The first series of the criminal series Shadows in the Fog, describing crimes from Ostrava and other places in the Moravian-Silesian region, was a great success. The second series was supposed to appear on TV screens at the beginning of the year, but Czech Television canceled the broadcast at the last minute, or rather postponed it. Why and when will ČT start the pilot of the second series?
Shadows in the Fog II was also filmed in Heřmanice Prison.
| Video: Diary/Jaroslav Perdoch
The reason for the postponement was the fact that in one of the new episodes there will be a shooting at an elementary school. With regard to the December tragic events at the Faculty of Arts of Charles University in Prague, Czech Television considered the broadcast of the second series inappropriate. First, she repeated the first series, which will be followed by Shadows in the Fog II next Monday.
Return to Ostrava
Actors Petra Špalková and Jiří Vyorálek returned to the Moravian-Silesian capital last year after two years and filmed twelve new episodes in Ostrava with director Radim Špaček. An average of 1.6 million people watched the first season in 2022, and almost eight hundred thousand fans did not miss its repeat this year. The writer Zdeněk Zapletal is the author of the theme and scripts of the premiere episodes.
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“I would like to thank all the viewers who were looking forward to the originally announced January premiere of the second season of Shadows in the Mist and were understanding about the postponement of its start. At the end of last year, our whole country was shaken by the brutal murder of a father and his newborn daughter in Klánovické les and the equally incomprehensible massacre at the Faculty of Arts of Charles University. Czech Television therefore postponed the continuation of this series by four months. The level of empathy that the majority of the public showed when this decision was announced was extraordinary,” says ČT program director Milan Fridrich.
Nominations
Last year, creative producer Kateřina Ondřejková and director Radim Špaček received a nomination for the annual award of the Czech Film and Television Academy in the Best Series category for the opening series. “I’m sure the second series of Shadows in the Mist is even better than the first. The structure of the scenarios is extremely sophisticated and contains several surprises for the audience. For example, the antagonist will not be known right from the start. And the pair of investigators, i.e. Magda Malá and Martin Černý, will be even more well-matched and fun,” hinted director Radim Špaček.
The criminal cases themselves will offer insight into different environments and social strata. “Rather than from the underworld, we have prepared for the audience stories of ordinary people who have had something go wrong in their lives or simply found themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time,” added producer Kateřina Ondřejková.
130 days
Filming of the next twelve episodes of Shadows in the Mist took the filmmakers one hundred and thirty days. Screenwriter Zdeněk Zapletal prepared 784 pages of texts for the cast and crew: “Together, I wrote twenty-four crime stories for this series, so it was more interesting for me in the second series to elaborate more on the life destinies of the main characters or secondary storylines, which this time get more space,” he said Zdeněk Zapeltal.
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The screenwriter’s words were also confirmed by both representatives of key criminalists. “My Magda Malá is a little more open this time. She is experiencing a certain timelessness in a woman’s life, she is dealing with a crisis in her marriage. One of its important topics, and actually an increasingly topical one in society, is the choice between work and family. The pressure she faces from her loved ones puts her in situations where she has to choose what her priority is,” said Petra Špalková. Her colleague Jiří Vyorálek added: “Playing action scenes in a crime drama, you get used to it. It is all the more interesting to have a secondary line between them. One of the fundamental things that shapes my character Martin Černý in the sequel to Shadows in the Mist is his relationship with his son.”
Other actors
Jana Plodková, David Švehlík and Barbora Bočková will join the rest of the cast from the opening series, such as Jaroslav Plesl, Petr Panzenberger, Tomáš Mrvík and Anděla Tichou. In addition to a thousand extras, three dozen real police officers and twenty stuntmen will also appear in front of the camera.
