The Tunnel () is a British–French crime drama television series adapted from the 2011 Danish–Swedish crime series The Bridge (Bron/Broen). The series began broadcasting on 16 October 2013 on Sky Atlantic in the UK, and on 11 November 2013 on Canal+ in France. The series stars Stephen Dillane and Clémence Poésy as British and French police detectives Karl Roebuck and Elise Wassermann. The plot follows the two detectives working together to find a serial killer who left the upper half of a French politician and the lower half of a British prostitute in the Channel Tunnel at the midpoint between France and the UK. The killer is nicknamed the "Truth Terrorist" and is on a moral crusade to highlight many social problems, terrorising both countries in the process. As the series progresses, the killer's true intention is revealed.
The Anglo–French adaptation of The Bridge was announced as a joint project between Sky and Canal+ in January 2013. Tunnel head writer Ben Richards worked with Hans Rosenfeldt, the creator of the original series. Due to the setting, the dialogue of the series is bilingual, a first for a British / French television co-production. Filming took place between February and August 2013 with a budget of £15 million, and was shot on location in Kent, England and Nord-Pas-de-Calais, France. It was produced with both British and French crew members. The premieres on both Sky Atlantic and Canal+ received strong ratings for the respective channels, with an initial consolidated figure of almost 900,000 in the UK and 1.3 million in France. Critical reception of the series has been generally positive, with Dillane and Poésy's acting being praised, as well as the plot's grittiness. Some reviewers made favourable comparisons with The Bridge, though others criticised The Tunnel for being identical. The producers admit that the first episode is a copy of the original.
On 16 February 2015, Canal+ and Sky Atlantic announced that a second series would begin production in March, set to air in early 2016, entitled The Tunnel: Sabotage, and consisting of eight episodes. Series 2 would focus on the crash of an airliner into the English Channel, with Dillane and Poésy returning; it premiered on Canal+ on 7 March 2016. The debut on Sky Atlantic was originally set for 5 April 2016 but was put off until a week later in deference to the Brussels terrorist attacks on 22 March 2016. It premiered in the UK on 12 April 2016 and was made available via Sky's On Demand service.
The renewal for a third and final series was announced on 20 January 2017 entitled The Tunnel: Vengeance and consisting of six episodes. It began filming in March 2017 and premiered on Sky Atlantic on 14 December 2017, with all episodes released on the same day. Canal+ did not announce a corresponding date for France at the time of the UK release.Asked in an October 2017 interview when the new season was going to premiere, Clémence Poésy said, "I do not know if season 3 will be broadcast in France". Season 3 premiered on Canal+ on 4 June 2018.
In the United States, the first season aired on many PBS stations from June through August 2016. The second season was broadcast from June through August 2017. The third season aired July through August 2018.
Cast and characters Main
Stephen Dillane as Det. Chief Inspector Karl Roebuck Clémence Poésy as Captain/CommanderNote that in The Tunnel, French police ranks are given their literal translation, and that in France, the rank structure of the police is closer to that of the armed forces than the British police, being divided into the CEA (non-commissioned personnel), the CC (commissioned officers) and the CCD (field- and general- equivalent ranks).
Accordingly, a "commander" (commandant) is equivalent to a rank between Chief Inspector and Superintendent within a British-style police force, and a "commissioner" (commissaire) is a superintendent. A "divisional commissioner" (commissaire divisionnaire), the next rank, is therefore best translated in meaning as "Chief Superintendent". Élise Wassermann is therefore in a position equivalent to detective inspector at the start of the series, and receives a promotion to a DCI-equivalent position upon the further promotion of Olivier Pujol. (Note however that within the French policing system, commissaires are usually recruited through a separate pathway).
The title of "commissioner" should not be seen as equivalent in any way to a chief police officer or PCC – the equivalent to a chief-officer rank would be an "emploi supérieur de direction" (senior command position), which refers to officers holding ranks at and above controller-general (contrôleur-général) level. Elise Wassermann Angel Coulby as Laura Roebuck (Regular: Series 1–2, Guest: Series 3) Thibault de Montalembert as Commander Olivier Pujol Cédric Vieira as Lieutenant Phillipe Viot Thibaut Evrard as Gaël (Series 1–2) Fanny Leurent as Officer Julie William Ash as Det. Constable Boleslaw 'BB' Borowski (Series 2–3) Juliette Navis as Lieutenant Louise Renard (Series 2–3) Laura de Boer as Eryka Klein (Series 2) Marie Dompnier as Madeleine Fournier (Series 2) Emilia Fox as Vanessa Hamilton (Series 2) Johan Heldenbergh as Robert Fournier (Series 2) Hannah John-Kamen as Rosa Persaud (Series 2) Stanley Townsend as Chief Superintendent Mike Bowden (Series 2) Christine Bottomley as Helena Carver (Series 3) Eileen Davies as Lilian Wright (Series 3) William Gaminara as Wesley Pollinger (Series 3) as Commander Astor Chaput (Series 3) Felicity Montagu as Chief Superintendent Winnie Miles (Series 3) Angeliki Papoulia as Lana Khasanović (Series 3) Sharon Rooney as Kiki Stokes (Series 3) Brian Vernel as Anton Stokes (Series 3)
Recurring
Series 1
Tobi Bakare as Det. Constable Chuks Akinade Jeanne Balibar as Charlotte Joubert Tom Bateman as Danny Hillier Mia Goth as Sophie Campbell Paul Ready as Benji Robertson Sigrid Bouaziz as Cécile Cabrillac Mathieu Carrière as Alain Joubert Catalina Denis as Veronica Nigel Lindsay as Jonno Jack Lowden as Adam Roebuck Joseph Mawle as Stephen Beaumont Keeley Hawes as Suze Beaumont James Frain as John Sumner Anastasia Hille as Det. Superintendent Andrea Kerrigan Ed Skrein as Anthony Jean-Toussaint Bernard as Mathieu
Series 2: Sabotage
Nicolas Wanczycki as Thibaut Briand Mish Boyko as Stefan Cyzrko Edyta Budnik as Vladka Horvath Clarke Peters as Sonny Persaud Paul Schneider as Artem Baturin Con O'Neill as Neil Grey Jan Bijvoet as The Chemist Emilia Fox as Vanessa Hamilton
Series 3: Vengeance
Angela Wynter as Celeste India Ria Amarteifio as Maya Roebuck Wim Willaert as Jacques Moreau Tony Jayawardena as Lawrence Taylor Nicholas Burns as Richard Carver Phil Zimmerman as Jimmy Jones Liliane Rovère as Edith Dutheil
Stephen Dillane and Clémence Poésy
Stephen Dillane plays Detective Chief Inspector Karl Roebuck of Northbourne Police (a fictional counterpart to the real life Kent Police), an ageing British detective used to getting his own way. Roebuck's role parallels that of Martin Rohde (played by Kim Bodnia), the Danish detective in The Bridge. Karl and Martin share some characteristics, but also differ in certain ways; for instance, Karl is "more educated and a more troubled man". Dillane was drawn to the political questions raised in the storyline, as well as the series' "novelistic telling".
Clémence Poésy plays Capitaine (later Commander) Elise Wassermann of the DCPJ, the French detective and Roebuck's opposite. Wasserman's role parallels that of Saga Norén (played by Sofia Helin), the Swedish detective in The Bridge. Elise shares some characteristics with Saga, including driving a Porsche (in Elise's case, a Porsche 944), picking up men from bars for casual sex, and exhibiting behaviour consistent with Asperger syndrome. The innate seriousness of the character was a trait that Poésy found "quite annoying", but the actress came to appreciate Elise's honesty. Both Dillane and Poésy opted not to view the original Scandinavian series, with the latter stating that it would allow her more freedom in interpreting the character. Poésy dubbed her English lines for the French broadcast.
Guests The series includes several guest stars. Joseph Mawle plays a social worker named Stephen Beaumont, Tom Bateman appears as journalist Danny Hiller, and Tobi Bakare plays Chuks Akinade. Thibault de Montalembert plays Olivier Pujol, who is the head of the Calais police service, and Elise's superior. Sigrid Bouaziz plays Cécile Cabrillac and Cédric Vieira plays Philippe Viot; these characters are police officers who work with Elise. Mathieu Carrière and Jeanne Balibar play banker Alain Joubert, and his wife Charlotte, respectively. Merlin actress Angel Coulby stars as Laura Roebuck, Karl's wife, while Jack Lowden plays Adam, his son. Keeley Hawes guest-starred as Suze Harcourt, a care worker and drug addict, along with Liz Smith, who plays Harriet, an elderly woman under Harcourt's care.
James Frain plays Kieran Ashton ("John Sumner"), a former colleague of Karl, who faked his suicide and became the Truth Terrorist, serving as the primary antagonist of the first season and a behind-the-scenes antagonist in the second season. The character is motivated by the loss of his identity and family, as well as betrayal from Karl by his affair with Kieran's wife before her death. Frain believed that Kieran is the most disturbing character he has played. Portraying the character, the actor wanted to make his actions understandable, though not justifiable.
Development and production The Anglo–French adaption of the Danish/Swedish series The Bridge was first announced by Sky in January 2013. The ten-part series was to be a co-production between British broadcaster Sky and French broadcaster Canal+. Sky Atlantic director Elaine Pyke commissioned the show with the intention of establishing the channel as a home for British dramas following the channel's release of the drama series Hit & Miss and Falcón. Due to the setting of the series, it would be bilingual, with dialogue being spoken in English and French. This made The Tunnel, according to its producers, the first series in British and French television to be bilingual.
Being a "50–50 co-production" between the British and French, the crew were a mix from both countries, and neither party has "final control". The series employed both British and French writers and directors to collaborate on the series, with former Spooks writer Ben Richards leading the writing team. Multiple versions of the script were used, which were translated for both languages. Five directors were hired for the series, three of them British and the other two French. Dominik Moll is considered the head director, with the other directors being Hettie MacDonald, Thomas Vincent, Udayan Prasad and Philip Martin. The series' executive producers are Sky's Anne Mensah; Canal+'s Fabrice De La Patellière; Kudos' Jane Featherstone, Karen Wilson, Manda Levin and Ben Richards; Shine France's Nora Melhli; and Filmlance's Lars Blomgren. Ruth Kenley-Letts is the series producer. Jane Featherstone, the chief executive of the production company Kudos, said of the British–French collaboration: "We have had to work very collaboratively to make sure we are appealing to both nations. I honestly don't know if we have got that right yet. The French like things to be slightly slower, we like them pacier."