Now streaming on MHz Choice, Spring Tide is a classic Scandi Noir thriller from the producers of The Bridge, Arne Dahl and Beck. Written for the screen (and based on the novel) by Rolf and Cilla Börjlind, the husband-and-wife duo who also wrote the first 26 Beck movies, the two series share some characteristics; in addition to the “social criticism wrapped in a crime story” motif common to both shows, a couple of the more colorful characters in Spring Tide can be seen as direct descendants of a couple of the more colorful characters in Beck – you might be able guess which ones we’re referring to…
You might also be wondering if you’ve seen some of the Spring Tide cast in other MHz Choice shows – and you most likely have! Below are some of the most notable (and surprising) examples.
Julia Ragnarsson (Olivia Rönning)
The Bridge, Wallander
In Spring Tide, Julia plays Olivia Rönning, a police trainee who gets enmeshed in a 25-year-old cold case originally investigated by her late father. MHz Choice viewers may recognize the talented Ms. Ragnarsson from her role as Laura in Season 2 of The Bridge, or remember her as 13-year-old Johanna in Wallander: The Tricksters.
Julia Ragnarsson in The Bridge (LEFT) and Wallander (RIGHT).
Helena Bergström (Linn Magnusson)
Missing, Annika Bengtzon: Paradise & Deadline
Helena plays hard-driving businesswoman Linn Magnusson in Spring Tide, but she is best known to MHz Choice subscribers as a pair of equally-driven investigators: police detective Maja Silver in Missing and the original Annika Bengtzon in Paradise and Deadline.
Helena Bergström with Johan H:son Kjellgren in Missing (LEFT) and as Annika Bengtzon in Paradise (RIGHT).
Dag Malmberg (Nils Wendt)
Irene Huss, The Bridge, Blue Eyes, Codename Hunter
The mighty Dag Malmberg pays the mysterious Nils Wendt in Spring Tide, and he is well-known to MHz Choice viewers as outspoken detective Jonny Blom in Irene Huss, Saga’s mentor Hans in The Bridge, neo-Nazi progenitor Claes Cedergren in Blue Eyes and cool Swedish cop Ingemar Bergquist in the first season of Codename Hunter. But you may also recognize him from supporting roles in various episodes of Anno 1790, Inspector Winter, Camilla Läckberg, Wallander: The Original Episodes, Van Veeteren and many others we’re probably forgetting. Prolific doesn’t begin to describe him.
Dag Malmberg with Angela Kovacs in Irene Huss (LEFT) and with Sofia Helin in The Bridge (RIGHT).
Kjell Bergqvist (Tom Stilton)
Death of a Pilgrim, The Fourth Man
Veteran actor Kjell Bergqvist plays homeless ex-cop Tom Stilton in Spring Tide, and MHz Choice subscribers will also recognize him as Erik Berg, Rolf Lassgård’s superior in Death of a Pilgrim and The Fourth Man, a pair of acclaimed limited series based on novels by renowned Swedish criminologist and author Leif G.W. Persson.
Kjell Bergqvist in The Fourth Man.
Johan Widerberg (LEFT) with Malena Engström (RIGHT) in Spring Tide
Johan Widerberg (Minken)
Missing
The multi-talented Johan Widerberg plays Stilton’s former informant Minken in Spring Tide, a colorful character equal parts annoying and endearing, with tales so out there even Martin Beck’s Neighbor would demur – little wonder then that both characters spring (pun intended) from the same talented writers: the husband-and-wife team of Rolf and Cilla Börjlind. Johan Widerberg takes the character, runs with it and steals every scene he’s in, much as he did with his turn as Pastor Stein, the Svengali-seque preacher in the hit Swedish miniseries Missing.
Johan Widerberg as Pastor Stein in Missing.
Helena Bergström (LEFT) with Niklas Hjulström (RIGHT) in Spring Tide.
Niklas Hjulström (Bertil Magnusson)
Camilla Läckberg, Annika Bengtzon: Paradise & Deadline, Blue Eyes
Niklas plays the husband of Helena Bergström’s character in Spring Tide – just as he did 15+ years earlier in the original Annika Bengtzon movies Deadline (2001) and Paradise (2003), where Helena starred as Annika and Niklas played Thomas, her boyfriend/husband. Niklas subsequently starred as Erica Falck’s detective husband Patrik Hedström in the original Camilla Läckberg series, and he recently played the Swedish prime minister in Blue Eyes. He was also memorable as Emil Ahre’s clueless dad in Beck: Room 302.
Niklas Hjulström with Elisabeth Carlsson in Camilla Läckberg (LEFT) and with Helena Bergström in Annika Bengtzon: Paradise (RIGHT).
Dar Salim (Abbas)
The Bridge, Borgen
Danish actor Dar Salim plays the mysterious, straight-shooting operator Abbas el Fassi in Spring Tide – a character some might see as a less bellicose version of Beck‘s Gunvald, albeit one who takes out the bad guys with throwing knives instead of his fists! We’ll learn more about this intriguing character in Spring Tide Season 2, which is currently still in production and won’t be available for quite some time yet. (But that won’t stop folks from asking, will it? We love your enthusiasm.) Iraqi-born actor Dar Salim is probably best known to MHz Choice viewers for his role as the Green Party chairman in Borgen, and also for his supporting turn as Peter in the second season of The Bridge.
Dar Salim as Peter in The Bridge.
Angela Kovacs (Eva Carlsén)
Irene Huss, Wallander
Angela plays author and TV commentator Eva Carlsén in Spring Tide, but she is best known to MHz Choice viewers as the multi-tasking Irene Huss, former jui-jitsu champion, mother of twin teenage girls and detective with the Gothenburg police department. Earlier in her career, Angela played Eleonor Samuelsson, wife of Niklas Hjulström’s Thomas Samuelsson, who was left high and dry when Thomas left her to shack up with Helena Bergström’s Annika Bengtzon in the 2003 feature film Paradise! (It’s a small world for Swedish actors, huh?) Angela also played Ann-Britt Höglund in the first season of Wallander with Krister Henriksson, and showed up in a small but important role as a nurse in Beck: The Ad Man with Peter Haber and Rebecka Hemse.
Angela Kovacs in Wallander (LEFT) and Irene Huss (RIGHT).
Cecilia Nilsson (Mette Olsäter)
Wallander, Wallander: The Original Episodes
Cecilia Nilsson plays Chief Inspector Mette Olsäter in Spring Tide, Tom Stilton’s former colleague and mentor to young Olivia Rönning. Cecilia is a veteran of the Swedish stage and screen and is probably best known to MHz Choice subscribers for a pair of roles opposite two very different Wallanders: as Siv Eriksson in Wallander: Firewall with Rolf Lassgård, and as Kurt’s love interest Anja in Wallander: The Tricksters opposite her real-life husband Krister Henriksson! Cecilia also had memorable supporting roles in Anno 1790: Fickle Woman and Beck: The Recluse.
Cecilia Nilsson with Krister Henriksson in Wallander.
Kjell Wilhelmsen (Rune Forss)
Blue Eyes, The Fat and the Angry
Kjell Wilhelmsen plays the crooked, bowling-obsessed, cookie-scarfing detective Rune Forss in Spring Tide – one of the Börjlind-Börjlind writing team’s quirkier creations. (And that’s saying something!) Kjell Wilhelmsen plays the part to vile perfection, much as he did when he starred as Security Party spokesman Olle Nordlöf in Blue Eyes. You might also recognize Kjell from the blackly-comic masterpiece The Fat and the Angry, in which he played a character named Kjell (no relation).
Kjell Wilhelmsen in Blue Eyes.
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