A second season of Netflix’s first Benelux original, “Undercover,” is in production, and the story will move from focusing on the illicit drugs trade to the illegal arms business.
Non-English-language drama is finding a global audience on streaming platforms, and “Undercover” has ranked as one of Netflix’s most popular series in that category in the U.K. and fared well in Latin America and elsewhere.
The first run followed the a pair of cops from the Dutch and Belgian police forces going undercover to bust a drug ring manufacturing Ecstasy. Belgian pubcaster VRT aired it locally and Netflix launched it in the U.S. and rest of the world, with the exceptions of France and Germany.
The second season, like the first, will comprise 10 installments. It is set a year after the events of the first run and will again follow Kim De Rooij, played by Anna Drijver, and Bob Lemmens, played by Tom Waes.
Kim is now working for a human rights organization and Bob is still a cop. After they trace an illegal arms operation that started out in Syria back to Belgium, Bob goes undercover to find out more. Meanwhile, the drug kingpin from the first season, Ferry Bouman (Frank Lammers), is in jail and trying to find out the identity of the undercover agents who busted him.
Jan Theys (“Salamander”) produces and Nicol Moolenaar returns as the showrunner. The show is made by Newen-backed Belgian producer De Mensen and France’s Federation as a co-production with Netflix, VRT and cabler Proximus.
Beta Films-backed producer Good Friends was a partner on Season 1, but the show’s German broadcaster, ZDF, opted out of Season 2 before the first had aired on its Neo channel. Netherlands-based DFW, which has moved into sales, struck the Netflix deal. In France the show was picked up by Canal Plus and, separately, there is talk of a French version.
The season 2 shoot wraps in September and the new season is expected to bow next spring.
By Stewart Clarke