Nobel is a 2016 Norwegian television series that premiered on NRK on 25 September 2016. It depicts Norway’s military involvement in Afghanistan. It was produced by Monster Scripted for the Norwegian broadcaster NRK and was broadcast under the title Nobel – fred for enhver pris. The series under the title Nobel was made available on Netflix for streaming on 13 December 2016.
Background
The series originated from its director Per-Olav Sørensen who was interested in making a contemporary story about Norwegian soldiers involved in military operations in Afghanistan. The script was written with Mette Marit Bøstad and Stephen Uhlander. The producer Håkon Briseid pitched the idea to NRK who then commissioned the TV series. The series was filmed in Oslo, Prague and Morocco in 2015. The production cost 68 million Norwegian krone, and the series is a co-production with Sirena Film in collaboration with DR, SVT and RÚV with support from the Norwegian Film Institute and Nordisk Film & TV Fond. The series was acquired for broadcast in France, Israel, and the Benelux countries. It was also sold to Netflix for streaming in various English-speaking countries. The first episode of seven was broadcast as a double episode in Norway, but released as two single episodes on Netflix, making a total of eight episodes for the series.
Samuel Fröler as Gunnar Riiser, Erling's father and a former professional jockey
Reception
The series was generally well-received by Norwegian critics. Kjetil Lismoen of Aftenposten praised the acting and found the portrayal of the political machinations and the cost that comes from being involved in a war credible. Marie Kleve of Dagbladet considered the series to be socially relevant and significant while at the same time also entertaining to viewers. Øystein David Johansen of VG thought it an ambitious series with outstanding portrayal of the troops in Afghanistan, but found that it was the human drama in the series that impressed him most. The premiere double episode was watched initially by 750,000 viewers excluding online viewers in Norway, with its Total Screen rating reaching 1.322 million viewers when online viewings over a longer period are included. There were over 1 million total viewers for every episode of the series. The final episode was watched by 703,000 viewers on its initial broadcast, with its total audience expected to reach 1.2 million. The series was nominated for the 2016 Prix Italia in the TV drama category. It won the 2016 Prix Europa Media Award for Best European TV movie/mini-series, and in 2017, it won the Rose d'Or in the Drama Series category.
