Marcella star Anna Friel is soon set to be back on our screens with another crime drama, and this time she’s embracing the world of Nordic noir.

Icelandic author Ragnar Jónasson’s hit psychological thriller The Girl Who Died, published in 2021, is being adapted into a TV series with Friel at the helm.

The series is set to be the first project of many from Jónasson’s newly launched film and TV production venture, Dimma Pictures.

The Girl Who Died follows the story Una, a burned-out teacher from Reykjavík, who takes a job teaching two girls in the remote Icelandic costal village of Skálar - though only one student appears.

Feeling isolated and unwelcome in the tiny fishing village, Una is haunted at night by eerie dreams and strange singing.

As tensions begin to brew and tragedy strikes, Una suspects Skálar bears dark secrets no one is willing to reveal.

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anna friel, marcella
Patrick Redmond//ITV

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Sharing his excitement for the launch of Dimma Pictures, Jónasson revealed he can’t wait to bring The Girl Who Died to life on-screen.

"I love telling stories, in books and on screen, so I am very excited about setting up Dimma Pictures with Greg Silverman and John-Paul Sarni to make this a reality,” the acclaimed author told Deadline.

"I can’t wait to get started on our first series, The Girl Who Died, with the incredible Anna Friel, with more exciting projects hopefully to follow, from my own books as well as from books by some of my favourite authors."

marcella, anna friel
ITV

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The Girl Who Died isn’t the only project in the works at Dimma Pictures.

Also on the slate is an adaptation of Jónasson's Icelandic mystery Reykjavík: A Crime Story, which he co-wrote with Katrin Jakobsdóttir.

Snowblind, a TV adaptation of Jónasson’s Dark Iceland book series, is currently in development at Dimma Pictures as well.

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