Top Spanish free-to-air channel Antena 3, part of commercial broadcaster Atresmedia, behind “Money Heist,” “Veneno,” “Locked Up,” “Velvet,” “Alba” and “Ángela,” has unveiled first-look images of “Ágata and Lola,” its big new prime-time series.
The series is produced by Atresmedia and the Banijay Entertainment-backed Portocabo, a drama series powerhouse in northwest Spain’s Galicia which has produced Movistar Plus+ hits “Hierro” and “Rapa,” Atresmedia’s “Honor” and “Weiss & Morales,” co-produced by Spanish and German public broadcasters RTVE and ZDF.
Starring Eva Martín (“The Vow, “The Pier”) and Mireia Oriol(“Alma,” “Nevenka”), “Ágata and Lola” also rolls off heavyweight IP marking a Spanish adaptation of France Televisions-RTBF series “Astrid et Raphaelle,” which ran to four seasons.
The French show also inspired U.K. makeover “Patience.” Season 2 of which became the most-watched show airing on the U.K.’s Channel 4 and was sold by Beta Film to over 100 territories, including PBS Masterpiece for the U.S.
Penned by Portocabo go-to writer Carlota Dans (“Weiss & Morales,” “Honor” and Dry Water) along with development executive Nina Hernández and Portocabo founder Alfonso Blanco, “Agata and Lola” begins with a middle-aged well-dressed man walking into bank and withdrawing €9,000 ($10,500) which he immediately dumps into a rubbish bin, pours petrol over himself and lights a match.
Chief Inspector Lola Castro asks Agata, a young autistic police archivist working in criminal records to bring documents of a similar death. Ágata, however, brings a second box with details of a third case, having remembered another absurd suicide. Ágata also suggests a part explanation to the suicides – sparking a growing friendship between the chaotic Lola and Ágata, a carefully ordered but brilliant criminologist Ágata.
“Agata and Lola” also serves as a beginner’s guide to people on the spectrum: their horror at being touched, for instance, and confusion by multiple-source sound – Ágata bikes to work and toils in the archives wearing headphones.
What’s new to this comfy crime procedural is “how autism is portrayed. We wanted to create in Ágata a character that had received a diagnosis later in life, something that is very linked to the female condition (often times overlooked), that we thought would be relevant to explore,” Hernández told Variety.
“The Spanish version has leaned into the feel-good tone, that stems from the relationship between Ágata and Lola, a sense of uplift that is the central pilar of the series. Also, it’s set in Vigo with plenty of exteriors that highlight the city, surrounding sea and nature as another character of the series,” she added.
This is seen in the first-look stills. One catches Lola and Ágata outside on a promontory, the Vigo bay and green hills behind, nature, as in “Rapa,” adding relief from darker crime elements. A second still has Lola and Ágata walking by another part of the bay.
“When creating the series, we set out to establish a distinct identity. We focused on several key elements: the visual dimension, elevating natural locations through striking cinematography, and a cohesive aesthetic that bridges the art and styling departments. In terms of character, we aimed to move away from clichés—particularly in the portrayal of Ágata’s condition,” co-director María Togores told Variety.
“We adopted a naturalistic approach, avoiding dramatic excess and prioritizing character emotion over plot,” added co-director Oriol Ferrer.
“Conflicts emerge organically from relationships rather than the specifics of the police case,” Ferrer noted. “The aim is to create an empathetic, intimate, and accessible series – one in which viewers can recognize themselves in the characters’ everyday lives.”
Source:
variety.com
