The success of The Killing and Broadchurch hasn't gone unnoticed by the heads of Sky, as they've just announced a new crime drama called Fortitude. The 12-part drama is set in a remote Icelandic town, the titular Fortitude, dealing with its first ever murder. Stanley Tucci (Julie & Julia) will play a detective who arrives in town to solve the case, where he meets the local sheriff (Game of Thrones' Richard Dormer) and a governor (The Killing's Sofie Gråbøl) who wants to turn the mining town into a tourist destination.
Other characters will include a terminally ill wildlife photographer (Harry Potter's Michael Gambon), and an English scientist working at a research centre (Doctor Who's Christopher Eccleston). Jessica Raine (Call the Midwife), Luke Treadaway (Clash of the Titans), Nicholas Pinnock (Top Boy) and Johnny Harrison (This Is England) will also star.
Anne Mensah, Sky's Head of Drama:
"[Fortitude] has the same pressure cooker feel of Twin Peaks, but that was much more extreme. This is a very grounded world, about what happens to an ordinary group of people when something really unexpected and unfathomable arrives in their midst. It's about love, anger, and the secrets that are buried underneath a very beautiful façade. There's a lot of humour as well. It's so much more than a crime show, it's an ensemble piece about a whole community with Fortitude a character in the drama. It was like no other show that has ever been pitched to me."Fortitude has been written by Simon Donald (Low Winter Sun) and is being produced by Tiger Aspect's Fifty Fathoms arm for Sky.
