Zen | |
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Genre | Police drama |
Based on | Aurelio Zen novels by Michael Dibdin |
Written by | Simon Burke Peter Berry |
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 | Adrian Johnston |
Country of origin | United Kingdom Italy Germany |
Original language | English |
No. of series | 1 |
No. of episodes | 3 |
Production | |
Executive producers | Andy Harries, Francis Hopkinson, Raffaella Bonivento, Rebecca Eaton, Anne Mensah |
Producer | Michael Casey |
Production location | Rome |
Cinematography | Tony Miller |
Running time | 90 minutes |
Production companies | Left Bank Pictures, Mediaset, Masterpiece, ZDF |
Original release | |
Network | BBC One |
Release | 2 January 16 January 2011 | –
Infobox instructions (only shown in preview) |
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 (1990), Cabal (1992) and Ratking (1988).[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]