The Tunnel (TV series)

The Tunnel
Also known as Tunnel
Genre Crime drama
Written by
Directed by
Starring
Opening theme "The End of Time" – Charlotte Gainsbourg
Country of origin
  • United Kingdom
  • France
Original language(s)
  • English
  • French
No. of seasons 2
No. of episodes 18 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)
  • Lars Blomgren
  • Jane Featherstone
  • Manda Levin
  • Nora Melhli
  • Anne Mensah
  • Fabrice De La Patellière
  • Karen Wilson
Producer(s) Ruth Kenley-Letts
Location(s)
  • United Kingdom
  • France
Running time 45 minutes approx
Production company(s)
Release
Original network
Picture format 16:9 (1080i HDTV)
Original release 16 October 2013 (2013-10-16) – present
Website

The Tunnel (French: Tunnel) is a British-French crime drama television series, adapted from the 2011 Danish/Swedish crime series The Bridge (Broen/Bron). The Tunnel began broadcast on 16 October 2013 on Sky Atlantic in the UK, and on 11 November 2013 on Canal+ in France. The series stars Stephen Dillane and Clémence Poésy as British and French police detectives Karl Roebuck and Elise Wassermann, respectively. The plot follows the two detectives working together to find a serial killer who left the upper-half body of a French politician and the lower-half of a British prostitute in the Channel Tunnel, at the midpoint between France and the UK. They later learn that the killer—who comes to be nicknamed the "Truth Terrorist"—is on a moral crusade to highlight many social problems, terrorising both countries in the process. As the series progresses, the killer's true intention is revealed.

The Anglo-French adaption of The Bridge was announced as a joint project between Sky and Canal+ in January 2013. Ben Richards, the head writer of The Tunnel, worked with Hans Rosenfeldt, the creator of the original series. Due to the setting, the dialogue of the series is bilingual, a first for British and French television. With a budget of £15 million, filming took place between February and August 2013, and was shot on location in Kent, England and northern France. It was produced with both British and French crew members. The premieres on both Sky Atlantic and Canal+ received strong ratings for the respective channels, with an initial consolidated figure of almost 900,000 in the UK, and 1.3 million in France. Critical reception of the series has been generally positive, with Dillane and Poésy's acting being praised, as well as the plot's grittiness. The comparisons with The Bridge were also viewed favourably by some reviewers, though others criticised The Tunnel for being identical. The producers admit that the first episode is a copy of the original.

In February 2015, Sky announced that a second series of the show was set to air in early 2016. Titled The Tunnel: Sabotage, it would focus on the crash of an airliner into the English channel. Stephen Dillane and Clémence Poésy would return as Karl Roebuck and Elise Wasserman. Consisting of eight episodes, it debuted on Sky Atlantic on Tuesday 12 April 2016, although the video trailer on the series homepage indicated that it would start on 5 April 2016 - the debut was put back a week following the Brussels terrorist attacks on 22 March. The complete second series was made available on April 12th, via Sky's On Demand service.[1][2][3]

Cast and characters

Stephen Dillane (left) and Clémence Poésy (right) star in the series as detectives Karl Roebuck and Elise Wassermann, respectively.

Stephen Dillane plays Detective Chief Inspector Karl Roebuck of Northbourne Police (a fictional counterpart to the real life Kent Police), an aging British detective used to getting his own way. Roebuck's role parallels that of Martin Rohde (played by Kim Bodnia), the Danish detective in The Bridge.[4] Karl and Martin share some characteristics, but also differ in certain ways; for instance, Karl is "more educated and a more troubled man."[5] Dillane was drawn to the political questions raised in the storyline, as well as the series' "novelistic telling".[6]

Clémence Poésy plays Capitaine (later Commander) Elise Wassermann of the DCPJ, the French detective and Roebuck's opposite. Wasserman's role parallels that of Saga Norén (played by Sofia Helin), the Swedish detective in The Bridge. Elise shares similar mannerisms to Saga, including driving a Porsche (in Elise's case, a Porsche 944), picking up men from bars for casual sex, and exhibiting behaviour consistent with Asperger syndrome.[4][7] The innate seriousness of the character was a trait that Poésy found "quite annoying", but the actress came to appreciate Elise's honesty. Both Dillane and Poésy opted not to view the Scandinavian original series, with the latter stating that it would allow her more freedom in interpreting the character.[6] Poésy dubbed her English lines for the French broadcast.[8]

The series includes several guest stars. Joseph Mawle plays a social worker named Stephen Beaumont, Tom Bateman appears as journalist Danny Hiller, and Tobi Bakare plays Chuks Akinade.[9] Thibault de Montalembert plays Olivier Pujol, who is the head of the Calais police service, and Elise's superior.[9][10] Sigrid Bouaziz plays Cécile Cabrillac and Cédric Vieira plays Philippe Viot; these characters are police officers who work with Elise.[11][12] Mathieu Carrière and Jeanne Balibar play banker Alain Joubert, and his wife Charlotte, respectively. Merlin actress Angel Coulby stars as Laura Roebuck, Karl's wife, while Jack Lowden plays Adam, his son. Keeley Hawes guest starred as Suze Harcourt, a care worker and drug addict, along with Liz Smith, who plays Harriet, an elderly woman under Harcourt's care.[9]

James Frain plays Kieran Ashton, a former colleague of Karl, who faked his suicide and became the Truth Terrorist, serving as the primary antagonist. The character is motivated by the loss of his identity and family, as well as betrayal from Karl by his affair with Kieran's wife before her death. Frain believed that Kieran is the most disturbing character he has played. Portraying the character, the actor wanted to make his actions understandable, though not justifiable.[13]

Production

Development and writing

The Anglo-French adaption of the Danish/Swedish series The Bridge was first announced by Sky in January 2013. The ten-part series was to be a co-production between British broadcaster Sky and French broadcaster Canal+. Sky Atlantic Director Elaine Pyke commissioned the show with the intention of establishing the channel as a home for British dramas following the channel's release of the drama series Hit & Miss and Falcón. Due to the setting of the series, it would be bilingual, with dialogue being spoken in English and French.[14] This would make The Tunnel—the producers claim—the first series in British and French television to be bilingual.[15][16]

"The Bridge is an incredible nuanced serial killer thriller, but what writer Ben Richards has done is something particular to the whole French-British experience. We're neighbours, we have so much in common and yet we're thousands of miles apart on so many things."

–Jane Featherstone on the British and French dynamic of the series[5]

Being a "50–50 co-production" between the British and French, the crew were a mix from both countries, and neither party has "final control".[17] The series employed both British and French writers and directors to collaborate on the series, with former Spooks writer Ben Richards leading the writing team.[15] Multiple versions of the script were used, which were translated for both languages.[17] Five directors were hired for the series, three of them British and the other two French. Dominik Moll is considered the head director,[4][5] with the other directors being Hettie MacDonald, Thomas Vincent, Udayan Prasad, and Philip Martin.[18] The series' executive producers are Sky's Anne Mensah; Canal+'s Fabrice De La Patellière; Kudos' Jane Featherstone, Karen Wilson, Manda Levin, and Ben Richards; Shine France's Nora Melhli; and Filmlance's Lars Blomgren. Ruth Kenley-Letts is the series producer.[15] On the British/French collaboration of the series, Jane Featherstone—the chief executive of the production company Kudos—stated: "We have had to work very collaboratively to make sure we are appealing to both nations. I honestly don't know if we have got that right yet. The French like things to be slightly slower, we like them pacier."[19]

In developing the storyline of the series Featherstone said that "the team took what was wonderful from [the original] and then forgot about it, in the nicest possible way, and made their own show."[4] While working for the series Richards worked with Hans Rosenfeldt, the Swedish writer who created The Bridge. Many aspects of the first episode are virtual copies of the first episode of the Scandinavian series, including: the female lead "stripping unselfconsciously to her underwear in the office", the male lead's relationship with his teenage son and the "sleazy journalist [being] held captive in his own car with a ticking bomb", the last of which was a sequence Richards wanted to repeat in the remake. However Richards said that as the series progressed and the drama unfolded the storylines would diverge from the original.[5] Featherstone also noted there would be plenty of changes, saying that many had "seen both [The Bridge and The Tunnel], who feel that they get satisfaction because the characters go on different journeys and the actors all bring a whole new level of interest in it."[20]

Filming and locations

Some scenes were filmed in the Channel Tunnel (pictured, entrance to the tunnel in Coquelles, France)

The budget of the series is estimated to be £15 million.[19] Filming began in February 2013[9] and concluded in August 2013,[21] with location shooting largely taken place in Kent and northern France.[5] Filming in Kent was based in Discovery Park in Sandwich and was supported by the Kent Film Office.[17] A former Pfizer facility was used as a number of sets, including the Calais police station and Elise's apartment.[22] The series was filmed throughout five districts: Canterbury, Dover, Shepway, Swale and Thanet. Several prominent locales were featured, including Folkestone Harbour; The Turner Contemporary art gallery; Westwood Cross shopping centre; and the towns of Dover, Folkestone and Margate. Production also made use of the Kent Film Office's legal powers to close certain roads for uninterrupted filming.[21][23] An estimated £2.5 million of the budget was spent on, among other services, accommodation, locations, parking and catering, providing a boost for the Kent economy.[23] The filming in France was supported by the Nord-Pas de Calais Film Commission and benefited from the Tax Rebate International. Shooting took place over 31 days across Boulogne-sur-Mer, Calais and Dunkerque.[24]

Some scenes of The Tunnel were also shot in the Channel Tunnel itself, which makes the series the first television drama production to do so.[5] The producers spent "months of gentle negotiation" with Eurotunnel, the company that operates the tunnel, for permission to shoot scenes there. Eurotunnel allowed it. According to Moll, "The only thing they didn't want was to see train passengers in danger or fires." Moll also noted that they did not shoot in the actual midpoint of the tunnel, stating "once you are a few kilometres in, it all looks the same."[4]

Release and reception

Broadcast and ratings

The Tunnel had a world premiere hosted at the international television market Mipcom in Cannes, France on 7 October 2013.[25] In the United Kingdom, Sky Atlantic premiered the series at 9pm on Wednesday, 16 October 2013, and continued weekly until 18 December.[26] The premiere episode was seen by an average of 362,000 overnight viewers, considered strong ratings for the channel.[27] With consolidated ratings taken into account, the first episode went up to 803,000 viewers on Sky Atlantic, with an extra 90,000 viewing from its catch-up channel, Sky Atlantic +1.[28] However, the second episode dropped a third of its overnight audience, leaving it with 236,000 viewers.[29] The finale was seen by 267,000 overnight viewers.[30] In France, the series premiered on Canal+ on 8:55pm at Monday, 11 November 2013.[31] The first episode attracted 1.3 million viewers, marking it as one of the highest rated original series premieres for the channel.[32] The first series was viewed by an average audience of 1.04 million viewers per episode.[33]

Critical reception

The Tunnel received generally positive reviews from television critics. Alex Fletcher of Digital Spy stated that while remakes are "often underwhelming", The Tunnel was "gripping stuff", and believed that viewers "should find plenty to enjoy" in The Tunnel. The performances of Dillane and Poésy were also lauded.[34] Gerard Gilbert of The Independent was positive in his assessment of the series, stating "as an avid fan of The Bridge, I am happy to report that The Tunnel works well in its own right – it's intelligently made, well cast and ambitiously cinematic", adding that it had "succeeded in its high-risk strategy of re-working a near-flawless Scandi-drama in our Anglo-French image."[5] Ellen E Jones, also of The Independent, said that Dillane and Poésy's performances "stuck closely" to the original characterisation of the leads from the Scandinavian version. Of the execution, Jones stated "should you bother watching The Tunnel even if you've already seen the original? The early signs are good. The makers obviously have sense enough to preserve what was effective about the original, and invention enough to distinguish their work too."[35]

"As a global TV franchise, it's pure gold: there's a US-Mexican version already screening and there are frontiers all over the world with tension and history dotted across the boundary. The South Korea-North Korea would be ace."

–Metro reviewer Keith Watson[36]

Harry Venning of The Stage believed that—plotwise—the collaboration between the British and French police forces and style were "all very effectively done, creepily atmospheric and splendidly gruesome", but also stated that the best thing about the series was "the interplay between Stephen Dillane's easygoing, laddish, rosbif detective inspector and his po-faced, glacial but – wouldn't you know it – extremely sexy Gallic counterpart, played by Clemence Poesy."[37] Metro reviewer Keith Watson—having rated the series four stars out of five—stated "the idea is great. But what's surprising about The Tunnel (Sky Atlantic) is that it's less a version of, more a faithful re-make."[36]

The Guardian posted a number of reviews on its website. Julia Reaside deemed the series a "perfectly cast remake of Swedish-Danish crime hit", and stated that "this confirms Dillane as one of our very finest. Such control. Poésy is beautifully chilly and Joseph Mawle (another cracker) leads an asylum-seeker subplot. It's also really funny."[38] Writing about the finale, Reaside stated of Dillane's performance: "If this were on a terrestrial channel, he'd be up for all the awards."[39] On the Karl/Elise partnership, she stated: "I wasn't sure about them as a pairing but was immediately convinced by their uncomfortable chemistry."[40] Andrew Anthony—having not enjoyed The Bridge—called The Tunnel an "attractive proposition", adding that "there's an engaging confidence to the slow revelation of the story. All in all, this looks good."[41] However, Sam Wollaston was more critical of the series, stating that—while the tone was "atmospheric, intriguing, gripping" and there were strong performances from the lead cast members—The Tunnel was "exactly the same as the (recent) original." Wollaston felt that the only "obvious" difference was that, in the original series, there "was a bridge, this is a tunnel. However magnificent an engineering feat the Channel tunnel is, it can't compete as a spectacular location with the Oresund Bridge."[42]

Gerard O'Donovan of The Daily Telegraph was also mixed on the series, saying: "there was no sense that this was doing much different from other mainstream crime thrillers. Sticking too close to the original script meant a golden opportunity was missed to dig deeper into the attitudes and history that both connect and divide the UK and France". However, he also wrote that he would be "happy to be persuaded otherwise if the action develops."[43]

Home media and other releases

The series was first released on DVD in France on 20 December 2013, with special features including a making of feature and interviews featuring Moll and Poésy on a four-disc set.[44] A release in the United Kingdom followed on 13 January 2014 on DVD and Blu-ray Disc by publisher Acorn Media UK, and includes three discs, with special features including a making-of feature, cast and crew interviews, and a picture gallery.[45][46]

Starting on 1 February 2014 in the UK, the first episodes of The Tunnel—along with some other original Sky series—will be released for free on the video sharing website YouTube, in an attempt to attract more Sky subscribers.[47]

Episodes

Series 1 (2013)
No. Title Directed by Written by British air date French air date UK viewers
(million)[28]
1"Episode 1"Dominik MollBen Richards16 October 2013 (2013-10-16)11 November 2013 (2013-11-11)0.893[nb 1]
French politician Marie Villaneuve is found dead at the Channel Tunnel's midpoint between France and the UK. The body is found to have been cut in half, and the lower half belongs to Welsh prostitute Gemma Kirwan. Karl Roebuck (Dillane) and Elise Wassermann (Poésy), the respective British and French detectives, work together to investigate the killings and soon find a suspect in Charlotte Jubert (Balibar), the wife of French banker Alain (Carriere) who is in hiding. Charlotte insists she made threats against Villeneuve to stop her from bedgering her husband. In the UK, Stephen Beaumont (Mawle) runs a hostel for failed asylum seekers and takes in Colombian-born Veronica (Catalina Denis). Tabloid journalist Danny Hillier (Bateman) enters his car to find it rigged with explosives. When the timer reaches zero however, it is revealed that there was no bomb. Instead, the killer leaves behind a message.
2"Episode 2"Dominik MollBen Richards23 October 2013 (2013-10-23)11 November 2013 (2013-11-11)N/A
The killer releases a viral video stating that the killings were the first of five "truths", "inequality before the law". Alain Jubert is run over by a high-speed train getting away from people who are following him. Stephen Beaumont moves Veronica and her son to an abandoned cottage to protect her from Anthony (Ed Skrein), the pimp who ran Gemma Kirwan. Karl further investigates Kirwan's disappearance, while Elise examines threats made against Villeneuve. This leads her to an anti-Zionist farmer, based on the coroner's observation that the victims were cut with a saw used in slaughterhouses. Elise finds the lower half of Villeneuve's body at the farm, but rules out the farmer as a suspect when she realises that he cannot speak English. The killer releases a second video, which reveals he will target the elderly for his "second truth", and later attacks a Folkestone retirement home by poisoning the residents' medication and causing several fatalities. Care worker Suze Beaumont (Hawes), Stephen's sister and Anthony's lover, who steals the drugs for intoxication, also falls victim.
3"Episode 3"Udayan PrasadOlivier Kohn & Ben Richards30 October 2013 (2013-10-30)18 November 2013 (2013-11-18)0.709[nb 2]
The killer, nicknamed the "Truth Terrorist" (TT), uses Hillier as a means to spread his message, and informs him he will continue his "second truth" in France, later kidnapping veteran Jean-Claude Delplanque (Pascal Laurent) and livestreaming his victim's ordeal. A runaway teen couple accidentally find Delplanque, and are captured by the Truth Terrorist. Veronica calls Anthony for help and he instructs her to run away to London. Meanwhile, troubled teenager Sophie Campbell (Mia Goth) runs away from her abusive mother and is taken in by Benji (Paul Ready), an outwardly trustworthy person. Karl and Elise find out that Delplanque is being kept in a cold-storage unit, and is slowly freezing to death. The Truth Terrorist emails Danny Hillier the photographs of four wealthy businesspeople who he says can save Delplanque.
4"Episode 4"Udayan PrasadChris Lang6 November 2013 (2013-11-06)18 November 2013 (2013-11-18)0.596[nb 3]
The Truth Terrorist demands that the businesspeople make a significant donation to charity. Jubert, one of those named, investigates her husband's death and discovers that he had a second family. Charlotte agrees to pay on everyone's behalf to eliminate all trace of Alain. Meanwhile, French police notice occasional vibrations on the livestream, which they determine (via audio analysis) are caused by passing trains. They narrow Delplanque's location to two cold stores. Karl and Elise search what turns out to be the correct location, but the Truth Terrorist subdues Karl and shoots several police officers in effecting his escape. Delplanque has already died by the time he is located, but the runaway couple are found alive. Elise suspects that the Truth Terrorist may know Karl because Karl has recently had a vasectomy and the Truth Terrorist kicked him in the groin. In the UK, Sophie starts to believe that Benji is mentally ill when she finds a cupboard full of unused prescription drugs. It is also hinted that Benji intends to go on a samurai-style suicide mission, later wielding a katana provided by the Truth Terrorist, who has been grooming him.
5"Episode 5"Hettie MacDonaldYann Le Niver13 November 2013 (2013-11-13)25 November 2013 (2013-11-25)0.534[nb 4]
For the "third truth", Benji beheads a psychiatrist and several pedestrians, before killing himself with cyanide after his arrest. Karl sees Charlotte Joubert regarding Alain's encrypted files, and she uses the opportunity to seduce Karl. He returns home to find that his wife Laura (Coulby) is pregnant. Karl and Elise have to track down Sophie before she is found by the Truth Terrorist. They find her in an internet café, where Elise decides to use Sophie to lure the Truth Terrorist into a trap. The Truth Terrorist attempts to kill Sophie with a sniper rifle, but Elise saves her. Meanwhile, Karl's colleague Chuks Akinade (Bakare) finds a picture of Gemma Kirwan on Beaumont's computer. Now a suspect, Beaumont murders Anthony. The Truth Terrorist arrives in France to kidnap police officer Laurent Delgado (Dimitri Rataud), who has been accused of murdering a teenager named Mehdi Cherfi.
6"Episode 6"Hettie MacDonaldGeorge Kay20 November 2013 (2013-11-20)25 November 2013 (2013-11-25)0.575[nb 5]
Karl and Elise corner Beaumont on a Calais-bound ferry where he admits to killing Anthony for ruining his attempts to help people before killing himself. The Truth Terrorist demonstrates his "fourth truth" by burning alive four youths who had been arrested during the 2011 England riots. Laura learns of Karl's affair with Charlotte, while Karl is annoyed to discover that his son Adam (Lowden) has spent the night at Elise's flat. Calais police find out that the French youths involved in the fourth truth were killed during a riot, including Mehdi Cherfi. The Truth Terrorist lures Yacine, Mehdi's brother, to an abandoned shop where Laurent Delgado has been imprisoned. Delgado is forced to confess to killing Mehdi. Yacine returns home where he is intercepted by Karl and Elise. Mehdi's father later finds the imprisoned Delgado too, but decides not to exact revenge and releases him. Delgado is then shot dead by the Truth Terrorist.
7"Episode 7"Philip MartinEmma Frost27 November 2013 (2013-11-27)2 December 2013 (2013-12-02)0.537[nb 6]
Karl and Elise now believe that the Truth Terrorist is a police officer, due to his knowledge of police procedures. Delgado's widow (Caroline Proust) suspects it is one of his colleagues who participated with him in some training exercises. The officers involved were financed by a company called ZP Holdings, but its offices are found to be deserted. The Truth Terrorist hijacks a minibus of school children in Kent and holds them in a farm. For his "final truth", relating to the exploitation of children, he urges the public to attack department stores known for using child labour. He releases a child in return for each attack, and then asks the public to decide which of the two remaining children should die. Ultimately, he lets them both live and executes the minibus driver. The Truth Terrorist later calls Hillier and offers to give himself up after giving him an exclusive interview, but instead, he kills Hillier with a bomb. Elise's colleague Cécile Cabrillac (Bouaziz) works out the identity of a police officer who could be the Truth Terrorist; Fabien Vincent.
8"Episode 8"Thomas VincentBen Richards4 December 2013 (2013-12-04)2 December 2013 (2013-12-02)0.555[nb 7]
The hunt for Fabien Vincent (Thierry Frémont) is hindered by the direction centrale du renseignement intérieur (DCRI), who are using him as an asset; Vincent helped investigate ZP Holdings, who were suspected of gun-running. Karl investigates Hillier's murder and discovers that his original name was Giles Haddock. Before the name change, Haddock was involved in a drunk driving incident that resulted in the deaths of the wife and child of Kieran Ashton, one of Karl's former colleagues who had since committed suicide. Meanwhile, Vincent kidnaps Elise and takes her to a secluded location so that he can talk to her without being detained. Vincent proves that he is not the Truth Terrorist, and reveals that he was a part of "Peloton", a joint operation of several European intelligence agencies, and killing Alain Jubert was one of their assignments. After escaping from an assault by gangsters, Vincent releases Elise. Attention now turns to Kieran Ashton, who is revealed to have faked his suicide.
9"Episode 9"Thomas VincentChris Lang11 December 2013 (2013-12-11)9 December 2013 (2013-12-09)0.535[nb 8]
Calais police trace Kieran Ashton's bank records following his supposed death, leading them to a John Sumner, who has become a friend of Laura's. After Karl positively identifies Sumner as Ashton, confirming him as the Truth Terrorist, Karl and Elise go to his home in Kent, where they discover that he has been planning his mission for several years, and that Laura is his next target as a consequence of Karl's affair with Ashton's wife. Sumner/Ashton takes Laura and her children on a day out, and ultimately traps her in an empty house by making her keep her foot on the pressure trigger of an improvised explosive device. While Elise looks after Adam Roebuck, Ashton tells the police where Laura is. The bomb squad reveals that although the device cannot be disarmed, it was not designed to be detonated immediately on release of the switch. Laura steps off the trigger and is able to run out of the house before it explodes. Adam sneaks out of home to meet his online girlfriend, unaware that "she" is really Ashton, who is luring him to a trap. Elise realises that Adam is Ashton's real target.
10"Episode 10"Thomas VincentBen Richards18 December 2013 (2013-12-18)9 December 2013 (2013-12-09)0.660[nb 9]
Ashton kidnaps Adam and mentally tortures Karl by leading him to a number of dead ends in his search for his son. Karl decides to resign from the case. He acquires his grandfather's pistol, and begins searching for Ashton alone. Meanwhile, Elise discovers that Ashton had also been a Peloton operative, and returns to France to meet Fabien Vincent, who reveals the location of a safe house in England used by Peloton, where Elise finds Adam. Ashton calls Karl to arrange a meeting with him at a Channel Tunnel ventilation shaft near the tunnel entrance in Folkestone. There, he tells Karl that that he has killed Adam with a morphine overdose. Elise realises that Ashton wants Karl to kill him as way of bringing his "mission" to an end, and goes to the ventilation shaft to persuade Karl not to do so. She tells him that Adam is alive and in hospital, but Karl sees that she has been crying, and deduces that she is lying. Surrounded by armed officers who are willing to shoot Karl if necessary, Elise talks him out of killing Ashton, but during a struggle for the gun Ashton is blinded when the pistol discharges. After Ashton's arrest, Karl decides to leave the police force, and he and Elise say their goodbyes.

Series 2: Sabotage (2016)
No. Title Directed by Written by British air date French air date UK viewers
(million)[28]
11"Episode 1"Mike BarkerBen Richards12 April 2016 (2016-04-12)TBA0.706[nb 10]
Following the events of the first series, Karl Roebuck joins the Public Protection Unit (PPU) to help special victims. Elise Wasserman is promoted to Commander and takes charge of her unit following the departure of her former boss Olivier Pujol (Montalembert). A gang kidnap French couple Madeleine and Robert Fournier (Johan Heldenbergh) on a Channel Tunnel train. They leave behind their daughter Chloe, who falls under Karl's care. He is soon reunited with Elise, who is sent to investigate the kidnapping. It is revealed that Robert is the leader. He murders his wife and leaves a body inside a burning van. Later, the gang hack into a plane's autopilot system, and force it to crash into the English Channel, killing all on board. Robert is then paid off by human trafficker Vanessa Hamilton (Emilia Fox).
12"Episode 2"Mike BarkerBen Richards19 April 2016 (2016-04-19)TBA0.506[nb 11]
As the authorities gather the wreckage into a warehouse, Karl decides to return to CID. Olivier informs Elise that the plane was likely hacked, but tells her not to divulge this for the time being. Chloe starts to speak out about her ordeal, and recalls overhearing her father say "I told you not the kid", leaving Karl and Elise to ponder at the context of the phrase. Meanwhile, Roberts group targets Fun Faith Friends, an inter-faith meetup between Christians, Jews and Muslims in Calais, and kill one member from each religion. Back in England, Karl and Boleslaw "BB" Borowski (William Ash) investigate the burned van and find it was stolen. They trace credit card charges to an oil depot at the time of the theft, where an employee gives out a detailed description of a female suspect. The description is released to the press, where she is recognised by Professor Sonny Persaud (Clarke Peters).
13"Episode 3"Gilles BannierBen Richards26 April 2016 (2016-04-26)TBATBD
Sonny comes forward to the police to identify the suspect as his daughter Rosa (Hannah John-Kamen) who he suspects is aligning herself with fringe anarchist groups. Sonny also reveals that Robert was a student of his. Karl and BB trace Rosa's movements to a shack where they find Madeleine's body. The search ends with Singapore Fiscal Management, a company that owns the land. Elise's colleagues search their offices in Calais, where they find Rosa and arrest her following a shootout in the streets. Laura Roebuck (Coulby) suspects she is being stalked following her tweets condemning a politician in support of fracking. Immigration officers arrest a Georgian woman, Olena Bahkia (Tanya Cubric), in Dover; she carries a passport that featured the same key as several other passports in the wreckage, and one of the victims was a Polish police officer who went to the UK to expose a human trafficking gang. Karl and Elise try to question her at PPU, but is prevented from doing so by Karl's boss Mike Bowden (Stanley Townsend). Later at night, a couple witness Olena falling to her death.
14"Episode 4"Gilles BannierYann Le Nevit & Ben Richards3 May 2016 (2016-05-03)TBATBD
Olena's death is ruled as a suicide, but Karl has BB look investigate, as he believes she was pushed. They also find a link between Singapore Fiscal Management and Vanessa Hamilton. Karl and Elisa question Rosa, where she implies Robert's group will target her father at Lille University. However, this is revealed to be a diversion for members of Robert's group to storm the police station, using officer Garrido (Eric Savin) as an inside man, in an attempt to break Rosa out. The sooner-than-expected arrival of armed back-up forces Rosa and a colleague to take hostages, and demand Karl and Elisa be brought to them. Elise comes into the offices alone and faces Rosa, who becomes overwhelmed when Elise taunts her and hits her over the head with a pistol, forcing Olivier to send in the armed officers, who shoot both hostage takers. Karl later suspects Hamilton is involved when BB tells him she was smoking a cheroot during questioning (Olena told Karl her abductor smoked cheroots before Bowden kicked him out). One of the officers shot and wounded in the attack is Julie (Fanny Leurent), the policewoman who works at the front desk. Although badly wounded, Julie narrowly survives because Garrido, who was very fond of her, chooses to spare her life when ordered to execute her. He is stricken with guilt by what has happened to her, and shoots himself by her bedside in intensive care, leaving a suicide note addressed to Elise on Julie's chest.
15"Episode 5"TBATBA10 May 2016 (2016-05-10)TBATBD
16"Episode 6"TBATBA17 May 2016 (2016-05-17)TBATBD
17"Episode 7"TBATBA24 May 2016 (2016-05-24)TBATBD
18"Episode 8"TBATBA31 May 2016 (2016-05-31)TBATBD

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ 803,000 on Sky Atlantic, 90,000 on Sky Atlantic +1
  2. ↑ 626,000 on Sky Atlantic, 83,000 on Sky Atlantic +1
  3. ↑ 551,000 on Sky Atlantic, 45,000 on Sky Atlantic +1
  4. ↑ 474,000 on Sky Atlantic, 60,000 on Sky Atlantic +1
  5. ↑ 514,000 on Sky Atlantic, 61,000 on Sky Atlantic +1
  6. ↑ 485,000 on Sky Atlantic, 52,000 on Sky Atlantic +1
  7. ↑ 472,000 on Sky Atlantic, 83,000 on Sky Atlantic +1
  8. ↑ 462,000 on Sky Atlantic, 73,000 on Sky Atlantic +1
  9. ↑ 559,000 on Sky Atlantic, 101,000 on Sky Atlantic +1
  10. ↑ 680,000 on Sky Atlantic, 26,000 on Sky Atlantic +1
  11. ↑ 466,000 on Sky Atlantic, 40,000 on Sky Atlantic +1

References

  1. ↑ Sky Atlantic’s The Tunnel to return for second series
  2. ↑ The Tunnel to return to Sky in 2016
  3. ↑ The Tunnel: Sabotage
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Plunkett, John (13 October 2013). "Sky's remake of The Bridge is set in the Channel tunnel – in English and French". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 October 2013.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Gilbert, Gerard (9 October 2013). "The Tunnel: Chunnel vision". The Independent. Retrieved 23 October 2013.
  6. 1 2 Richford, Rhonda (16 October 2013). "Clemence Poesy and Stephen Dillane Talk 'The Tunnel's' Tough Political Questions". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 23 October 2013.
  7. ↑ Curtis, Nick (11 October 2013). "Battle of the Bridge babes". London Evening Standard. Retrieved 28 December 2013.
  8. ↑ Plunkett, John (17 September 2013). "Sky Atlantic to screen adaptation of Scandinavian hit The Bridge". The Guardian. Retrieved 27 January 2014.
  9. 1 2 3 4 Martin, William (1 February 2013). "'Merlin' star cast in 'The Bridge' remake 'The Tunnel'". Cult Box. Retrieved 20 October 2013.
  10. ↑ "Olivier Pujol, personnage de la série Tunnel" (in French). canalplus.fr. Retrieved 24 December 2013.
  11. ↑ "Cécile Cabrillac, personnage de la série Tunnel" (in French). canalplus.fr. Retrieved 24 December 2013.
  12. ↑ "Philippe Viot, personnage de la série Tunnel" (in French). canalplus.fr. Retrieved 24 December 2013.
  13. ↑ The Showdown. BSkyB. Retrieved 22 December 2013.
  14. ↑ Martin, William (27 January 2013). "Sky Atlantic orders 'The Bridge' remake 'The Tunnel'". Cult Box. Retrieved 20 October 2013.
  15. 1 2 3 Tartaglione, Nancy (10 January 2013). "Sky, Canal+ To Adapt 'The Bridge' As Bilingual English-French Series 'The Tunnel'". Deadline.com. Retrieved 21 October 2013.
  16. ↑ Frost, Vicky (10 January 2013). "The Bridge becomes the Tunnel in Anglo-French crime thriller remake". The Guardian. Retrieved 21 October 2013.
  17. 1 2 3 Goundry, Nick (9 August 2013). "Anglo-French murder mystery The Tunnel films on location in East Kent". The Location Guide. Retrieved 20 December 2013.
  18. ↑ Midem, Reed (3 September 2013). ""The Tunnel" To Receive MIPCOM Premiere". America Now. Retrieved 29 October 2013.
  19. 1 2 Plunkett, John (29 March 2013). "Why British TV producers are going global". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 October 2013.
  20. ↑ Fletcher, Alex (17 September 2013). "Sky defends 'The Bridge' adaption 'The Tunnel'". Digital Spy. Retrieved 27 October 2013.
  21. 1 2 "The Tunnel (2013)". Kent Film Office. Retrieved 20 December 2013.
  22. ↑ Garratt, Sheryl (7 October 2013). "The Tunnel: a new Sky Atlantic thriller with a French connection". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 24 October 2013.
  23. 1 2 "East Kent stars in Sky Atlantic drama "The Tunnel"". Kent County Council. 7 October 2013. Retrieved 20 December 2013.
  24. ↑ "News: The Tunnel – British-French TV series". Film France. 12 November 2013. Retrieved 20 December 2013.
  25. ↑ Roxborough, Scott (3 September 2013). "MIPCOM: British-French Series 'The Tunnel' to Get World Premiere in Cannes". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 21 October 2013.
  26. ↑ "'The Tunnel' Series 1 episode guide". Cult Box. 16 October 2013. Retrieved 21 October 2013.
  27. ↑ Fletcher, Alex (17 October 2013). "'The Tunnel' gets strong start on Sky Atlantic". Digital Spy. Retrieved 20 October 2013.
  28. 1 2 3 "Weekly Top 10 Programmes (See relevant weeks ending October 20, 2013 onwards and scroll down to Sky Atlantic and Sky Atlantic +1)". Broadcasters' Audience Research Board. Retrieved 22 October 2013.
  29. ↑ Eames, Tom (24 October 2013). "'Poirot' final episodes begin with 4.4m on ITV". Digital Spy. Retrieved 24 October 2013.
  30. ↑ Eames, Tom (19 December 2013). "Great Train Robbery drama tops Wednesday with 5.2 million". Digital Spy. Retrieved 21 December 2013.
  31. ↑ "Tunnel, the new Canal+ original creation". Vivendi. 12 November 2013. Retrieved 4 December 2013.
  32. ↑ "Tunnel cartonne sur Canal+" (in French). Le Figaro. 12 November 2013. Retrieved 5 December 2013.
  33. ↑ Olité, Marion (10 December 2013). "Tunnel, une série " puissante " pour Canal +" (in French). Toutelatele. Retrieved 28 December 2013.
  34. ↑ Fletcher, Alex (16 October 2013). "What To Watch: Tonight's TV Picks – The Tunnel, Veep, Hello Ladies". Digital Spy. Retrieved 20 October 2013.
  35. ↑ E Jones, Ellen (16 October 2013). "TV review: The Tunnel, Sky Atlantic". The Independent. Retrieved 23 December 2013.
  36. 1 2 Watson, Keith (16 October 2013). "The Tunnel was The Bridge in everything but theme music". Metro. Retrieved 23 December 2013.
  37. ↑ Venning, Harry (18 October 2013). "TV review: Drama Matters – Talking to the Dead; The Tunnel". The Stage. Retrieved 23 December 2013.
  38. ↑ Reaside, Julia (16 October 2013). "TV highlights 16/10/2013". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 October 2013.
  39. ↑ Reaside, Julia (18 December 2013). "TV highlights 18/12/2013". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 December 2013.
  40. ↑ Reaside, Julia (5 December 2013). "Have you been watching ... The Tunnel?". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 December 2013.
  41. ↑ Anthony, Andrew (19 October 2013). "Stephen Fry: Out There; The Tunnel; Peaky Blinders – review". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 December 2013.
  42. ↑ Wollaston, Sam (16 October 2013). "The Tunnel; Hello Ladies; Veep – TV review". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 October 2013.
  43. ↑ O'Donovan, Gerard (16 October 2013). "The Tunnel, Sky Atlantic". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 23 December 2013.
  44. ↑ "Le Tunnel" (in French). Amazon.fr. Retrieved 16 December 2013.
  45. ↑ "The Tunnel on DVD". Acorn Media UK. Retrieved 10 January 2014.
  46. ↑ "The Tunnel on BluRay". Acorn Media UK. Retrieved 10 January 2014.
  47. ↑ Lazarus, Susanna (27 January 2014). "Sky to offer free episodes of Moone Boy, The Tunnel and Moonfleet on new YouTube channel". Radio Times. Retrieved 27 January 2014.

External links

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