Rejseholdet is a Danish

Denmark

Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...

 television crime series starring Charlotte Fich

Charlotte Fich

Charlotte Fich is a Danish stage, film and television actress. She is most often recognized for her role as police officer Ingrid Dahl in the Emmy awarded Danish television series Unit One...

, Mads Mikkelsen

Mads Mikkelsen

' is a Danish actor.-Life and career:Mikkelsen was born in the Østerbro area of Copenhagen, the son of Bente Christiansen and Henning Mikkelsen, a cab driver. He is the brother of actor Lars Mikkelsen. After attending Århus Theatre School, he made his film debut in the movie Pusher...

 and Lars Brygmann

Lars Brygmann

- Career :Lars Brygmann was educated at the private actors school Tsarens Hof in 1987 and has since then been connected with the theaters Får302, Dr. Dante, Mungo Park, and Østre Gasværk Teater. His debut on film and TV was in 1995.- Family :...

. Produced by Danmarks Radio

Danmarks Radio

DR – officially rendered into English as the Danish Broadcasting Corporation – is Denmark's national broadcasting corporation. Founded in 1925 as a public-service organization, it is today Denmark's oldest and largest electronic media enterprise...

 (DR), the program aired 32 episodes spanning four seasons from 2000 to 2004. Each episode revolved around an elite mobile police task force called "Unit One" that travels around Denmark helping local police solve crimes. Cases portrayed in the show were loosely based upon actual incidents of sensational crimes such as murders, kidnappings, cross-border sex traffic and child pornography. Rejseholdet won the 2002 International Emmy Award for best drama series.

Themes

The central character, Ingrid Dahl (Charlotte Fich), is an ambitious detective who has been promoted into command of the unit at the beginning of the first season. The drama is balanced between the forensic process and an unfolding backstory that includes the sometime ambivalent relationships existing between the unit members, their families and those outside the Unit. The series regularly touches on social issues including the insularity of police work, the social and emotional impact of brutal crime, as well as political and press involvement in the justice process.

Location

Rejseholdet was filmed at the TV-Drama's film studio at TV-byen in Søborg, Denmark as well as many local locations around Denmark. Action has also ranged among international locations such as Sweden, Germany, Iceland and other regional areas.

Awards

In 2002, Unit One received the Emmy Award

Emmy Award

An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...

 for Best Drama Series from the International Academy of Television Arts and Sciences

International Academy of Television Arts and Sciences

The International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences is an organization of global broadcasters, with members from nearly 70 countries and over 400 companies...

. The program also won the Best Drama Award at the annual Danish Television Awards (TvFestival.dk) in both 2001 and 2002. For his leading role, Mads Mikkelsen received the 2002 Best Actor award at TvFestival.dk.

Distribution

The series has been televised in Denmark (DR1

Danmarks Radio

DR – officially rendered into English as the Danish Broadcasting Corporation – is Denmark's national broadcasting corporation. Founded in 1925 as a public-service organization, it is today Denmark's oldest and largest electronic media enterprise...

), Sweden

Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

 (TV4), Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 (ZDF

ZDF

Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen , ZDF, is a public-service German television broadcaster based in Mainz . It is run as an independent non-profit institution, which was founded by the German federal states . The ZDF is financed by television licence fees called GEZ and advertising revenues...

), and in Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

 (SBS

Special Broadcasting Service

The Special Broadcasting Service is a hybrid-funded Australian public broadcasting radio and television network. The stated purpose of SBS is "to provide multilingual and multicultural radio and television services that inform, educate and entertain all Australians and, in doing so, reflect...

).

Each episode is titled with a reference to an Assistancemelding which roughly translates to English as "Request for Assistance"

Region 4, English-subtitled DVDs of Unit One are currently available for all seasons. The series includes "adult" content with occasional nudity, graphic violence, sexual situations, strong language and adult themes.

Cast

Character	Played by
Ingrid Dahl	Charlotte Fich Charlotte Fich Charlotte Fich is a Danish stage, film and television actress. She is most often recognized for her role as police officer Ingrid Dahl in the Emmy awarded Danish television series Unit One...	Central character, appointed commander of the Rejseholdet unit at the beginning of the first series, holds rank of Detective Chief Inspector. Single mother of Tobias (by former husband) and guardian of Gry, the daughter of her late partner, who dies in the first season. Promoted into a leadership position, she initially struggles to gain the respect of the team and her superior, Ulf Thomson. During the series it is revealed that Ulf had been a close friend of Ingrid's (deceased) father when he forms a friendship with Ingrid's mother. Ingrid comes to suspect that Ulf is her father but he persuades her that this is not the case.
Allan Fischer	Mads Mikkelsen Mads Mikkelsen ' is a Danish actor.-Life and career:Mikkelsen was born in the Østerbro area of Copenhagen, the son of Bente Christiansen and Henning Mikkelsen, a cab driver. He is the brother of actor Lars Mikkelsen. After attending Århus Theatre School, he made his film debut in the movie Pusher...	Detective Inspector. The sometimes "problem child" of the unit, Impulsive and emotional, Fisher has been frustrated by a lack of advancement, as he is seen by Ulf and Ingrid as "difficult to manage." Despite his rough edges his persistence, physicality and willingness to bend the rules often produces results and he is thus highly valued as a member of the team.
Thomas La Cour	Lars Brygmann Lars Brygmann - Career :Lars Brygmann was educated at the private actors school Tsarens Hof in 1987 and has since then been connected with the theaters Får302, Dr. Dante, Mungo Park, and Østre Gasværk Teater. His debut on film and TV was in 1995.- Family :...	Detective Inspector. The most cerebral member of the unit, La Cour is noteworthy for his highly intuitive investigative approach that often plays a key role in solving an episode's mystery. Most episodes include a sequence where La Cour seems to mystically "channel" the victim and/or perpetrator in order to re-create the crime event. The portrayal of these moments sometimes suggest the supernatural, such as an episode when an off-duty La Cour leads local police directly to the murder scene and thus places himself under suspicion for the crime.
Jens Peter "I.P." Jørgensen	Waage Sandø Waage Sandø Waage Sandø is an acclaimed Danish theatre, film and television actor.Sandø, son of a tavern owner in Copenhagen, was educated at the Private Theatre School from 1964 to 1966. From 1968-1970 he worked at Aarhus Theatre and he was head of the Open Air Theatre in Copenhagen from 1968-1973 as well as...	Detective Inspector. The senior member of the unit, who has been passed-over for promotion when Ingrid is appointed commander. Partner to Kirsten. A world-weary but trusted and quietly supportive second-in-command to Ingrid. Has been with the force for 40 years.
Ulf Thomsen	Erik Wedersøe	Senior police official, under whom the unit operates. Appointed Ingrid to command position. This promotion seems at least partially the product of political pressure to elevate a female. Ulf frequently challenges Ingrid's decisions but his respect for her is revealed over time. Ulf's affair with Kirsten and promotion of Ingrid has complicated his longstanding relationship with colleague I.P.
Gaby Levin	Trine Pallesen	Junior member of the unit. Develops relationship with Johnny Olsen. Gaby is portrayed as the "glue that often holds the unit together" managing unit logistics and she is heavily relied upon by Ingrid and other unit members.
Johnny Olsen	Lars Bom Lars Bom Lars Bom is a Danish actor, educated at The Danish National School of Theatre in 1985. Lars Bom has worked in a variety of roles in Theatre, Film and Television, and won the Best Actor award at the Italian Fantafestival in 1999, for his starring role in the cyberpunk-thriller Skyggen...	Contract truck owner/operator. Responsible for moving the Rejseholdet mobile office between locations. Partner of Gaby. Former Danish national football (soccer) star, frequently "unofficially" involved in the unit's police work.
Jan Boysen	Michael Falch	Forensic pathologist working with the Danish Police. Pursues Ingrid romantically.
Tobias	Sebastian Ottensten	Ingrid's teenage son. Tobias's brushes with the law (smoking hashish and joyriding in a stolen car) has been used to illustrate Ingrid's conflicted state as an ambitious career officer and a single mother.
Kirsten Jørgensen	Lisbet Lundquist	Actress and I.P.'s partner, but they separate during the first season. A successful stage actress, we learn that she is struggling with issues pertaining to ageing and alcoholism. Develops an affair with Ulf.
Gry	Lykke Sand Michelsen	Daughter of Ingrid's late partner.

Episodes

Season 1	Title	First aired (Denmark)	Synopsis
1	Assistancemelding A-15/99	1 Oct 2000	Chief of Investigation of Unit One, Torben Rønne, is found murdered in his house along with Henning Ravn, a friend of his who was temporarily living at Torben's. Ingrid Dahl is promoted to temporary Chief of Investigation to support Unit One. Because of information provided by a criminal, Unit One locates Dennis Friis, the son of a woman Ravn used to date years back. As Friis tries to pick up the murder weapon, he is discovered by Fischer and La Cour and taken in to custody. He confesses the crime under questioning with Dahl.
2	Assistancemelding A-21/99, del 1	8 Oct 2000	The deceased, a pub owner from Horsens and an old acquaintance of the police, was discovered after being liquidated. He also has outstanding business with the local bikers. But Ingrid thinks the motive for the homicide is more of a personal nature. The larger mobile office is put to use for the first time and its driver proves to be a surprise. Just as the investigation gets underway Ingrid receives a phone call that forces her to rush back to Copenhagen. Part one of a two part episode.
3	Assistancemelding A-21/99, del2	15 Oct 2000	Fischer and La Cour find Grue, the biker president, who is carrying a sawn-off shotgun around the resembles the murder weapon from their case. But the revelation that follows is no what they expected. Ingrid Returns with a plan that conflicts with Chief Constable Ulf Thomsen. Fischer receives unexpected help when he gets into a fight with a couple of suspects. La Cour finds a vital clue and IP suspects something going on between Gaby and Johnny Olsen.
4	Assistancemelding A-6/00	22 Oct 2000	When an elderly lady is murdered in Nakskov details emerge from her younger female lodger - who says she saw an unfamiliar man leave the house just after the crime. Fischer's relationship with the local force is complicated because of a previous case and the conflict between hem resurfaces. IP is worried about Kirsten' whereabouts, and Ingrid's husband Soren surprise's her just as she is on her way out with Boysen.
5	Assistancemelding A-11/00	29 Oct 2000	A young couple's wedding day is ruined by a murder. The killing seems unfeasible, and the forensics experts are perplexed when Unit One arrives. Soon many of the villagers are under suspicion. While IP's jealously grows, Johnny receives help from Gaby with his personal problems. Soren puts pressure on Ingrid to make a decision about their relationship. But all could be futile when Ingrid soon after receives a phone call from the hospital alerting her that Soren is in serious condition.
6	Assistancemelding A-15/00	5 Nov 2000	Ulla, a teacher from Roskilde, has celebrated her 30th birthday with a big party among friends and relatives. On her way home from the party she disappears without a trace. Her husband calls the police, and Unit One is summoned. Evidence indicates that a crime has taken place, and Ulla's children also face danger. Ingrid is in an awful state following Soren's death, and has incarcerated herself. Gaby and Johnny try to help, but in vain. However, IP has his own way of tackling Ingrid. Fischer receives a tempting offer from Ulf.
7	Assistancemelding A-17/00	12 Nov 2000	Fischer and La Cour have taken a holiday on the North sea with Fischer's family. Their holiday is soon ruined when the local force receives an anonymous tip-off that a homicide has been committed in the neighborhood. The murderer is at large and could strike again at any time. Ulf is summoned when Fischer loses control while detaining a subject.
8	Assistancemelding A-19/00, del 1	19 Nov 2000	A whole town is in fear because a masked man has been assaulting elderly women who live on their own. The assaults are becoming increasingly violent, and everyone is afraid that the next one will be fatal. Unit One is called in, and La Cour is forced into dealing with a painful encounter from his past. IP is having a hard time with Kirsten and receives a flattering invitation, while Fischer acquires insight into Johnny's love life. Part one of a two part episode.
9	Assistancemelding A-19/00, del 2	26 Nov 2000	The disguised man who attacks elderly women strikes again. But he constantly one step ahead of the police, who are at a loss. Ulf arrives and demands a result, and is confronted by IP. Fischer tries to provoke La Cour into resuming his relationship with Helene. La Cour finds the vital clue - but is he in time? Johnny is an involuntary witness as the case comes to a head.
Season 2
10	Assistancemelding A-24/00	11 Mar 2001	A young boy is kidnapped on his 9th birthday. The team discovers him alive and well, but getting him back to his mother is not simple. Ulf and Kirsten take a trip to London.
11	Assistancemelding A-25/00	18 Mar 2001	A lawyer with a history of getting defendents to retract confessions uses the technique to exonerate the perpetrator of a crime that the team previously investigated. Then the lawyer and his family are threatened by an unknown attacker, and the team is called in to protect him.
12	Assistancemelding A-26/00	25 Mar 2001
13	Assistancemelding A-28/00	1 Apr 2001
14	Assistancemelding A-30/00	8 Apr 2001	Local police overhears a shooting. A teenage girl comes running against them yelling "They're gonna kill me, they're gonna kill me!". The female police officer finds the body of Irana and Fashad Adavi in the apartment of Osmand and Leyla Güre. The reason for the murder is believed to be a matter of honour according to Osmand as he explains that Fashad supposedly has raped Yasemin, the daughter of Osmand and Leyla. The son, Dennis, supposedly shoots Fashad as he refuses to marry Yasemin. In questioning, Dennis fails to reload the pistol and is therefore not the murderer. Yasemin then claims she shot the victims. In a gynaecologic examination, Yasemin proves to be a virgin. As the gynaecologist talks with Dahl, Yasemin escapes and, according to her home room teacher, hides in a botanical facility. The teacher explains that Osmand has sexually abused his daughter anally for years. IP finds the girl in time, as her father is trying to kill her with a piece of glass. In questioning, Yasemin explains that Fashad found out about her father and tried to force through a wedding with Osmand, who then kills her.
15	Assistancemelding A-31/00, del 1	15 Apr 2001	The body of the 10-year-old is found in a stream in the woods just outside of Hellebæk. No boy of the description is missing. La Cour dreams of a bag that is found at the harbour and has exactly the same interior as in La Cours dream. A social licence from the bag reveals the boy to be Martin Simonsen. DNA samples proves that the killer earlier has murdered a young boy. La Cour talks with a conductor from Odense, Claus Munk Andersen, who claims he didn't see the boy. But through a vision and investigation of other witnesses, Andersen is taken into custody. A DNA sample proves him to be the killer, but when the police moves out to arrest him, they find him hanged in his house and La Cour's fingerprints all over the place.
16	Assistancemelding A-31/00, del 2	22 Apr 2001	La Cour is taken into custody and is ordered home to Copenhagen. In the mean time, the investigation team contacts Karin, the sister of Andersen who tells them that the man that visited Andersen the night he was killed and had sexual intercourse with him probably is Sonny, a local male prostitute. Fischer is sent to the dumpster where he finds a trash bag that contains an Andersen's diary that contains information of the murdered boys and of Cliff "Sonny" Jensen, whom Andersen raised into prostitution and borrowed to his friends. La Cour notices some ash buds and remembers what happened at Andersen, paying Ulrik Gregersen, Andersen's brother-in-law a visit. He follows him to the dumpster where he arrests him and discovers that the trash bags he dumped there contained the body of Sonny.
Season 3
17	Assistancemelding A-2/01	30 Dec 2001
18	Assistancemelding A-3/01	6 Jan 2002	Christian and Andreas Dahl are shot when they confront two famous criminals in burying stolen money in Kalundborg. Tina Lauritsen, the wife of Christian, is later found with her throat slit. The criminals are quickly identified as a burned out white Mercedes is found containing rabbit dung (as Eik Nielsen, the male criminal, favours white Mercedes' and Anja Jespersen, the female criminal, always carry around a rabbit). Unit One puts the area where the money was buried under surveillance. When the couple shows up, the Special Police Corps surround them, but they manage to escape into the church where a small group of people were arranging baptising schedules. Eik lets the grown ups escape and the priest, the wife of a local police officer, manages to text message Unit One and ask them to open the Northern Door to let Anja escape with the infant. The Special Police Corps manages to successfully rescue the priest and take Eik into custody
19	Assistancemelding A-4/01	13 Jan 2002	Unit One is called to Aabenrå when parts of a woman body is found in Knapsø. As Unit One checks the German Missing List, a witness tells of a silver Audi from where a man tossed a trashbag into the habour, and of a burning container filled with personal files on a Doris Frösse. The owner of the silver Audi, Manfred Schlosser, lacks any information. A summerhouse owner contacts them and tells that the sheets and beddings have been replaced and the floor scrubbed very thoroughly. Blood samples confirms the victim to be Doris Fröse, but the name of the man who borrowed the summerhouse is fake. A friend of Doris Fröse confirms that the man whom Doris Fröse was visiting in Denmark was Manfred Schlosser. In the mean time, Pernille, the wife of Manfred Schlosser, finds knives and photoalbums of many murdered women in the attic. Manfred finds out and drowns her in their bathtub. Manfred is taken into custody, but denies everything.
20	Assistancemelding A-6/01	20 Jan 2002	A hotel is set on fire in Nyborg, killing 32 people. A local pyromaniac, Henning Jørgensen, is taken into questioning, but fails to answer where the fire started. In a side story, a little boy witnesses how a bespectacled man places the corpse of a young woman on a bench in a parking lot. In a picture from the local newspaper, a face is very faintly viewed in the background, and the police trace the person in the picture to be Otto Lykke Larsen, a mentally retarded man. Larsen is taken into questioning. In the videos found in Larsen's apartment, fires are videotaped and Unit One suspects that Larsen was the pyromaniac responsible. In other videos, Larsen have sexual intercourse with a woman, Britt Hjort Jespersen. In questioning, Larsen admits that he was the one who set fire on the hotel, along with all the other fires recorded in his videotapes. In the mean time, the corpse of the young woman is identified as Jespersen. Larsen admits he killed Jespersen.
21	Assistancemelding A-7/01, del 1	27 Jan 2002	Just released from prison the entrepreneur called farmand (daddy-o) is found murdered in a Danish train to Århus, this puts the unit smack in the middle of hypnosis and crime, they meet one of the smartest criminals in the series so far. Kaare commits a robbery just after being released from State Prison in Horsens. He shots three people and gets arrested by Fischer. Unit One suspects that Ivan has masterminded the coup.
22	Assistancemelding A-7/01, del 2	3 Feb 2002	The tragic case of Kaare and Ivan continues, who will break first the police or Ivan?
23	Assistancemelding A-9/01	10 Feb 2002	Bertel Kjeldsen calls Dahl late at night to ask her to come to Fredensborg where he allegedly killed his own wife. In the mean time, the case of Britt Hjort Jespersen is brought up again as a poor autopsy of the body wasn't satisfying. DNA samples from a new autopsy shows DNA from another man. Dahl tries hard to find Keldsen who is standing at the edge of a tall building when Dahl finds him. He tells how he killed his wife, and how his son, Knud Kjeldsen, killed Jespersen. Dahl arrests Knud. Knud lies under questioning, but the DNA samples shows that Knud's biological brother, Robin Hansen, who is mentally retarded, was the murderer. Knud tried to cover for his retarded brother to spare his family.
24	Assistancemelding A-12/01	17 Feb 2002	When local crime boss Bob is found murdered in his own S&M dungeon in a custom made monkey cage in Fredericia, the unit is involved in a case of revenge and jealousy, Fisher breaks his nose in this episode.
25	Assistancemelding A-13/01	24 Feb 2002	An entire family is brutally murdered and the case leads the unit into a tragic story of incest and violence.
26	Assistancemelding A-15/01	3 Mar 2002	Jette Møller is found murdered in a fish boutique in Vordingborg. Finn Møller, her husband, is taken into custody, but nothing is gaining out of his answers. Her phone is tapped and when a suspicious phone call remind Fischer and La Cour about Strangers on a Train Strangers on a Train Strangers on a Train is a psychological thriller novel by Patricia Highsmith. It was adapted as a film in 1951 by director Alfred Hitchcock.-Plot summary:... , Møller is put under surveillance. He escapes when he sails from Vordingborg to an island. The following day, the body of Putte Bech Lorentzen is found in a sauna. Unit One suspects Larsen and arrest him. Through evidence found in the garden of Bech Lorentzen, Unit One arrests Bertram Bech Lorentzen, the husband of Putte, for the murder of Jette
27	Assistancemelding A-16/01	10 Mar 2002	A young girl is found murdered on Bornholm and the unit is quickly involved as it looks like the work of one of Denmark's infamous serial killers, known as The Indian, unfortunately the story spins into a personal tragedy for Ingrid.
28	Assistancemelding A-17/01	17 Mar 2002	When Johnny finds a couple of Polish girls in the back of a truck near Slagelse the unit is getting involved in a case of human trafficking and quickly tie it to the Polish mafia.
29	Assistancemelding A-19/01, del 1	24 Mar 2002	La Cour gets one of his visions and finds a murdered student at one of the most prestigious boarding schools in Denmark, this swirls the unit into a case where they finally get clues to find the serial killer known as the Indian (because he cuts the pubes off his victims), meanwhile Ulf has bad news for the team.
30	Assistancemelding A-19/01, del 2	1 Apr 2002	The Indian has kidnapped Gaby, and La Cour and Fisher is on their tail, IP is trying to protect the Indian's ex girlfriend who are also the murdered students sister, this dramatic episode was supposed to be the end of the series, but as you can see below 2 episodes were later added.
Season 4
31	Assistancemelding A-05/03, del 1	25 Dec 2003	When a black prostitute is found murdered and things indicate the Danish minister of justice, the unit is once again called together, although they are all busy with other work, soon we learn that things are not what they seem like and we venture into the Danish biker scene.
32	Assistancemelding A-05/03, del 2	1 Jan 2004	Things are taking a turn for the worse when both Johnny and Fischer find themselves in grave danger; their cover has been blown and the bikers want them dead. This episode marks the end of the series.

External links

• Rejseholdet at DR1