BBC Four that managed to break the foreign language barrier of UK TV audiences thanks to its successful airing of The Killing, Borgen and The Bridge, has just added two new Scandinavian dramas to its 2014 programme: the Danish war and love story 1864 and Swedish crime series Crimes of Passion, both acquired from Svensk Filmindustri International.

Sue Deeks, BBC Head of Programme Acquisition described Crimes of Passion as ‘a stylish and engaging 50s-set detective drama and 1864 as ‘an epic historical Danish series with tremendous sweep and scale.” Crimes of Passion co-starring Tuva Novotny and Ola Rapace was produced by Sweden’s Pampas Production for TV4 and adapted from Maria Lang’s best-selling crime novels.

DR’s upcoming historical drama 1864 coproduced with Miso Film – with backing from Nordisk Film & TV Fond - stars some of Borgen’s well-known faces Sidse Babett Knudsen, Pilou Asbæk and Søren Malling.

BBC Four is currently airing on its Saturday night slot DR/SVT’s crime series The Bridge Season 2. Just like Season one, the first episode of the second season crossed the one million viewer mark on January 4 for a 4.5% share. Meanwhile Borgen Season three is available on DVD in the UK since Christmas and has registered record sales for its distributor Arrow Films.