Walter Presents never leaves us without a new binge watch for long and one series that is sure to garner a lot of attention if ‘Helsinki Crimes’.
The 8-episode series stars Olli Rahkonen and Olga Temonen as crime-fighting duo Timo Harjunpää and Onerva Nykanen who are part of the Helsinki Murder Squad.
I caught up with Olli to talk about his character Timo, to discuss the appeal of crime dramas and to find out if more ‘Helsinki Crimes’ are in the offing…
I’ve seen the opening episode of Helsinki Crimes (Harjunpää) and I’m struck by how immediately likeable both of your characters are. It’s rare to find cop shows where the main characters aren’t bullies or alcoholics, but are instead empathetic and compassionate characters. Did this aspect of the script appeal to you?
Nice to hear! I loved the fact that my character, Timo, has a good connection with his wife and two daughters. It was rare for me too that a detective actually loves spending time with his family instead of drinking and hating himself. It felt really fresh! Non-violent person full of empathy.
The shows are based on novels by Matti Yrjänä Joensuu. Do you think having characters from on pre-existing books makes them more rounded and fully-formed?
I didn’t pay too much attention to the books or older tv-series/films. I wanted to have a fresh start and bring this character to a new century. Of course, the quiet and humble detective followed me from the old books during the shootings.
There are so many detective dramas on our screens these days. What do you think is the appeal, and what makes Helsinki Crimes stand out, do you think?
For some reason people love crimes and criminals. I think we stand out through the characters. No action heroes or judging. Everyone is at least trying to understand each other and make the world a little bit better place.
As I understand, there’s only been one season so far – will there be future seasons, given how many books Matti has written?
We start to shoot the second season in a few weeks so that is really exciting. There are still books left for upcoming seasons so let’s hope people want more of this!
And what next for you – any future projects you want to share with us?
Season 2 of ‘Helsinki Crimes’ is the next work for me. I work as a freelancer so it feels too early to talk about other projects before I’m 100 percent sure that they are happening. Things can change so quickly 🙂
Walter Presents: ‘Helsinki Crimes’ will be available as a full boxset on All 4 from 17th February 2023.
