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The Bridge — news, coverage & facts — IJR

Recurring

Emil Birk Hartmann as August Rohde, Martin Rohde's eldest son

Christian Hillborg as Daniel Ferbé, journalist at Aftonposten in Malmö

Dietrich Hollinderbäumer as Göran Söringer, property developer

Ellen Hillingsø as Charlotte Söringer, Söringer's wife

Magnus Krepper as Stefan Lindberg, social worker in Malmö

Maria Sundbom as Sonja Lindberg, Stefan's sister

Kristian Lima de Faria as Åke, Daniel's colleague

Said Legue as Navid, Saga's colleague

Anette Lindbäck as Gry, Saga's colleague

Fanny Ketter as Anja Björk

Ole Boisen as Henning Tholstrup, Martin's colleague

Yaba Holst as Daniel's chef

Johan Hedenberg as Axel Möllberg

Julia Ragnarsson as Laura Möllberg, Axel's daughter

Vickie Bak Laursen as Pernille Lindegaard, Danish junior police detective

Tova Magnusson as Viktoria Nordgren, owner of the Medisonus pharmaceutical company

Sven Ahlström as Oliver Nordgren, Viktoria's brother

Camilla Bendix as Gertrud Kofoed, chief scientist at Medisonus, Oliver's wife

Fredrik Hiller as Marcus Stenberg, shipping owner

Lotte Munk as Caroline Brandstrup-Julin, the Copenhagen EU environment summit meeting's head organiser,

Lotte Merete Andersen as Bodil Brandstrup, Caroline Brandstrup-Julin's sister

Peter Christoffersen as Julian Madsen, owner of Copenhagen IT Consulting

Julie Wright as Anna-Dea

Moritz Lützhøft as Alexander, Caroline's husband

Michael Moritzen as Niels

Dar Salim as Peter Thaulow

Alexander Öhrstrand as Niklas

Claes Bang as Claudio (Claus Damgaard)

Stephanie Leon as Mathilde

Jakob Oftebro as Mads

Ronja Svedmark as Kattis

Kirsten Olesen as Hanne Thomsen, lead homicide detective in Copenhagen

Maria Kulle as Linn Björkman, the Police Commissioner in Malmö

Katrine Greis-Rosenthal as Alice Sabroe, Henrik Sabroe's wife

Olaf Johannessen as Lars Andersen, Lise Andersen's husband, Copenhagen businessman

Sonja Richter as Lise Friis Andersen, politically active vlogger

Nicolas Bro as Freddie Holst, Copenhagen businessman and art collector

Reuben Sallmander as Claes Sandberg, self-help guru, Freddie Holst's former business partner

Louise Peterhoff as Annika Melander, undertaker

Adam Pålsson as Emil Larsson, art gallery guide

Sarah-Sofie Boussnina as Jeanette, a young pregnant woman

Anna Björk as Åsa, Freddie's wife

Ann Petrén as Marie-Louise Norén, Saga's mother

Mikael Birkkjær as Jonas

Julie Carlsen as Barbara

Anders Mossling as Frank

Fanny Bornedal as Julia

Iris Mealor Olsen as Ida

Pontus T. Pagler as Richard & Patrik

Erik Lönngren as Christoffer

Alexander Behrang Keshtkar as Taariq Shirazi

Lisa Linnertorp as Sofie

Lars Ranthe as Dan Brolund

Leonard Terfelt as William

Selma Modéer Wiking as Astrid

Michalis Koutsogiannakis as Theo

Thomas W. Gabrielsson as Niels

Jesper Hyldegaard as Silas Tuxen

Sandra Yi Sencindiver as Susanne Winter (as Sandra Sencindiver)

Elliott Crosset Hove as Kevin

Lena Strömdahl as Harriet

Michael Asmussen as Klaus

Patricia Schumann as Nicole

Johannes Bah Kuhnke as Morgan Sonning

Ina-Maria Rosenbaum as Solveig

Season 1

When a body, apparently cut in half at the waist, is discovered in the middle of the Øresund Bridge, which connects Copenhagen with Malmö, placed precisely on the border between Denmark and Sweden, the investigation falls under the jurisdiction of both the Danish and Swedish police agencies. It is not one corpse but two halves of two separate women: the upper half being that of a female Swedish politician, the lower half being that of a Danish prostitute. The socially awkward Saga Norén from the Malmö police homicide department and Martin Rohde from the Copenhagen police homicide department lead the murder investigations.

Martin has had a vasectomy. August, the nineteen-year-old son from his first marriage is now living with Martin and Mette, his current wife, with whom Martin has three children. Mette discovers that she is expecting another set of twins. Saga lives alone and rather than have serious relationships, she prefers to pick up men in bars for casual sex. Her poor social skills, her difficulty in empathizing and her inability to channel her emotions make her appear cold, insensitive and blunt but she is completely honest and forthright in all aspects. In the course of the investigation, Martin and Saga develop a close working relationship.

The investigation quickly escalates as a journalist, Daniel Ferbé, whose SUV was used in the crime, found rigged with a bomb timer getting attention, begins receiving phone calls.

The caller, who becomes known as the "Truth Terrorist", claims to be committing crimes in order to draw attention to various social problems. A social worker, Stefan Lindberg is an early suspect; his estranged sister Sonja is a poisoning victim. Working together, the Danish and Swedish police conclude that the killer must have a connection with them. After the killer has murdered several people, his true motivation begins to seem personal. They discover that he has been planning his campaign for a period of several years. In the midst of the investigation, Martin has an affair with one of the victims of the Truth Terrorist during a home visit. This affair reaches Mette, who ousts Martin from the Rohde residence.

The ties between all the Truth Terrorist's targets are pinpointed to Jens Nielsen, an ex-Danish police officer who had supposedly killed himself. Jens is still alive, masquerading as Mette's colleague under false pretences and plastic surgery. Several years earlier, his wife cheated on him having an affair with Martin. Jens has meticulously crafted a plan of revenge for Martin, using his disguise and subsequent crimes to get closer to his family. The death of Jens's wife and children on the bridge in an accident leads Jens to believe that Martin is to blame. Jens kidnaps Mette and Martin's children (sans August), forcing Martin to try to save them. In Denmark, Saga uncovers that the real target is August, who Jens catfishes to gain access to information about the case and his location. Jens kidnaps August and traps him in a coffin. A standoff occurs between Martin and Jens on the bridge. Saga arrives. Martin asks her to tell him that August is alive, but August has been killed. Upon hearing this, Martin is prevented from killing Jens when Saga shoots both of them. Jens is finally arrested, with Martin left grieving in hospital. With the case closed, Saga drives to Sweden.

Season 2

Season two starts 13 months later.

A coaster veers off course and hits the Øresund Bridge. When Saga arrives, there is no crew- just three Swedes and two Danes below deck, chained and in poor condition. Although Martin has gone through a nervous breakdown following his son's death, she arranges for him to be assigned to the case. Two new officers join the investigation, Rasmus and Pernille from Sweden and Denmark, respectively. After the victims on the coaster die from pneumonic plague, a viral video appears in which four disguised eco-terrorists claim responsibility for the incident. They embark on further attacks, including blowing up a petrol tanker and distributing poisoned food. As the police close in on the group, they are all found dead in a shipping container, thus raising the question of whether there are other terrorist cells or a larger group. When Rasmus is found to have obstructed the investigation under false pretences after a visit to the eco-terrorist hideout, Hans ousts him from the investigation.

The keynote speaker of an upcoming EU climate conference in Copenhagen is one of those killed by poisoning. Caroline Brandstrup-Julin, the head of the conference, appoints Viktoria Nordgren, head of the Medisonus pharmaceutical company, as his replacement. While arranging the congress, Caroline's sister Bodil is asked by Oliver Nordgren, Viktoria's brother and a shareholder of Medisonus, whether she would be willing to write Viktoria's biography; Viktoria has been diagnosed with cancer and has about six months to live.

During the retrieval of a sunken boat, seven corpses are found inside. The owner of the boat is Marcus Stenberg. The investigation discovers the identities of the dead and finds that some of them had previously been volunteers in medical studies undertaken by Medisonus, but who had gone missing. The company's security chief tells them that a possible industrial spy gained access to their headquarters.

Bodil and Viktoria meet to discuss the content of the biography. Oliver, who lives in the house opposite to his sister's and has secretly installed cameras in her house, watches them make love. When Viktoria asks Oliver to keep out of her life, he confesses that he is responsible for the eco-terrorist acts. When he tries to kill her, Oliver's wife Gertrud arrives to save Viktoria and kills Oliver. The police assume that Oliver acted alone as the ringleader of the plot, but Saga then turns up further evidence that there must be at least one more accomplice.

The police pathologist shows that two of the dead bodies found earlier contain a deadly virus, which causes internal bleeding and becomes airborne once the victim's blood escapes the body; Saga and Martin guess that Gertrud has developed the virus and infected Viktoria with the intent of spreading it at the EU conference. They manage to alert Caroline and command her to evacuate the building and turn off the ventilation. Eventually, the police arrive at the conference and begin searching for the dying Viktoria. She is eventually discovered in a bathroom by Pernille, who handcuffs her to a pipe to help contain her. Before she can leave, however, Viktoria starts coughing blood, infecting Pernille with the virus. As the area is contained, Martin and Saga communicate with Pernille over the radio, and as Viktoria dies painfully, Pernille decides not to go the same way and commits suicide with her gun. Meanwhile, Gertrud drives to a secluded warehouse where she shoots a video and is chastised by an unidentified man who then executes her for the failure of her plot.

Martin, in an attempt to get over the death of August, begins visiting Jens in prison, to try to get through to him. He is satisfied when he sees that his visits have made an impression, and Jens begins to feel remorse for his crime. When Martin moves back in with his estranged wife Mette, ready to start again, she admits that she no longer loves him. A distraught Martin blames Jens and begins to suffer renewed symptoms of paranoia. Saga hears that Jens has died in prison, apparently a suicide, and suspects Martin of having poisoned him, using the poison he stole from Oliver. The season ends as Martin is arrested, apparently as a result of her intervention, whilst Saga looks on longingly as the friendship between them disappears before her eyes.

Season 3

Season three starts 13 months later.

When a female body is found on a construction site in Malmö, Sweden – posed in a tableau representing a traditional family – Saga is assigned to the case together with a Copenhagen police officer Hanne Thomsen, who is hostile towards Saga due to her role in the incarceration of Martin Rohde. The victim is identified as Helle Anker, a resident of Copenhagen. Anker, a lesbian married to a Swedish woman, was the pioneer of Denmark's first gender-neutral preschool. Her work had been the target of numerous threats, including vlog posts by right-wing lawyer Lise Frise Andersen, whose husband owns the facility where Anker's body was discovered. While attempting to question Anker's son Morten, a mentally unstable veteran of the war in Afghanistan, Thomsen is wounded by a booby trap. Saga is then assigned a new Danish partner, Henrik Sabroe. The relationship between Saga and Henrik builds quickly, starting a 'friends with benefits' relationship between them. Things complicate even more so for Saga when her mother returns into her life after 20 years, greatly unnerving her.

Another murder is linked to Andersen's blog. Hans Petterson is abducted and found in critical condition, Linn Björkman takes over as his replacement. The murders are described on the news, leading Emil Larsson, an art gallery employee, to come forward and show that they may have been staged to look like artworks from a collection owned by multi-millionaire Freddie Holst. The police suspect Holst's former business partner, Claes Sandberg. Holst had legally gained control of his company and art collection after Claes was admitted to rehab.

Marie-Louise challenges the assumption that Jennifer was the victim of Munchausen syndrome by proxy, suggesting that it was Saga's inability to connect with her sister emotionally that drove her to suicide. Marie-Louise claims that Saga has been to her home and threatened her. At first, when Marie-Louise is found dead, the assumption is suicide but later it is considered it could be murder. Saga is interviewed by Internal Affairs. The pressure of her mother's investigation and her grief when Hans dies causes Saga to make a serious error during a hostage situation at the Malmö headquarters - injuring a child. This forces Linn to temporarily suspend Saga and replace her with Rasmus, previously shunned by Hans for obstruction of justice in the eco-terrorist case. A woman named Jeanette carrying Freddie's baby is kidnapped and a woman named Annika is discovered. Freddie outfoxes his security detail, goes to the secluded location that the killer has instructed and finds himself with Emil Larsson who explains that he has been enacting justice on those who wronged him during his childhood as a foster child. Freddie was the sperm donor used to conceive him. He takes Freddie and the baby to Saltholm where he has prepared the final artwork. Saga and Henrik are following up on a lead and arrive in time to save the lives of all three. However, Emil commits suicide in custody shortly afterwards by slitting his wrist with a paperclip.

Throughout the season, Henrik is haunted by the mysterious disappearance of his family, consuming narcotics to cope and seeing hallucinations of them in his abode. Six years after she disappeared, the body of Henrik's wife, Alice, is discovered, but no trace of their two daughters; causing him to spiral into depression and overdose on drugs. Saga goes to his house in time to rescue him. Shortly after, Saga is informed that a preliminary hearing is being scheduled on her case and, despite Linn's belief that it will not proceed further than this, she worries that she will lose everything as a result. Henrik, wanting to find his two missing daughters himself, resigns from his job and goes to find Saga, intending to ask her to join him. He eventually finds her at the train tracks where her sister killed herself, looking visibly distressed. Realising she is considering taking her own life on the tracks as the lights of an approaching train appear, Henrik desperately tries to talk her out of it, insisting he needs her expertise to help find his girls. When he attempts to cross the track to her, Saga draws a gun on him and orders him to stay back, before seemingly stepping into the path of an oncoming train. When it passes, however, Henrik sees that she has not gone through with it but has fallen to her knees a short distance away, and goes to comfort her as she begins sobbing. The season ends with Henrik and Saga studying the case information about the disappearance of Henrik's daughters.

Season 4

Two years later, having spent more than a year in prison, Saga Norén is released following a retrial which found that there was reasonable doubt about her murdering her mother. Henrik Sabroe investigates the murder of the director general of the Immigration Service, Margarethe Thormond, who has been stoned to death. At first, Henrik is joined by Danish PC Jonas Mandrup, who is seemingly intolerant towards the victims and is cold towards Saga, noting her track record of Danish partners. With her apartment lost upon her arrest and assignment to help Henrik solve the murder case, Saga moves in with him. However, her untreated trauma regarding Hans's death, Emil's sudden suicide and Marie-Louise's investigation against her culminates in a panic attack while driving across the bridge, leading her to start therapy. In the meantime, Henrik attends meetings for addicts. There, he is befriended by a man named Kevin, who became paralysed after jumping off a balcony in a drugged stupor and is a wheelchair user. Two more victims are discovered and Saga realizes that each victim is killed using one method of executing prisoners sentenced to death - suggesting a total of seven victims, leaving four to come. She also notes that the victims are selected not because of their actions but because of something their loved ones have done.

As more people are murdered, Henrik realizes that the common link between the victims is people associated with Tommy - a gangster and a police informer that Henrik used to know 4 years prior. Tommy had told Henrik when and where his gang would be raiding another gang but the prosecutor refused to follow up on the tip. The raid led to bloodshed and a number of deaths, resulting in the execution of Tommy as a police informer, a fact inadvertently revealed by a journalist whose brother was one of the victims. Henrik and Lilian's involvement in that case makes their loved ones potential victims of future murders because they are considered to have betrayed Tommy. Lillian is distraught when she receives Hans's severed head in a bouquet of flowers, causing her to relinquish her power to Jonas. Kevin is revealed as Tommy's son, whose real name is Brian.

Meanwhile, Saga has become pregnant and she considers having an abortion, which upsets Henrik. She agrees to proceed with the pregnancy provided he keeps the baby and raises it on his own. Later, Saga realizes that she is in love with Henrik, so she aborts her pregnancy to remove a possible obstacle to her relationship with him. When she tells Henrik, he is furious and throws her out of the house. Acting on discussions with her therapist, Saga decides to make amends and redoubles her efforts to find Henrik's daughters. A chance encounter with Christoffer, whose father was a minor figure in the investigation, enables her to track down one of Henrik's daughters, Astrid, who is living as the daughter of another man, Frank Wahlberg, in a closed community. Reunited with Henrik, Astrid tells him his other daughter, Anna, died of untreated appendicitis. Alice had initially left Henrik when their relationship broke down, taking the girls in with Frank. She had later died of a "fall", when she wanted to leave Frank, with Frank telling the daughters that both their parents had died.

Saga discovers that the murderer is Tommy's former lover, Susanne Winter, personal assistant to the Thormonds. Winter is arrested and provides details about the murders. With the help of her therapist, Saga lets go of her guilt for her sister's suicide. Her therapist suggests that Saga is a police officer to make amends for her sister's suicide. The pathologist, who admires Saga, helps confirm that her mother suffered from a psychological problem and probably caused her sister's death. With her guilt resolved, Saga discovers she can explore life outside of the police.

However, when summoned to talk to a former fellow prisoner, Saga learns that Susanne Winter was not acting alone. Jonas is ousted from the investigation when it is discovered that he has leaked information to the press. In the meantime, Henrik is trying to rebuild his relationship with Astrid, who faces difficulty in reentering her previous life as his daughter. Brian unexpectedly comes to visit them one evening to celebrate. When Henrik turns around, Brian stands up from his wheelchair and attacks him. He ties up Henrik and Astrid and asks Henrik to watch as he aims to execute Astrid, in revenge for Tommy's death. Henrik refuses, so Brian shoots her in the leg and says he will continue to maim her until Henrik opens his eyes. A gunshot is heard and Henrik sees that Brian has been shot dead by Saga.

Saga visits Henrik and tells him she is leaving to explore doing the things she wants to do but promises to stay in touch, sharing a kiss before Saga leaves. Returning to Malmö, she stops at the halfway point to throw her police badge into the sea. Her phone rings, and she answers just with her name, omitting her former job title. The show ends with her driving back to Sweden in the distance.

Season 1

Season one consists of 10 episodes. Each episode is 60 minutes in length. They were first broadcast on Wednesday nights at 8pm in Denmark and 9pm in Sweden.

The first airing of the series was screened on Sweden's SVT1 weekly from Wednesday 21 September 2011 at 21.00. Denmark's DR1 followed a week later in their 20.00 slot every Wednesday. By screening the final episode immediately after episode 9, DR1 managed to screen episode 10 simultaneously with SVT1.

On several occasions, The Bridge failed to have sufficient viewers to be placed in SVT1's weekly Top 10 programmes. This was mainly due to competition from commercial broadcaster TV4 with its offering gaining over a million viewers. In Sweden, The Bridge won its time slot for the first five episodes against weak competition from Hawaii Five-0 on TV4. From episode 6, it aired against the popular reality show Berg flyttar in, which would beat The Bridge until the final episode, when they virtually tied.

Sveriges Television reported that up to November 2013, the first season had been purchased for broadcasting in 134 countries worldwide and The Daily Telegraph reported in February 2014 that The Bridge was on screen in 174 countries.

In the UK, the series was shown in weekly two-episode blocks on BBC Four and BBC HD from 21 April 2012. In Germany, it was shown by broadcaster ZDF from 18 March 2012. In Spain is broadcast on AXN it is broadcast on Wednesdays from 8 January 2014 until present waiting for the third season. In Poland, the series was broadcast in double episodes from 2 May to 30 May 2012 on Ale Kino+. In Brazil, the series premiered on +Globosat channel on 13 August 2012 at 22h. The series premiered in Australia on Wednesday, 5 September 2012 on SBS Two, where the first episode had overnight ratings of 101,000 viewers.

It was also screened in Israel on September 30 on HOT VoD. On January 9, 2014, it also started screening on yes VoD with both series 1 and 2 available. Co-producers NRK screened the series in Norway with audiences in excess of 600,000 viewers. NRK were also keen to participate in the production of the second series. In Ireland, the show aired on TG4 in autumn 2014.