RED ARROW’S “VIENNA BLOOD” WILL HAVE A SECOND SEASON

Red Arrow Studios’ “Vienna Blood”, the thrilling period crime drama set in 1900s Vienna, has been recommissioned for a second season by ORF (Austria) and ZDF (Germany). Also, following the success of Season One in the UK and US, BBC Two and PBS are on board for Season Two that it will deliver in 2021.

Produced by Endor Productions (“Deep State”, “Roald Dahl’s Esio Trot”), a Red Arrow Studios company, and MR Film in Austria (‘Maximilian’, ‘Das Sacher’), the three new feature-length episodes have once again been adapted by acclaimed screenwriter Steve Thompson (“Deep State”, “Jericho”, “Sherlock”), based on the best-selling novels by Frank Tallis. The series will be directed by Academy Award® and Emmy® nominee Robert Dornhelm (“Anne Frank: The Whole Story”).

Production on Season Two of “Vienna Blood” will begin in August 2020, shooting on location in Vienna in English, and once again starring Matthew Beard (“The Imitation Game”, “Dracula”) as Max Liebermann, and Juergen Maurer (“Vorstadtweiber”, “Spuren des Bösen”) as Detective Inspector Oskar Rheinhardt.

WORLDWIDE SUCCESS

Season one of “Vienna Blood” premiered on BBC Two in 2019, attracting large audiences and rating as the No.2 drama of the year for the channel. On ORF, the first episode was the No.1 rated show of the year in the broadcaster’s Friday night primetime slot. The series also debuted successfully on PBS in February 2020, attracting both critical and viewer acclaim. The series has been sold to a range of other countries, including France, Spain, Finland, China, Japan, and key territories across Central and Eastern Europe.

Red Arrow Studios International has led the co-financing of Season Two and will distribute the drama worldwide. ORF and ZDF will premiere the show in their respective territories, with Klaus Lintschinger as commissioning editor for ORF and Wolfgang Feindt as commissioning editor for ZDF. Other funding partners include Televisionfund Austria, TV-Filmfund Vienna, and Niederoesterreich Kultur.

Hilary Bevan Jones of Endor Productions said: “Vienna proved to be wonderful to film in and we are delighted that the city has opened up again following the Coronavirus shutdown so that we can film there late summer. Steve Thompson has written three more compelling stories, all inspired by Frank Tallis’ gripping Liebermann novels. And we are delighted to have Matthew Beard and Juergen Maurer again heading a fantastic international cast as well as Robert Dornhelm returning with his singular directorial vision.”

Carlo Dusi, EVP Commercial Strategy, Scripted, Red Arrow Studios International added: “‘Vienna Blood’s’ gripping storylines and compelling cast, set against the sumptuous backdrop of Vienna has captivated viewers. We are delighted this bold and ambitious series has been greenlit for a second season and we are really looking forward to delivering three new episodes to its growing fanbase around the world.”

Oliver Auspitz and Andreas Kamm, of MR Film, commented: “All of us at MR Film are just delighted by the success of ‘Vienna Blood’. To get such great engagement from viewers around the world is fantastic and we can’t wait to get started on the production of Season Two here in Vienna. Of course, ensuring the safety of our cast and crew is of paramount importance to us, and we are working with professional safety experts and officials to ensure that we adhere to every safety guideline and protocol, both on set and on location.”

Kathrin Zechner, director of programs at ORF said: “ʻVienna Blood’ has forged a strong coproduction bond between Austria, the UK, and Germany that not even Brexit and not even a pandemic has been able to break. After the worldwide success of Season One, which won this year’s Romy Award for best international production, we are thrilled to announce that ʻVienna Blood’ will continue with the production of three more films based on the stories and characters created by Frank Tallis, to be shot in and around Vienna. The Austrian Broadcasting Corporation (ORF) remains committed to high-end co-productions with a strong focus on Austrian identity and culture for our domestic as well as for worldwide audiences.”

Simone Emmelius, Senior Vice President International Fiction, ZDF, said: “Charmed by the cleverly designed characters in ‘Vienna Blood’ and thrilled by the suspense of the criminal cases, we are looking forward to the second season of this Austrian-German co-production – it’s good news for our viewers who will have the opportunity to become enthusiastic supporters of the first season in Autumn.”