Dan Sommerdahl, Marianne Sommerdahl and Flemming Torp are set to return to More 4 and the streaming service Walter Presents this month, tackling complex new investigations while trying to unpick their equally complex love lives. The first episode of season three airs on Friday 11 July 2025 at 9pm on More4.
The setting is the Danish resort town of Helsingør, north of Copehagen and blessed with beautiful beaches and plenty of water sports. The vibe is a little bit Miami Vice, as detectives Dan and Flemming race around in their jeep with the top down, and a little CSI: Miami with the saturated colours and Marianne as the police pathologist. They need her help straight away as season three begins with the murder of a man in a wetsuit. It appears he was pushed from the fourth storey balcony of the apartment block where he lives.
The victim was the purser on the ferry between Helsingør and Helsingborg, a short distance across the water in Sweden. It soon becomes apparent he had some secrets. So do his wife, his neighbour who’s a former work colleague, and quite a few others in town. How could a ferry purser afford the lifestyle this fellow led? How did he get the nickname ‘Mr Big Shot’? Why did his neighbour hate him? What’s with the teenage girls dealing ecstasy outside the apartment block?
Soon, Dan (Peter Mygind) and Flemming (André Babikian) uncover a smuggling operation on the ferry route and conduct an undercover operation hoping it will lead them to the killer. However, things don’t turn out as expected and the murder and trafficking appear to become two separate cases.
The Sommerdahl Murders is a police procedural, in a light sense, with new evidence coming thick and fast, while some of the procedural aspects are a little sketchy. In one instance the detectives take evidence without a warrant, then later getting a warrant is a hurdle for them. There are touches of humour throughout. For example, there is Svend, a detective on the team who mentions food whenever he appears. He cannot survive a stakeout without crispy lemon biscuits.
As with seasons one and two, the personal anguish continues for Dan Sommerdahl. His ex-wife Marianne (Laura Drasbaek) is still having an affair with Flemming Torp, his work partner and best friend. The topic will switch to their love lives and/or friendship at the drop of a hat. Plus, poor old Dan now has to shack up in his boat, which is out of the water being refurbished. At least there’s a potential date on the horizon with the nice lady from the coast guard…
The original eight hour-long episodes broadcast in Denmark in 2022 have been combined into four feature-length shows for More4. What’s more, the first case, involving the murder of the purser and the smuggling, continues across two four-hour episodes. That sounds like a lot but the story moves along so quickly, you’ll hardly notice. There are lots of twists and new angles for the detectives to follow up.
In the third episode, a nun is murdered with a World War II pistol, while in episode four Dan and Flemming investigate the murder of a woman and the abduction of her prizewinning pooch.
Speaking of dogs, viewers of past seasons will be pleased to know that Simba makes a return, plus there are fishcakes on the jetty and long, lingering shots of the beach and sunsets over the sea. It’s Nordic, not very noir, light viewing that entertains and doesn’t take itself too seriously. The programme is also available on Acorn TV in some territories.
