Søren Sveistrup, series creator and head writer
I wanted to do the world’s best crime story in Danish. I approached DR, the Danish broadcasting corporation, with an idea. They said no chance, they had other guys writing crime stories. What they wanted was some kind of romantic comedy. So I did a series, starring Sofie Gråbøl, called Nikolaj and Julie. It was a success and won an International Emmy. After that, DR were eager to hear more about my crime idea. They were concerned when I said it would take 20 episodes to solve the case. But because of the Emmy, I was given carte blanche.
