The heavy water war
(Kampen om tungtvannet/ The Saboteurs)
A six-episode TV miniseries written by Petter S. Rosenlund, directed by Per-Olav Sørensen and produced by Filmkameratene (Norway), Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation, Sebasto Film (Denmark) and Headline Picture (UK).
The series tells the story about the German nuclear weapon project and the heavy water sabotage in Norway to disturb it during The Second World War, with a particular emphasis on the role of Leif Tronstad.
The first two episodes were initially broadcast in Norway on 4 January 2015. The opening episodes had 1,259,000 viewers, which was a record for the opening of a drama series in Norway. In Denmark, the initial broadcast was on 4 May 2015 on TV 2 titled Kampen om det tunge vand. In the UK, the miniseries, retitled The Saboteurs, was aired by More4 in 19 June 2015, with good reception. Viewing rights for the US has been bought by MHz Networks and for France by Entertainment One.
"How wartime adventure should be done"
- Andrew Collind, The Guardian
"A thriller with superb acting, a high-quality production.
Great cinematography, outstanding acting, excellent directing."
The winner at Prix Italia in the Series and Serials Category.
"This series is a successful dramatization of one of the most exciting stories from the Second World War. It gives a new perspective to the horrible race in creating the atom bomb. Its viewpoints travel from Northern Norway to Berlin, London and Stockholm. A huge and profound research work has been done for this series. This gives the audience a big trust in the authenticity. In addition, suspense is so skilfully created that viewers are kept on the edges of their seats throughout – with ever growing interest in the subject matter."
Prix Europa, Special commendation
Other trailers
Germany
The Netherlands
Sweden (SVT)
Estonia (ETV)
Ireland (RTÉ)
UK (Channel four)
Denmark (TV2)
Iceland (RUV)
