DR Sales, the international sales arm of Danish pubcaster DR, has joined the TV drama The Best of Families, created by Maja Jules Larsen (Cry Wolf) and produced by Piv Burns (The Killing).
The six-part limited series is based on true events about the ChemiNova chemical factory in Denmark in the early 1950s and reveals the human and emotional costs of ChemiNova’s success story. The show, which debuted in the 2025 Berlinale Copro series, is currently in production led by Burns’ Appletree Productions, but is scheduled to close at the end of this year, as previously announced.
“The Best of Families,” inspired by novelist Kim Bresbyak’s award-winning novel of the same name, spans a decade. The brief describes the rise of the Cheminova chemical plant, which “promised jobs and development, but silently polluted the land and the people who depended on it.”
The story centers around three women: Margrethe, Karin, and Gudrun, and two brothers, Niels and Erik. The story unfolds “as prosperity gives way to silence, moral compromise, and ultimately a reckoning that can no longer be ignored.”
The series features a notable ensemble cast, including Mikkel Bo Forsgaard (The Chestnut Man); Lars Lante (“Adam’s Apple”). , Anne Stensgaard-Jules (The New Nurse), as well as new talent such as Mathilde Eusebius, Tu Lunding and Morten Agerholm.
The Best of Families, commissioned by DR and supported by the West Denmark Film Fund and the Nordisk Film and Television Fund, will premiere at DR in February 2027, followed by festival premieres.
The series is part of the N12 collaboration, bringing together Nordic broadcasters NRK, SVT, Yle and RÚV.
The plan is for “Best of Families” to premiere at the DR in February 2027 and at festivals in spring 2027.
Piv Berns and Maya Jules Larsen are pictured above (left to right)
