Articles about ZDF
Matter of tax
Other People’s Money showrunner Jan Schomburg and star Nils Strunk reflect on the task of dramatising events surrounding the largest tax fraud in European history for this eight-part drama that blends ‘Shakespearean’ characters with elements of screwball comedies.
A real Eiffel
Cat’s Eyes producers Benjamin Dupont-Jubien and Mehdi Sabbar discuss achieving their dream of bringing the cult Japanese mangas to the screen, relocating the action to Paris and how they utilised the city’s iconic landmarks in this crime heist series.
Fact File: Borderline
Borderline executive producers Larry Bass and Steve November join series producer Mary Callery to tell DQ about this character drama about two mismatched detectives, set on the Irish border.
Wolf man
Vargasommar (Cry Wolf) director Jesper Ganslandt tells DQ about bringing Hans Rosenfeldt’s novel to television, finding the right tone for this darkly comedic crime thriller and how he was inspired by Steven Spielberg.
Extra special
As Vienna Blood returns for a fourth season, DQ writer James Rampton considers the life of a supporting artist after making his screen debut in the return of this historical crime drama.
Calling all Comrades
A pair of mismatched investigators delve into episodes of the paranormal in Czech mystery series We’re On It, Comrades! Director Matěj Chlupáček, producer Maja Hamplová and writer Miro Šifra reveal the inspiration behind the series and how they sought to subvert its Cold War setting.
In the driving seat
Showrunner Eugen Tunik tells DQ how he wanted to look at the Ukraine war from a new angle with In Her Car, in which a therapist takes her clinic on the road to help a number of characters in distress.
Global swarming
The Swarm is the eagerly anticipated big-budget adaptation of Frank Schätzing’s ecological disaster novel. DQ buzzes around production designer Julian Wagner, director Barbara Eder and VFX supervisor Jan Stoltz to hear about filming in Italy, shooting in water tanks and creating a pod of sleeping whales.
Tourist trail
Australian actor Danielle Macdonald looks back on making Outback-set thriller The Tourist and reveals how she moved to LA as a teenager to follow her acting ambitions.
Seymour’s Wild ride
Harry Wild star Jane Seymour reflects on a career spanning 50 years on screen, her breakthrough roles and showing her comedic side.
Faroese fare
As Faroese drama Trom makes its UK debut, the cast and production team behind the series discuss filming challenges, language complications and why Nordic noir is still in demand.
Dancing queen
Svenja Jung tells DQ how she prepared to play a pair of twins in Der Palast (The Palace), a 1980s-set series in which two women from different sides of Cold War Germany discover they are sisters and swap places to try life on the other side of the Berlin Wall.
Breaking the Silence
Director Dalibor Matanić and actor Kseniia Mishina talk to DQ about Šutnja (The Silence), a crime drama based on real events and set between Croatia and Ukraine.
Wish you weren’t here
The Tourist writer Harry Williams and director Chris Sweeney take DQ on a trip to the Australian outback, where an amnesiac known only as The Man is searching for answers while being pursued by mysterious figures.
Getting Around
The stars of Around the World in 80 Days – David Tennant, Ibrahim Koma and Leonie Benesch – tell DQ about their adventure making this globetrotting period drama, which is pitched as a family-friendly take on Jules Verne’s classic tale.
New Blood
The team behind Vienna Blood talk about reuniting amid the pandemic to film the second season of the period drama, in which a young advocate of Sigmund Freud helps a veteran detective crack murder cases in 1900s Austria.
Christie done differently
Actors Johan Rheborg and Hanna Alström reveal what attracted them to their starring roles in Agatha Christie’s Hjerson, a Swedish series that offers a fresh and unique take on the crime writer’s work.
Built to last
The executive producers of German dramas Sturm der Liebe (Storm of Love) and Die Rosenheim Cops (The Rosenheim Cops) take DQ inside the making of these long-running dramas, which together have amassed more than 4,000 episodes.
Surface tension
DQ speaks to writer-director Friedemann Fromm and star Milena Tscharntke about German thriller Tod von Freunden (Beneath the Surface), in which the lives of two families are torn apart after a tragic accident.
Sommer time
The Sommerdahl Murders star Peter Mygind and creator Lolita Bellstar tell DQ about making the Danish blue-sky crime show and the importance of creating a friendly environment on set.