2), student
Lea Maria Høyer Stensnaes as Rosa (season 1), student
Ferdinand Glad Bach as David (seasons 1–3), Jeppe's boyfriend
Peter Gantzler as Niels Madsen (seasons 1–2, 5), Rita's ex-husband
Alexandre Willaume as Jonas Poulsen (seasons 2–3), schoolteacher
Tommy Kenter as Erik (season 2), schoolteacher
Lasse Fogelstrøm as Mads Klitgaard (season 2), student
Zaki Youssef as Said (season 3), Rita's crush
Belal Faiz as Karim (season 3), student and Said's brother
Frederik Winther Rasmussen as Niklas Verner (season 3), student
Charlotte Fich as Alice Verner (season 3), Niklas' mother and city mayor
Ole Lemmeke as Bjarne (season 4), headmaster
Guest
Line Kruse as Gitte Nielsen (season 1), Rita's sister
Laura Bach as Gitte Nielsen (season 2), Rita's sister
Kristian Halken as Flemming (season 2), teacher
Nikolaj Dencker Schmidt as Alex (season 5), Jeppe's boyfriend
Lisbeth Dahl as Gudrun (season 5), Ole's grandmother
Episodes
Reception
Critical response
Henrik Palle wrote for Politiken that the series "works really well with some characters who actually look like people".
Related media
Spin-off
Hjørdis follows the eponymous teacher as she tries to put together a school play about bullying. It was broadcast between 18 May and 8 June 2015, consisting of four episodes.
Adaptations
A US remake was planned with a pilot episode filmed in 2013, starring Anna Gunn, but it was not picked up as a series. In 2019, American premium cable network Showtime commissioned a pilot order for a remake starring Lena Headey. The series was to be a joint production between Showtime Networks and Platform One Media, with Torpe serving as showrunner and writing the pilot episode and Headey also acting as executive producer. This pilot was not picked up for a full series either.
A Dutch remake, Tessa, which began airing in November 2015 on NPO 1, lasted only one season. The lead role was played by Thekla Reuten, following the storyline of Rita Season one, with only a few changes. The series was remade in France by TF1 as Sam, starring Mathilde Seigner in the title role for the first season. The second season of Sam entered production in 2017 with Natacha Lindinger replacing Seigner in the title role. The show has aired seven seasons to date.
