Zen (TV series)

Zen
Genre	Police drama
Written by	Simon Burke Peter Berry Michael Dibdin (novels)
Directed by	John Alexander (Vendetta) Christopher Menaul (Cabal) Jon Jones (Ratking)
Starring	Rufus Sewell Caterina Murino Ben Miles Catherine Spaak Stanley Townsend Ed Stoppard Francesco Quinn Anthony Higgins
Opening theme	Adrian Johnston
Composer(s)	Adrian Johnston
Country of origin	United Kingdom, Italy, Germany
Original language(s)	English
No. of series	1
No. of episodes	3
Production
Executive producer(s)	Andy Harries, Francis Hopkinson, Raffaella Bonivento, Rebecca Eaton, Anne Mensah
Producer(s)	Michael Casey
Location(s)	Rome
Cinematography	Tony Miller
Running time	90 minutes
Production company(s)	Left Bank Pictures, Mediaset, Masterpiece, ZDF
Distributor	BBC Worldwide
Release
Original network	BBC One
Picture format	Film 16:9 Colour
Audio format	Stereo
Original release	2 January (2011-01-02) – 16 January 2011
External links
BBC website
Production website

Zen is a British television series produced by Left Bank Pictures for the BBC, co-produced with WGBH Boston for its Masterpiece anthology series, Mediaset and ZDF.^[1] It stars Rufus Sewell and Caterina Murino and is based on the Aurelio Zen detective novels by Michael Dibdin.^[2] The series was filmed on location in Italy, but the dialogue is in English. The series, which comprises three 90-minute films, was broadcast in the United Kingdom on Sunday evenings from 2 January 2011 on BBC One.^[3] The three films were based on the books Vendetta, Cabal and Ratking.^[4] The series was cancelled by BBC One in February 2011; BBC One controller Danny Cohen later said there were already enough male crime-fighters on TV.^[5] Left Bank, the show's producer, tried to find other broadcasters to fund another series but were unsuccessful.^[6]

Regular Cast

• Rufus Sewell as Aurelio Zen
  An honest, slightly mild mannered Detective. Struggling to maintain his integrity amongst the difficult political climate. He is hopelessly in love with Tania Moretti, going so far as to start an affair with her.

• Caterina Murino as Tania Moretti
  Zen's girlfriend and police co-worker. She is beautiful, smart and compassionate. She loves Zen and throughout the series is desperately trying to divorce her husband.

• Ben Miles as Amedeo Colonna
  A powerful, amoral man who frequently hires Zen to investigate crimes bearing certain political ramifications, much to Zen's disdain.

• Stanley Townsend as Moscati
  Zen's boss. He is a gruff, no nonsense man who does not suffer fools gladly. Nonetheless he has shown to have developed much respect and fondness for both Zen and Tania.

• Francesco Quinn as Gilberto Nieddu
  A Policeman turned Private Detective, formerly Zen's partner. The two men retain a strong friendship, Zen constantly turning to Gilberto for favours, usually relating to the investigation on hand.

• Catherine Spaak as Donata
  Zen's mother who shares an apartment with her son. She is Wise and caring, although she makes no secret of her frequent concern for her son's safety.

• Vincent Riotta as Giorgio de Angelis
  A policeman who assists Zen in his investigations.

• Ed Stoppard as Vincenzo Fabri
  A self important policeman, he finds it hard to get promotion, in spite of his family connections.

• Anthony Higgins as Eduardo Guerchini, a powerful political figure and Colonna's superior.

Complete Main Cast

Episodes

Series 1 (2011)

Series 1 was first shown in the USA on the PBS network: Vendetta, Cabal, and Ratking on 17, 24 and 31 July 2011, respectively.

References

1. ↑ Conlan, Tara (2 March 2011). "Zen could survive after being sold abroad". The Guardian. Retrieved 2 March 2011. 
2. ↑ "Rufus Sewell confirmed to play Aurelio Zen for BBC One". BBC press releases. BBC. Retrieved 2 January 2011. 
3. ↑ Vine, Richard (1 January 2011). "Zen and the art of Sunday night television scheduling". The Guardian. Retrieved 2 January 2011. 
4. ↑ "Zen". Left Bank Pictures. Archived from the original on 18 October 2010. Retrieved 2 January 2010. 
5. ↑ "BBC One controller to cull male crime-fighters". BBC. 28 April 2011. Retrieved 28 April 2011. 
6. ↑ Conlan, Tara (22 February 2011). "BBC1 axes Rufus Sewell detective drama Zen". The Guardian. Retrieved 23 February 2011. 
7. ↑ "Weekly Viewing Summary (see relevant week)". BARB. Archived from the original on 8 November 2008. 

External links

• Zen at BBC Online
• Zen from the Masterpiece website
• Zen at the Internet Movie Database