The Killing TV company turns to Aberystwyth police drama

Lark Rise to Candleford star Richard Harrington (l) plays the lead role of Det Ch Insp Tom Mathias in Hinterland

The Danish broadcaster behind the TV thriller The Killing has bought a detective drama being shot in Aberystwyth in Welsh and English.

Commissioners at DR Denmark reportedly believe the Welsh landscape will appeal to its viewers familiar with the Copenhagen-set series.

The drama series is being made in both languages for the Welsh language broadcaster S4C and BBC Wales.

It will be shown on S4C next year and on BBC Wales and BBC Four.

The drama, which will be called Hinterland on the BBC and Mathias on S4C after the lead character, opens with the discovery of a body.

It is set against a backdrop of mountainous land, isolated farms and a close-knit village.

It stars Richard Harrington as Det Ch Insp Tom Mathias, and is being shot at the same time in Welsh and English.

Harrington is better known to viewers of the BBC's Lark Rise to Candleford.

His character Mathias comes to Aberystwyth in search of a new beginning.

Despite being tortured by guilt about his past, Mathias is an intuitive and passionate detective, compelled to find justice and succeeds despite his unorthodox methods, says S4C.

Filming for the four two-hour episodes has taken place in Aberystwyth and nearby Devil's Bridge and Borth so far, and will continue in the area until May 2013.

On Aberystwyth sea front, the town's former magistrates' court doubles as the outside of Mathias's police station, while out of town Aberystwyth University's Plas Gogerddan building is being used for internal shots of the fictional police station.

University students are also being offered work experience on the production.

Gwawr Martha Lloyd, S4C programme commissioner, said: "The detective drama is a popular genre internationally and this thrilling, inventive and chilling series which appeal to viewers in Wales and foreign audiences.

"The purchase by DR is proof of this and I'm confident the Danish audiences will enjoy it as much as they did The Killing."

Reaching the climax of its third series on BBC Four on Saturday night, the hit Danish crime drama The Killing follows the police investigation of a specific case, day by day, with each hour-long episode covering 24 hours of the investigation.

The Killing ends its run on BBC4 this weekend