The first six film adaptations of the Wallander books by Sweden’s’ Henning Manuel come to DVD on 11 June. Made before Britain embraced Scandinavian dramas The Killing [1], Borgen [2] and, most recently, The Bridge [3] they are essential parts of the Nordic Noir jig-saw.

The bear-like Rolf Lassgård (who, later this year, comes to British TV as Sebastian Bergman), plays Kurt Wallander in this series made between 1994 and 2007. They paved the way for the Swedish television adaptation where Krister Henriksson played Wallander, and the BBC production where Kenneth Branagh portrayed the detective.

In these six films, seen across the three discs of the box set, Lassgård tackles four cases. The episodes are Pyramid, Firewall (Parts 1 & 2), One Step Behind and The Man Who Smiled (Parts 1 & 2).