DR SALES is delighted to announce that BBC Four has acquired the Norwegian prizewinning State of Happiness. Based on BBC Four’s long tradition for bringing some of the best International drama to the screen, we are happy that BBC chose this Norwegian drama series produced by Maipo for NRK.
State of Happiness tells the story of a small coastal town of Stavanger, Norway. Stavanger lives off fish, and the North Sea is emptying out. No more cod, no more herring. Something has to happen. The town is in crisis. But the night before Christmas 1969, the gas flare at the Ocean Viking is lit. Phillips has found the largest sub sea oil basin in history. And an oil adventure is about to kick off and bring welth and mayor changes to the lifes of everybody in the small town.
Sue Deeks, BBC Head of Programme Acquisition, says: “State of Happiness is a beautifully produced period drama. I am sure that BBC Four viewers will become completely engaged by the four main characters and their experiences during this fascinating period of Norwegian history.”
It was recently announced that State of Happiness is nominated in three categories at this year’s 59th edition of Monte Carlo TV Festival, which takes place on June 14-18th: Best Program, Best Actress – Malene Wadel and Best Actor - Amund Harboe.
And the series won Best Norwegian drama series and Best Actress (Anne Regine Ellingsæter) at Saturday’s annual Gullruten TV awards in Bergen. It also won Best Direction, Best Costume and Best Script. Furthermore the screenwriter was nominated for this year’s Nordisk Film & TV Fond Prize for Best Nordic TV Drama Screenplay.
The eight-part series State of Happiness had its world premiere at Canneseries 2018 where it scooped Best Script and Best Music. Average viewers on NRK1 and NRK TV were around 900,000 (Norwegian population is 5,300,000). A second season which will focus on the years 1977 to 1980 has been commissioned by the Norwegian pubcaster NRK.
BBC acquires prizewinning State of Happiness
