Agatha Christie fans may know that her famous detective Hercule Poirot had a mystery novelist friend called Ariadne Oliver. Oliver was thought to be Christie’s own alter-ego, and appeared in six Poirot novels. Just as the real-life novelist had Poirot, Christie also gave Oliver a fictional detective to write about. That detective was called Sven Hjerson.
Enter, creator of Agatha Christie’s Hjerson, Patrik Gyllström, who has brought the pair to life in this fun and funny romp set in modern-day Sweden. Gyllström is the first to adapt these somewhat obscure characters, and you’ll thank him for it.
Sven Hjerson (played by comedian, writer and actor, Johan Rheborg) has qualities reminiscent of the meticulously groomed and fastidious Belgian sleuth: he turns out in immaculate form, visits the barber daily and has his tailor-made suits of varying colours and patterns set out in a walk-in wardrobe of dreams.
Gyllström’s take on Oliver is TV producer Klara Sandberg (Hanna Alström, Kingsman: The Secret Service). Instead of creating content worthy of our little grey cells, Klara is making reality TV. During a production meeting, she declares their show complete trash. When put on the spot to come up with a better idea, she pitches a true crime show starring Sven who would solve a crime each episode. If she can snag Sven, she’s got the green light. But Klara’s never met him; her mission begins.
Johan Rheborg as Sven Hjerson in ‘Agatha Christie’s Hjerson’. Source: Distributor
Formerly a peerless criminal profiler of wide renown, Sven has been ostracised for a decade for yet to be revealed reasons. He keeps to himself, following a strict diet and maintaining his vinyl record collection. He’s contained, enigmatic and intense.
Klara sets about tracking down the recluse and ends up on board a ferry bound for Åland, a Swedish-speaking archipelago off the coast of Finland (where the series was filmed). A little clumsily, she creates an audience with Sven who gives her his usual cold shoulder. But there is something about this warm-hearted persistent red-head that stirs the fire still smouldering in him. When a journalist is murdered on board, the pair end up appointing themselves the crime fighting duo who solve the mystery. They’re an odd couple, but they complement each other.
Unlikely crime-fighting duo, Klara and Sven get up to all kinds of capers. Source: Distributor
Being peripheral Christie characters gave the writers much more freedom in their adaptation of Sven and Klara, and Rheborg and Alström were in the character development process.
“I immediately felt I wanted to defend [Sven] and create a character who is more alive than classic Scandi noir detectives, who are almost always depressed. This is a guy who has hidden fire inside him until he meets Klara and then actually experiences some fun in life,” . “As I see it, he’s totally in love with her – not in a classic way, but it’s something you can experience when you meet someone.”
Back on board the ferry, Sven being the master of perception that he is, soon cottons on to Klara’s modus operandi and shuts down any notion of making a “silly TV show”. But with a cheeky final pitch, Klara succeeds. It helps that Sven’s reputation is in tatters and that his late mother has left behind a crumbling hotel he’s keen to run away from. But it’s Klara herself he’s not yet ready to part from that clinches the deal.
The chemistry between the pair is of the delicious slow-burn kind; they’re magnetic on screen together, and it’s a joy to watch Sven’s frozen exterior begin to melt in Klara’s presence. With Niklas, her needy brand-new husband sapping her strength a little, there’s an unexpected attraction for Klara too when faced with Sven’s crusty codger persona. Alström enjoyed exploring that in her depiction.
Having a ball on the set of ‘Agatha Christie’s Hjerson’. Source: Distributor
Sven and Klara: crime-fighting duo. Source: Distributor
“She wasn’t planning to do a project with Hjerson. It was something that just popped up in the moment,” . “But after a while, she sees something in him she really likes. She falls in love with him, but not in a sexual way.”
A good whodunnit is really good, and this one’s chewy and fiery and sexy, and frequently laugh-out-loud funny, too. From the producers behind Midsommar, Agent Hamilton and Before We Die it’s a treat of a show, and we know you will love it as much as we do.
Agatha Christie’s Hjerson premieres exclusively in Australia on Thursday 15 December.
