"Viaplay partner with Twelve Town and Nice Drama on "With One Eye Open."

NENT group’s Nordic streaming service Viaplay has boarded “With One Eye Open”, partnering with Twelve Town and Nice Drama on the Swedish drama series which takes a fresh look at Swedish/ Russian relations. 

The eight-part series will be based on Martin Österdahl’s “Ask No Mercy,” the first of three books in the Max Anger suspense trilogy. The story is set in 1996 in Saint Petersburg in the run-up to Boris Yeltsin’s election. Max Anger, a former attack diver for the Swedish navy now works for think tank Vektor, set up to help Swedish companies open up shop in Russia. When his Russian/ Swedish girlfriend suddenly goes missing, whilst investigating a neo- Stalinist plot against Sweden, he goes on a mission to rescue her and at the same time, uncovers secrets about his own past. 

In the lead-up to TV Drama Vision on January 30th-31st, the director of co-production at London-based development, production and financing company Twelve Town, Christian Wikander, said he will be looking for co-financiers and distributors at the TV drama conference. 

Wikander explains that “With One Eye Open” is the second Swedish series focusing on Swedish/ Russian relations during the post-Soviet era, together with Mikael Håfström’s “Moscow Noir.” 

“This trend confirms that there is a real interest and potential in the topic,” said Wikander, who is aiming to get a greenlight in the spring. “In today’s tight market with an oversupply of content, high quality and A-list talent are not necessarily enough; you also need a unique perspective or take on stories”, said the former head of Swedish public broadcaster SVT. All this comes in addition to the fact that Twelve Town’s previous Swedish drama “Conspiracy of Silence” was one of the most successful original shows for Viaplay, so there are high hopes for this latest partnership.

Click here to view the original Variety article [external link]