Valkyrien takes to Sky with Mark Strong

Norwegian drama Valkyrien aired on NRK

UK pay TV operator Sky has commissioned an eight-part adaptation of Norwegian drama series Valkyrien, featuring a cast led by Mark Strong (Kingsman).

Temple is written by playwright Mark O’Rowe and produced by Hera Pictures. Strong is also executive producer on the show, alongside Liza Marshall and O’Rowe for Hera Pictures and Gabriel Silver and Anne Mensah for Sky.

Luke Snellin (Wanderlust) is the lead director with Shariff Korver (Fenix) and Lisa Siwe (Modus) following, while Barney Reisz (Black Mirror) produces.

The thriller will be co-funded and distributed internationally by Sky Vision and will air on Sky1 and streaming service Now TV in the UK and Ireland next year.

Temple is set in a secret world beneath London where an illegal clinic has been set up in an abandoned network of tunnels. Carice van Houten (Game of Thrones) and Daniel Mays (Line of Duty) also star.

Valkyrien aired in 2017 on Norwegian pubcaster NRK and was picked up around the world, including by on-demand service Walter Presents in the US and the UK, where it also aired on Channel 4. It was also acquired in Australia by SBS after a deal was struck with financer and distributor About Premium Content.

The eight-part original was produced by Tordenfilm for NRK and written by showrunner Erik Richter Strand (Occupied). It revolved around an illegal hospital hidden in an Oslo underground station.