Red Election is an international spy drama television series. The story follows a British intelligence agent (Lydia Leonard) and a Danish secret service agent (Victoria Carmen Sonne) who team up to stop a Russian terrorist attack in Britain. The 10-part series premiered as a Viaplay Original on 3 October 2021.

Red Election
Created by
  • William Diskay
  • Jonas Fors
  • Ola Norén
  • Roland Ulvselius
  • Stephen Brady
Written by
  • Stephen Brady
  • Paul Coates
  • Rachel Smith
Directed by
Music by
Original languages
  • English
  • Russian
  • Danish
No. of episodes10
Production
Executive producers
  • Stephen Brady
  • Frederik Ljungberg
  • Moreyba Bidessie
  • Jill Robertson
  • William Diskay
  • Christian Alveborg
  • Jonas Fors
Producers
  • Tristan Orpen Lynch
  • Aoife O'Sullivan
  • Veronika Eriksson
CinematographyCiarán Tanham
Editors
  • Eoin McGuirk
  • Gareth Young
Running time45 minutes
Production companies
  • Mopar Studios (Sweden)
  • Subotica (Ireland)
Original release
Network

(worldwide)

(United States)
Release3 October 2021 (2021-10-03)

Cast

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Main

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Recurring

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  • Stephen Hogan as Alaric Henderson, MI5 agent
  • Niels Justesen as Torben Jensen
  • Fiach Kunz as Kelvin Cruickshanks

Production

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Development

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The drama was created by William Diskay, Jonas Fors, with Ola Norén, Roland Ulvselius, and lead writer Stephen Brady. Paul Coates and Rachel Smith joined Stephen Brady on the writing team. Jill Robertson served as lead director and executive producer of the series. Paul Murphy and Declan Recks were also directors on the series. Executive producing were Moreyba Bidessie of A+E Networks. Veronika Eriksson and Christian Alveborg of Mopar Studios would produce. It is part of Mobpar's English-language slate.[2]

Casting

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In May 2021, Nordic Entertainment Group announced that Stephen Dillane, Lydia Leonard, James D'Arcy, Kobna Holdbrook-Smith, Lorraine Burroughs, and Victoria Carmen Sonne had been cast in the drama with Sonne and Leonard as the lead spy duo.[3]

Filming

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The series and cast announcements dropped just as production wrapped. It had originally begun in 2020, but was shut down after only two weeks due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Filming was able to resume after six months. Principal photography took place in Ireland.[1]

Release

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A trailer was released on 23 September 2021. The 10-part series premiered on NENT Group's streaming platform Viaplay in Nordic countries. A+E Networks International are responsible for international distribution.[citation needed] The series premiered on Ovation TV in the United States starting August 6, 2022 as part of the "Mystery Alley" crime drama mystery-themed Saturday night block.

The series premiered on public television channel SBS Television in Australia on 28 October 2021.[4]

The series was added to the Disney+ line up in October 2022 in UK and Ireland.

References

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  1. ^ a b Kanter, Jake (12 May 2021). "Stephen Dillane, Lydia Leonard & James D'Arcy Lead Viaplay/A+E Networks Spy Noir 'Red Election'". Deadline. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
  2. ^ Layton, Mark (12 May 2021). "NENT Group's Viaplay orders UK thriller 'Red Election', as producer Mopar's English-language push continues". TBI. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
  3. ^ "NENT Group stages international 'Red Election' drama with star cast". Nordic Entertainment Group. 12 May 2021. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
  4. ^ "Espionage thriller drama Red Election premieres on SBS". TV Blackbox. 28 October 2021. Retrieved 23 December 2021.
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