Tidsrejsen
Tidsrejsen is a Danish television series in the form of a Nordic Christmas calendar that was shown over the Christmas period by the Danish Broadcasting Corporation in 2014. As per tradition for Nordic Christmas calendars, the series premiered on 1 December 2014 and its first season ran for 24 episodes. It was written by Poul Berg and directed by Kaspar Munk. Tidsrejsen was filmed mostly in the town of Dragør on Amager, south of Copenhagen. The series has science fiction elements, such as a time machine, and has themes of young love and general love, as well as family, the idea that actions have consequences and the idea that people decide their own fate in life.
The Danish Broadcasting Corporation described the Christmas calendar series as "Back to the Future meets the romantic comedy", and there are indeed many references to the popular film trilogy, among other time travel films.
The series was rewritten into a novel by the main writer Poul Berg, and was released the same year in 2014. It follows the script for the TV series faithfully but with some added details.
A second novel written by Merlin P. Mann, taking place between season 1 and 2 will be published in November 2024.
In 2023, the series was renewed for a second season, which was released in December 2024.
A third season of the series titled Tidsrejsen: Arven efter Drago is in the works, set to be released in 2025.
Plot
The first season is about the 13-year-old girl Sofie. Her greatest desire is that her parents, who had divorced after last year's Christmas, get back together so they can celebrate Christmas as a family.On 1 December, Sofie's paternal grandfather gives Sofie a "calendar present" – an invention called a "gyro", which he wants her to finish building, and which under the right conditions can warp space and time, I.E. be used as a time machine. The same day Sofie is visited by the new boy in her class, Dixie. He seems to be unusually interested in the gyro, knows many things about Sofie that he can't possibly know, and is furthermore being chased by two secret agents.
One night, where Sofie wants to find out who Dixie is and what he wants with her, the secret agents follow after her to the shack where Dixie is staying, after which he has to escape. Sofie travels back to 1984 with him, where he tells her that he is from the future, and that the secrets agents are chasing him because time-travelling is illegal in the future. Furthermore, Sofie invented the time machine that people use in the future.
In 1984, Sofie takes the opportunity to change her parents' past, so that they will remain together in the present. However, this action ends up having dire consequences.
The second season takes place 10 years after the first season, this time Sofie works as a substitute teacher at the local school.
A student at the school, 13 year old Romeo believes his father who he has never met is connected to time travel, and he also believes Sofie is connected to time travel.
Romeo decides to unravel the mystery and alongside his classmate Holly and Sofie, they travel through the medieval times, the 90s and the future.
However, this action also ends up having dire consequences.
The third season takes place 1 year after the second season, this time a young boy Laurentius Drago from 1425 has to save his father Count Drago from being burned by the evil Bishop Peder who plans to take over Dragør with his crazy philosophies.
Laurentius receives help from his descendant Holly who has kept Sofies back-up Gyro, and they set out to battle Peder and his second in-command the knight Diderik.
Cast
- Bebiane Ivalo Kreutzmann as Sofie Villadsen
- Hannibal Harbo Rasmussen as Dixie
- Lars Knutzon as Sofie's paternal grandfather
- Paw Henriksen as Grandfather Alfred from 1984
- Patricia Schumann as Camilla
- Amanda Rostgaard Phillipsen as Camilla from 1984
- Rolf Hansen as Henrik Villadsen
- Arto Louis Eriksen as Henrik from 1984
- Jasper Møller Friis as Birk Villadsen
- Karen-Lise Mynster as Sofie's paternal grandmother
- Signe Skov as Ruth from 1984
- Kurt Ravn as Agent Grå
- Sigurd Holmen le Dous as Agent Rød
- Stine Stengade as Agent Sort
- Søren Pilmark as Sølvræven
- Lucas Lynggaard Tønnesen as Oliver
- Niels-Martin Eriksen as Ragnar
- William Rudbeck Lindhardt as Ragnar from 1984
- Liv Ingeborg Berg as Sofie og Dixie's daughter in 2044
- Fie London as Anna from 1984
- Signe Vaupel as Anna
- Thomas Kirk as School clerk
- Robert Reinhold as Guldtand
- Robin Koch as Robin
- Sonny Lahey as Computer voice
- Jonas Kriegbaum as Agent Brun
- Susanne Storm as Esther
- Lucas Munk Billing as Christmas tree salesman
- Gry Guldager Jensen as School teacher
- Johanne Bie as Emilie
- Frederik Thoft as Romeo
- Lise Baastrup as Emma
- Michelle Bjørn Andersen as Lotte
- Anna Bruus Christensen as CEO
- Lærke Krabbe De Waal as Holly
- Morten Suurballe as Karl Storm
- Maximillian Henriques as Young Lacobus
- Alexander Clement as Young Karl Storm
- Rasmus Hammerich as Count Drago
- Sofia Nolsøe as Young Lotte
- Victor Madsen as Sunny
- Miley Millias as Paloma
- Julian Brix as Laurentius Drago
- Andreas Jebro as Asger
- Emilie Ullerup Mørkøv as Helene
- Princess Josephine as Kate
- Kristian Gintberg as Fyrst Dragos servant
- Jonas Madsen as Commercial Director
- Kenneth M. Christensen as Lacobus
- Mads Kruse as Nielsen 2035
- Ernesto Piga Carbone as Olsson 2019
- David Garmark as Rohde 1984
- Mikkel Baden Jensen as Henrik Delurant
- Louis Christopher Kamradt as Oste-Tom
- Mads Hjulmand as Tidsturist
- Mathilde Passer aa Tidsturist
- Kanya N. Rørbech as Pedagogue
- Magnus Reinert Gásadal as Peitur
- Lea Kampmann as Annika
- Ida Skelbæk-Knudsen as Miss Sculabia
- Caspar Phillipson as Bishop Peder
- Youssef Wayne Hvidtfeldt as Diderik
- Adam Eiberg Kastaniegaard as Django
- Morten Christensen as The King
Production
Tidsrejsen is written by Poul Berg and directed by Kaspar Munk and is based on a concept developed by Nordisk Film TV A/S by Peter Hansen, Adam Neutzsky-Wulff, Philip LaZebnik and Lars Feilberg. When the main characters travel back in time to 1984, several things appear and/or are referenced from Danish 80's culture, including the use of the song Dig og mig by Dieters Lieder and references to the disk jockey Kim Schumacher.The sound designer, Peter Albrechtsen, helped to create most of the sound for the series from scratch. For the technology that came from the future of 2044 he used many bird calls, warping them to sound like computerized sounds, and many sounds from NASA's archive on SoundCloud was also used. Almost all foaly was created by Finnish Heikki Kossi.
The series is primarily filmed in Dragør over the course of seven months. The theme song of the Christmas calendar is sung by Caroline Castell.
In 2024 the theme song was remade for the second season, once again sung by Caroline Castell and this time also featuring and co-written by Jonah Blacksmith, a danish folk-rock band from Northjutland.
Reception
Politiken gave Tidsrejsen 5 out of six hearts, writing that the series is suspenseful and have a good plot. Politiken believes that it is alright for a children and young adult's TV series to seriously deal with present time culture in regards to divorce and how children view them in divorced families. On average, 1.02 million people watched Tidsrejsen, and had a viewership of about 47%, which made it the most successful Nordic Christmas calendar in Danish television in 11 years.Tidsrejsen was criticised for its portrayal of the school teacher Ragnar, the only apparently Christian character, as a nasty and condescending type of person, and a fanatic, who wants to prevent scientific progression. Some people did not believe Christianity was taken seriously by the Danish Broadcasting Corporation. This view was shared by both Pernille Vigsø Bagge from the Socialist People's Party and Charlotte Dyremose, church spokesperson of the Conservative Party. However, DR producer Piv Bernth commented that the character was obviously a caricature in a series that is already fantastical, and that he develops from a fraud into a kind man throughout the series.