Danish DR TV-series Forbrydelsen (The Killing) author and producer, Søren Sveistrup and Piv Bernth, have been kidnapped by a terrorist organization referring to themselves as BFSR (British Front of Subtitle Readers) saying they won't release Sveistrup and Bernth until Forbrydelsen IV is filmed and aired. BFSR furthermore demands Forbrydelsen IV should consist of 20 episodes, with the original Guðrun and Guðrun jumper, - and with a lot of moving torches seeking in dark places.
DCI Tennison leads the police investigation from Scotland Yard. With Minister Jim Hacker giving priority to the case, Tennison is assisted by DC Anna Travis, Wycliffe, Taggart, Reid, Morse, Bergerac and the Lochdubh-based police officer Macbeth as well as Dempsey and Makepeace. Quite unconventionally the British police has requested the assistance of a civilian named Holmes. Also a middle-aged Belgian and an elderly British woman seem to be intimately involved in the investigation. After initial Fawlty search in Gallowshield, the police now believes the kidnapped persons are being held in a scarlet studio in Dartmoor. A butterfly collector, referred to as "The Street", was apprehended, but now released. BFSR states that unless DR begins filming Forbrydelsen IV, BFSR will start showing episodes of the failed DR crime series Rejseholdet (1983) to the two kidnapped victims. While Bernth is believed to be capable of withstanding this ordeal, it is generally thought that Sveistrup will not survive this IMDb 4.8 rated tv-series. Sofie Gråbøl states she won't yield to the demands of BFSR, but Kenneth Brannagh has acknowledged his ability to step in at short notice and take over the part of Sarah Lund, with Emma Thompson taking the part of not-actually-dead (it was only a blank shot) Detective Inspector Jan Meyer.