Airdate: Valkyrien

Next week SBS premieres Norwegian thriller Valkyrien, which has already been available at SBS On Demand.

The series combines elements of “Scandi noir” with medical drama, crime drama and “a palpable sense of the paranoia induced by operating on the edges of society.”

It begins with a double episode at Tuesday, 22 August.

This premiered in Norway in January.

Valkyrien is a Norwegian thriller that centres on Ravn Eikanger, a doctor who is secretly treating his wife while running an illegal underground clinic in an old Cold War bomb shelter. He treats criminals, emergency patients, and others who can’t or won’t seek medical help in a regular hospital, while secretly treating his dying wife.

His patients are provided by Leif Lien, a corrupt and unstable Civil Defence official with ties to the criminal and political underground. This chaotic relationship will drag Ravn into a world of secrecy, constant danger and profound ethical dilemmas. Navigating between darkness and light to keep up appearances in the outside world, he’ll stop at nothing in the hope of finding a cure for his wife. What will they do if she wakes up from her coma? After all, everyone on the surface thinks she’s dead.

Season One, Episode One: The Underground (10.30pm)
Deep underground, below Valkyrien Square in Oslo, doomsday prepper Lei has arranged a place for doctor Ravn to carry out his research in secret.

Episode Two: Styx (11.30pm)
Ravn is clutching at straws, searching for something to help Vilma. Against Leif’s will, Ravn lets Vilma’s research colleague Unn in on the secret.