The Tunnel (TV series)
Anglo-French crime drama adapted from The Bridge.
The Tunnel is a British-French crime drama based on the Scandinavian series The Bridge. It aired from 16 October 2013 on Sky Atlantic and from 11 November 2013 on Canal+. As the first British/French TV co-production with bilingual dialogue, the show follows detectives from both countries investigating a serial killer.
Quick Facts
- Genre
- Crime drama
- Based on
- The Bridge
- Writer
- Emma Frost
- George Kay
- Olivier Kohn
- Chris Lang
- Yann Le Nivert
- Ben Richards
- Emilia di Girolamo
- Director
- Hettie MacDonald
- Philip Martin
- Dominik Moll
- Udayan Prasad
- Thomas Vincent
- Developer
- Ben Richards; Hans Rosenfeldt
- Opening theme
- "The End of Time" – sung by Charlotte Gainsbourg
- Composer
- Adrian Johnston; Ben Bartlett
- Country
- United Kingdom, France
Facts from the source article.
Cast and characters
Stephen Dillane portrays Detective Chief Inspector Karl Roebuck, and Clémence Poésy plays Captain/Commander Elise Wassermann. Angel Coulby appears as Laura Roebuck in series 1–2 and as a guest in series 3. Thibault de Montalembert plays Commander Olivier Pujol, Cédric Vieira is Lieutenant Phillipe Viot, and Thibaut Evrard appears as Gaël in series 1–2. Fanny Leurent plays Officer Julie. Laura de Boer appears as Eryka Klein in series 2, Marie Dompnier as Madeleine Fournier, Emilia Fox as Vanessa Hamilton, Johan Heldenbergh as Robert Fournier, Hannah John-Kamen as Rosa Persaud, and Stanley Townsend as Chief Superintendent Mike Bowden. Christine Bottomley plays Helena Carver in series 3, Eileen Davies as Lilian Wright, William Gaminara as Wesley Pollinger, Valentin Merlet as Commander Astor Chaput, Felicity Montagu as Chief Superintendent Winnie Miles, Angeliki Papoulia as Lana Khasanović, Sharon Rooney as Kiki Stokes, and Brian Vernel as Anton Stokes. Other cast members include Jeanne Balibar, Tom Bateman, Mia Goth, Paul Ready, Sigrid Bouaziz, Mathieu Carrière, Catalina Denis, Nigel Lindsay, Jack Lowden, Joseph Mawle, Keeley Hawes, James Frain, Anastasia Hille, Ed Skrein, Jean-Toussaint Bernard, Nicolas Wanczycki, Mish Boyko, Edyta Budnik, Clarke Peters, Paul Schneider, Con O'Neill, Jan Bijvoet, Emilia Fox, Angela Wynter, India Ria Amarteifio, Wim Willaert, Tony Jayawardena, Nicholas Burns, Phil Zimmerman, and Liliane Rovère.
Development and production
The Anglo–French adaptation of The Bridge was announced by Sky in January 2013 as a ten-part co-production between Sky and Canal+. Sky Atlantic director Elaine Pyke commissioned the show to establish the channel as a home for British dramas. The series is bilingual, with dialogue in English and French, making it the first British and French television series to be bilingual. The crew was a mix from both countries, with neither party having final control. Ben Richards led the writing team, and five directors were hired: three British and two French, with Dominik Moll as head director. Executive producers included Sky's Anne Mensah, Canal+'s Fabrice De La Patellière, Kudos' Jane Featherstone, Karen Wilson, Manda Levin and Ben Richards, Shine France's Nora Melhli, and Filmlance's Lars Blomgren. Ruth Kenley-Letts served as series producer. Kudos chief executive Jane Featherstone noted the collaborative effort to appeal to both nations.
Release
The Tunnel had its world premiere on 7 October 2013 at MIPCOM in Cannes. In the UK, Sky Atlantic premiered the series on 16 October 2013 at 9 pm, airing weekly until 18 December. The debut averaged 362,000 overnight viewers, with consolidated ratings of 803,000 on Sky Atlantic and an additional 90,000 on Sky Atlantic +1. The second episode dropped to 236,000 overnight viewers, and the finale had 267,000. In France, Canal+ premiered the series on 11 November 2013 at 8:55 pm, airing two episodes consecutively, concluding on 9 December 2013. The premiere attracted 1.3 million viewers, one of the highest for an original series on the channel, with an average of 1.04 million per episode. Series 2, titled The Tunnel: Sabotage, premiered on Canal+ on 7 March 2016 and concluded on 28 March 2016. Its UK debut on Sky Atlantic was delayed from 5 April to 12 April 2016 due to the Brussels terrorist attacks, and the season finished on 31 May 2016. Series 3, titled The Tunnel: Vengeance, premiered on Sky Atlantic on 14 December 2017 with all episodes released that day, and on Canal+ on 4 June 2018, with the finale on 18 June 2018. In the US, PBS stations broadcast the series: season 1 from 19 June to 21 August 2016, season 2 from 15 June to 3 August 2017, and season 3 from 1 July to 5 August 2018. Endemol Shine International distributes the series in the US. A four-disc DVD box set of series 1 was released in France by StudioCanal on 20 December 2013, and a DVD and Blu-ray set in the UK by Acorn Media UK on 13 January 2014. Series 2 was released on DVD in France by StudioCanal on 29 March 2016.
Reception
The Tunnel received generally positive reviews from television critics. Alex Fletcher of Digital Spy described the series as gripping despite remakes often being underwhelming, and praised the performances of Dillane and Poésy. Gerard Gilbert of The Independent, an avid fan of The Bridge, reported that The Tunnel works well in its own right, being intelligently made, well cast, and ambitiously cinematic, and that it succeeded in re-working a near-flawless Scandi-drama in an Anglo-French image. Ellen E Jones of The Independent noted that Dillane and Poésy's performances stuck closely to the original characterisation, and that the makers preserved what was effective about the original while distinguishing their work. Gerard O'Donovan of The Daily Telegraph expressed mixed feelings early in the first season, stating there was no sense of the series doing much different from other mainstream crime thrillers, and that sticking too close to the original script missed an opportunity to explore attitudes and history connecting and dividing the UK and France. Harry Venning of The Stage found the collaboration between police forces and the style effectively done, creepy, and gruesome, and praised the interplay between Dillane and Poésy. Keith Watson of Metro rated the series four stars out of five, calling the idea great and noting that The Tunnel is less a version of and more a faithful remake.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who created The Tunnel (TV series)?
The Tunnel was created by Ben Richards and Hans Rosenfeldt.
How many episodes of The Tunnel (TV series) are there?
The Tunnel has 24 episodes across 3 seasons.
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