Filming begins on TV series based on Brussels and Paris terrorism investigation
Filming has started on a fictional TV series based on the work of the special police unit investigating the terrorist attacks that took place in Paris and Brussels in 2015 and 2016.
The psychological thriller, made by VRT and RTBF, takes the viewer through the 440 days between the attack on Charlie Hebdo magazine and the attacks on Brussels Airport and Maelbeek metro station. Each episode focuses on a specific and true-life intervention.
It centres on the manhunt for Salah Abdeslam, which pushes the team to their limit. Viewers see not only the operations but also the impact on the agents’ lives. Abdeslam is serving a life sentence in a French prison for his roles in the series of attacks across Paris in November 2015 and the bombings in Brussels four months later.
The series is based on the 2021 book Terrorist Hunter: At the Heart of Special Forces by Lionel D and Annemie Bulté. D was a member of the Special Intervention Units and is involved in the writing to ensure the accuracy of the show.
The leading roles are played by Veerle Dejaeger and Matteo Simoni. The screenplay is by Mathieu Mortelmans, Domenica La Porta and Chloe Devicq. The artistic producers are Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, who describe the series as a tribute to the forces and their bravery.
Filming will take place in Brussels, Flanders and Wallonia and will run until the end of April. There is currently no date set for the show’s release.
The Flemish and francophone public broadcasters VRT and RTBF previously worked together on 1985, a drama about the Brabant Killers.
People gather at a makeshift memorial at Place de la Bourse in Brussels, 23 March 2016, the day after two suicide bombings killed 32 people © PHOTO KENZO TRIBOUILLARD / AFP
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