The Finnish crime show Arctic Circle was the second most popular series on Channel 4’s streaming service, Walter Presents, in 2024. Now fans of Nordic noir on the telly can settle right back into their IKEA sofas because season three of the show airs in the UK from midnight on Sunday 2 March, and will be available to stream two days earlier on Friday 28 February.

The snowy vistas with dark conifers peppering the rolling hills of northern Finland bring a wistful, tranquil feel as a futuristic car cuts its way down a lonely rural road. But the calm lasts only a few seconds. Soon the vehicle has been swarmed by reindeer, bringing it to a halt. When an SUV pulls up behind, men in white body suits appear out of the snow to attack its driver.

Then a security team turns up with automatic weapons. It’s all action, with guns, knives, martial arts and hypodermic needles and moments later everyone is dead and the self-driving EV the attackers tried to hijack has gone on the lam. Not the opener we were expecting, and it gets better…

Eventually, this will be a case for Arctic Circle’s principal character Nina Kautsala (Iina Kuustonen), however as we meet her at a champagne music recital in the beautiful local concert hall, she’s blissfully ignorant of all the killing. The irrepressible detective has returned to her home town of Ivalo to take up the role of police chief. But Nina doesn’t want to learn about budgeting, HR or strategies. She doesn’t want a fancy car either. She just wants to do police work – like solve the mystery of the pharmacist who’s been shot dead in his shop. And at home, she wants a stable life for her daughter Venla (Venla Ronkainen), who has Down’s Syndrome and is growing up fast.

As in previous seasons of Arctic Circle, the plot develops quickly and has plenty of layers and angles to it – there’s lots you know that Nina doesn’t. While she might be expecting a quieter schedule after working in Rovaniemi, Ivalo has aspirations to attract inward investment. For example, it’s the testing ground for the driverless vehicle manufacturer Pharada. A Pharada prototype was targeted in the opening scenes, and the company has sent its own security taskforce to find out what happened and cover it up. They’ll go to incredible lengths to do so.

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Nina is about to get very busy, which will be further complicated by circumstances in her personal life. One of the reasons she’s left Rovaniemi is to make a clean break from her boyfriend, the ex-ice hockey player Toni Kajanne (Mikko Nousiainen). It’s not that she doesn’t love him, more that he wants a baby but she doesn’t want any more children.

Across the six 50-minute episodes, there will be plenty of twists and some very big dilemmas for Nina – professionally, and personally. At least she’ll be reunited with her old partner Niilo Aikio (Janne Kataja), who lives with his girlfriend and her three children. Things are bit awkward for him, as not only is his girlfriend an insufferable gossip but the eldest boy is being bullied at school.

The quality of the production may not be of same standard as a BBC or HBO drama, but it’s certainly improved since the first season – perhaps due to the show’s popularity. Arctic Circle is a Finnish-German co-production with Yellow Bird Films involved, the company that made the Wallander series and the Swedish version of Stieg Larsson’s Millennium trilogy.

Because the car company Pharada has a British chairman, parts of the show are in English and these can feel a bit wooden. However, Arctic Circle has plenty of zip and personality to it, driven by Iina Kuustonen in the role of Nina Kautsala. There are plenty of wrongs that need to be put right, with a global mega corporation thinking it’s above the law. Whether she’s doing judo flips on would-be attackers, interrogating suspects or caring for her daughter, Kuustonen is excellent in every scene and has real presence throughout. Meanwhile, the vast, barren scenery and huge piles of snow on every curb are just what lovers of Scandinavian crime fiction want to see. After all, Ivalo is 300km inside the Arctic Circle. It’s clear why the previous seasons have been so popular.

Season three of Arctic Circle originally aired in Finland in November and December 2023 under the title Ivalo. The show is also available on paid-for services such as MHz Choice, Amazon Prime in the US, Apple TV+ in some regions and Netflix, but will be free on Channel 4 and Walter Presents. Apparently, season four is in the making.

For more Scandinavian crime, see the latest season of Wisting from Norway. Also see our write-up on Arctic Circle season 2, here.