Wallander: The White Lioness (BBC-1 22 May 2016)

The White Lioness heralds the return of Wallander for one final season and sees the Swedish detective taken out of Sweden and into Africa where even though he is a speaker at a conference he finds that he can’t help getting mixed up in murder.

While attending a policing conference, Wallander is drawn into the case of a missing Swedish national in Cape Town. He finds himself on a physical and emotional journey that will lead him from the aching beauty and open spaces of rural Africa to the intense poverty and deprivation of its urban townships, and finally bring him face to face with an individual who has not only lost hope in their country but betrayed everything they once believed in.

Alongside, and in contrast to this, the relationships that Wallander forms on his journey – with Grace Mthembu, a cop and a single mother, and Mabasha, a young man driven to a life of crime – will help him come to terms with his own doubts about modern Sweden and serve to rekindle his belief in the value of his 40 years as a policeman.

Wallander creator Henning Mankell had something of an obsession with Africa and would live there for many months of each year. He was heavily involved in charitable works and ran a theatre in Mozambique.

production details
UK / BBC One – Yellowbird – Left Bank / 1×90 minute episode / Broadcast Sunday 22 May 2016 @ 9.00pm

Writer: James Dormer / Novel: Henning Mankell / Producer: Sanne Wohlenberg / Director: Benjamin Caron

Series: Wallander Season 4 Episode 1

cast
Kenneth Branagh as Kurt Wallander
Bonnie Mbuli as Grace Mthembu
Alex Ferns as Axel Hedeman
John Kani as Max Khulu
Tessa Jubber as Inga Hedeman
Lemogang Tsipa as Mabasha
Jeany Spark as Linda Wallander
Clint Wilkenson as Conference Delegate
Deon Lotz as Colonel Julian van Heerden
Tumisho Masha as Bernie Mewiya
Clayton Evertson as Detective
Gavin Werner as Detective
Patrick Madise as Concierge
Chris April as Local Man
Julian Koberman as Meyer
Nkcubeko Tutu as Township Boy
Thokozile Ntshinga as Miranda Khulu
Quanita Adams as Female Guest
Ernie St Claire as Male Guest
Latita Ndzwayiba as Nomalanga Mthembu
Mary Twala as Elderly Woman
Siya Mayola as Second Assasin