BBC Four has announced the acquisition of two new shows for the channel’s Saturday night foreign drama slot.

Swedish crime series Arne Dahl (a pseudonym of the award winning author Jan Arnald) is based on five of Dahl’s novels, beginning with ‘The Blinded Man’. The series revolves around a tight-knit team of elite specialists who investigate the dark side of society.

Four-part Italian series Inspector De Luca is set in and around Bologna during the tumultuous years of Mussolini’s dictatorship. Inspector Da Luca is an investigator whose brutal honesty and uncompromising character may help him solve cases, but combined with his love of women, they also conspire to get him in trouble…

Richard Klein, Controller of BBC Four, commented: “These acquisitions are part of BBC Four’s ongoing mission to give viewers an excuse to stay in on a Saturday night by offering an entertaining alternative to Saturday television viewing. Arne Dahl continues in the tradition of The Killing and Wallander in portraying a social hinterland through the prism of the day-to-day of police investigation; and Inspector De Luca is a clever and hugely entertaining drama that portrays wartime Italy in a way that is both very familiar to our own war time experiences and intriguingly foreign.”

Sue Deeks, Head of Programme Acquisition added: “We are really thrilled with the increasing audience to, and appreciation of, BBC Four’s international drama offering – but we have no intention of resting on our laurels. This year BBC Four viewers can look forward to the return of existing favourites and brand new series which we hope will provide more compelling reasons to travel the world on a Saturday night!”

Are you looking forward to Arne Dahl and Inspector De Luca? Let us know below…