Dark is a German science-fiction mystery thriller television series created by Baran bo Odar and Jantje Friese. It ran for three seasons from 2017 to 2020. The story primarily follows four families from the fictional town of Winden, Germany, as they pursue the truth in the aftermath of a child's disappearance, unraveling a sinister time travel conspiracy that spans several generations. The series explores the existential implications of time and its effect on human nature and life, with its plot structure making prominent use of the bootstrap paradox. It features a large ensemble cast led by Louis Hofmann.
Dark debuted on 1 December 2017 on Netflix; it is the service's first German-language original series. The second season was released on 21 June 2019, while the third and final season was released on 27 June 2020.
Dark has received critical acclaim for its performances, casting, direction, writing, tone, visuals, themes, musical score, and the ambition and complexity of its narrative structure. It has been nominated for and won several awards. In 2021, the BBC ranked the series as the 58th greatest TV series of the 21st century.
Overview Children start vanishing from the German town of Winden, bringing to light the fractured relationships, double lives, and dark pasts of four families living there and unfurling a mystery that spans four generations.
The first season begins in 2019, but later grows to include 1986 and 1953 via time travel, when members of the show's central families become aware of a wormhole in the cave system beneath the local nuclear power plant. During the first season, secrets are revealed concerning the Kahnwald, Nielsen, Doppler, and Tiedemann families, and their lives begin crumbling as their ties are exposed. The conspiracy involves the missing children and the history of the town and its citizens.
The second season continues the families' attempts to reunite with their missing loved ones several months after the first-season finale, in 2020, 1987 and 1954, respectively. Additional storylines are set in 2053 and 1921. The second season introduces Sic Mundus Creatus Est, a major faction in the ongoing battle for the ultimate fate of the people of Winden and the world. The season counts down to the apocalypse.
The third season follows the four families across time in the wake of the apocalypse in 2020. It introduces a parallel world tethered to the first. The third season continues the 1954, 1987, 2020, and 2053 storylines in the first world, while also adding a new 1888 storyline and two 2019 and 2052 storylines in the second world, as the factions further their own desires for each world. The season also showcases the main events across all of these years, continuing the events of the season while also serving as backstory for the events of the first two seasons.
Cast and characters
The first season takes place primarily in 2019 but expands to include stories set in 1986, 1953, and – in the final scene of the first season – 2052, with several characters portrayed at various ages by multiple actors.
The second season takes place several months after the first, depicting the initial stories in 2020, 1987, and 1954, respectively, while continuing the future-set storyline into 2053, and adding a fifth storyline, set in 1921.
The third season introduces a storyline based in 1888 and a parallel reality featuring alternate versions of many main characters.
Main characters Character Life stage Description Actor Season123 A young boy colspan="2" A high school student struggling with his father's sudden suicide. Martha's love interest. colspan="3" A time traveller, known as "the Stranger" colspan="3" The leader of Sic Mundus, known as "Adam" colspan="2" Hannah Krüger, daughter of Sebastian Krüger, a quiet, but manipulative young girl colspan="2" Jonas' mother and Michael's wife, a physiotherapist; Silja Tiedemann's mother colspan="3" A young girl, a friend of Jana and Claudia Lena Urzendowsky Michael's adoptive mother, a nurse colspan="2" Jonas' estranged grandmother colspan="2" Ines' father, the chief of Winden Police colspan="2" A young girl colspan="2" Ulrich and Katharina's middle child, Bartosz's girlfriend and Jonas' love interest colspan="3" A survivor of the Apocalypse in an alternate reality, a member of Erit Lux, known as "Female Stranger" Nina Kronjäger colspan="2" The leader of Erit Lux, known as "Eva" colspan="2" Ulrich and Katharina's eldest child, Franziska's boyfriend colspan="3" A member of Sic Mundus Ulrich and Katharina's youngest child who goes missing in 2019 and emerges in 1986 colspan="3" Hannah's husband and Jonas' father, Michael Kahnwald, a painter who commits suicide colspan="2" A high school student struggling with his younger brother's disappearance Katharina's husband; Magnus, Martha and Mikkel's father; a police officer colspan="3" A patient in a psychiatric facility, known as "the Inspector" Katharina Albers, Ulrich's girlfriend, a high school student who struggles with her abusive mother Ulrich's wife; Magnus, Martha, and Mikkel's mother; the school principal colspan="3" Agnes and The Unknown's son, who just arrived in Winden with his mother colspan="2" Jana's husband; Ulrich and Mads' father; a journalist Jana's husband; Ulrich's father; Magnus, Martha, and Mikkel's grandfather A young girl, friend of Ines and Claudia Tronte's wife; Ulrich and Mads' mother Tronte's wife; Ulrich's mother; Magnus, Martha and Mikkel's grandmother A young girl who is pregnant colspan="2" Katharina's abusive mother; a nurse at a psychiatric facility Bartosz and Silja's daughter; Noah's younger sister Tronte's mother who just came back to Winden with him colspan="2" Peter and Charlotte's daughter, Elisabeth's older sister, Magnus' girlfriend colspan="3" A member of Sic Mundus colspan="2" Peter and Charlotte's deaf daughter, Franziska's younger sister colspan="3" Charlotte's mother, leader of the survivors of the Winden apocalypse colspan="2" Helge's son who travelled to Winden after his mother's deathPablo Striebeck colspan="2" Charlotte's husband; Franziska and Elisabeth's father; Jonas' therapist colspan="3" Charlotte Tannhaus, an orphaned girl raised by her guardian, H.G. Tannhaus Peter's wife; Franziska and Elisabeth's mother; the chief of Winden Police colspan="3" Bernd and Greta's son colspan="2" Peter's father, a security guard at the power plant Resident in a rest home who suffers from dementia Greta's husband; Helge's father, founder of the power plant Helge's father, former director of the power plant, now retired colspan="2" Bernd's wife, Helge's abusive mother Cordelia Wege A clockmaker Charlotte's guardian, a clockmaker, lecturer in theoretical physics, and the author of A Journey Through Time Regina and Aleksander's son, Jonas' best friend and Martha's boyfriend colspan="3" Silja's husband, Noah and Agnes' father; a member of Sic Mundus Claudia's daughter who is bullied at school and suffers from depressionLydia Maria Makrides colspan="2" Aleksander's wife, Bartosz's mother, the owner of Waldhotel Winden colspan="3" (Boris Niewald, later Aleksander Köhler) Boris Niewald, a young man from Gießen assuming the identity of the victim (Aleksander Köhler) of a violent bank robbery that he was involved in colspan="3" Regina's husband, Bartosz's father, and director of the power plant colspan="3" Egon and Doris' daughter, Helge's tutor, friend of Ines and Jana colspan="2" Regina's mother, director of the power plant colspan="3" Jonas and Noah's mentor; a time traveller Doris' husband; Claudia and Silja's father, a police officer colspan="2" Claudia and Silja's father, the chief investigator of Winden Police who is approaching retirement colspan="2" Claudia's mother and Egon's wife colspan="2" Noah (Hanno Tauber)Bartosz and Silja's son colspan="2" Bartosz's son. Agnes' older brother, an acolyte of Sic Mundus colspan="2" Charlotte's biological father; a priest and member of Sic Mundus colspan="3" Hannah and Egon's daughter, Jonas and Claudia's half-sister colspan="2" Elisabeth's interpreter, known as "the girl from the future" colspan="2" Noah and Agnes' mother, Bartosz's wife colspan="2" The Unknown Jonas and Martha's son; a member of Erit Lux, believed to be the origin of the Knot. The three Unknowns operate together to ensure the apocalypse occurs in both Adam and Eva's worlds. colspan="2" colspan="2" Hans Diehl colspan="2" Wilhelm Clausen A police inspector called to Winden to investigate the missing persons of 2019. Brother of the real Aleksander Köhler, whose identity was assumed by Boris Niewald, now Aleksander Tiedemann.
Recurring cast Jennipher Antoni as Ulla Obendorf, Erik Obendorf's mother in 2019 (season 1) as the high school's science teacher in 2019 (seasons 1, 3) as Clara Schrage, a nurse attending to Helge Doppler in 2019 (season 1) as a friend of Katharina in 1986–1987 (seasons 1–3) as Torben Wöller, a junior police officer in 2019–2020, Benni/Bernadette's brother (seasons 1–3) as Jürgen Obendorf, Erik Obendorf's father in 2019–2020 (seasons 1–3) as Edda Heimann, a pathologist in 2019 (seasons 1, 3) Vico Mücke as Yasin Friese, Elisabeth Doppler's boyfriend in 2019 (season 1) as Udo Meier, a pathologist in 1953–1954 (seasons 1–2) as Selma Ahrens, a caseworker in 1986 (season 1) as Erik Obendorf, a teenage drug dealer gone missing in 2019 (season 1) as Benni/Bernadette, a transgender prostitute in 2019–2020, Torben's sister (seasons 1–3) as Kilian Obendorf, Erik Obendorf's brother and Martha and Bartosz's classmate in 2019's alternative world (seasons 1, 3) Anna Schönberg as Donata Kraus, a nurse and Ines Kahnwald's co-worker in 1986 (season 1) as a power plant worker in 2020 (season 2) as Justyna Jankowski, a junior police officer in 2019–2020 (seasons 1–3) as Gustav Tannhaus, H. G. Tannhaus' grandfather and an industrialist fascinated with time travel (season 3) as Jasmin Trewen, Claudia Tiedemann's secretary in 1986–1987 (seasons 1–3) as a police officer and co-worker of Egon Tiedemann in 1953–1954 (seasons 1–2)
Family tree
|style="text-align: left;"| A = Adam's world E = Eva's world ∅ = Character ceases to exist ? = Year unknown
Episodes
Season 1 (2017)
Season 2 (2019)
Season 3 (2020)
Production Netflix approved the series in February 2016 for a first season consisting of ten one-hour episodes. Principal photography started on 18 October 2016 in and around BerlinWebb, Claire. "Where is Netflix's new series Dark filmed? Is Winden a real place?," Radio Times (1 December 2017). (including Saarmund and Tremsdorf in Brandenburg), and ended in March 2017.
The church where Jonas meets Noah was filmed at the Stahnsdorf South-Western Cemetery in Stahnsdorf. The high school location was filmed at the Reinfelder Schule in Berlin's Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf neighbourhood. The bridge and the train tracks were filmed on the abandoned in the middle of the Düppeler forest near Lake Wannsee."Where was the Netflix's series Dark filmed? Three Locations from the series around Berlin," Fotostrasse. Accessed 18 July 2019. The gates to the power plant are those at the Olympic Stadium Bell Tower; the nuclear reactor towers were computer-animated. The recurring street scene of the bus stop and T-intersection was filmed at Fahrtechnik Akademie in Zossen. The truck stop with Benni's caravan is located at Zollamt Berlin-Dreilinden (the former Checkpoint Bravo). Exterior hospital shots were filmed at the old section of Lungenklinik Heckeshorn in Wannsee. Library scenes were filmed at the University of Applied Sciences for Finance in Königs Wusterhausen and Berlin State Library.