PBS, Walter Presents Team Up to Air Swedish Series ‘Modus’ on PBS Stations (EXCLUSIVE)

By Robert Mitchell

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Distribution and streaming service Walter Presents have teamed up to bring Swedish crime thriller “Modus” to PBS stations across the U.S.

PBS Distribution, the home video arm of PBS, will roll out “” regionally, starting with Los Angeles station KLCS on Saturday at 11 p.m. PT. The show will continue to air in the same slot throughout its eight-week run. “Modus” is already available on the members-only streaming service PBS Passport and on the PBS Masterpiece Prime Video Channel via Amazon.

“This is a really exciting phase for USA, and we’re delighted to be bringing the very best in world drama to a much broader linear audience,” said Walter Iuzzolino, curator of Walter Presents, a joint venture between British broadcaster Channel 4 and Global Series Network. The service specializes in foreign-language drama series.

“American audiences have already embraced the best of British drama and now have the chance to discover a whole new world of extraordinary storytelling,“ Iuzzolino said.

Iuzzolino, a former commissioner and programming executive, said the Swedish title was the “perfect thriller to enthrall mainstream audiences and keep them glued to their seats.” He said “Modus” would be “the first of many premium titles to come to PBS local stations later this year.”

Walter Presents struck a deal with PBS Masterpiece in September last year that brought more than 300 hours of international scripted TV to PBS Masterpiece’s Amazon channel. Other non-English-language dramas included in the deal included Danish drama “Norskov” and Belgium’s crime drama “Professor T.” It has not been disclosed whether these shows will be among the additional titles planned for the regional linear station roll-out.

“Modus” follows a psychologist and profiler (Melinda Kinnaman) who finds herself and her autistic daughter drawn into the investigation of a series of disturbing murders during the Christmas season in Sweden. Henrik Norlen co-stars.

Video-on-demand service Walter Presents debuted in Britain in January 2016 and launched in the U.S. in March 2017. It has since launched in Australia and Italy .