'Van Der Valk' Reboot Will Kick Off PBS' Fall 2020 Drama Slate
Since the arrival of Poldark in the mid-2010s, Masterpiece's fall slate has been home to remakes of 1970s classic hits. This year marks the first one without Aidan Turner, but PBS keeps up the tradition, bringing back a new reboot of an old favorite in Van Der Valk.
The original detective series was based on the novels of Nicolas Freeling, focusing on the titular detective and his Amsterdam set exploits, and aired on ITV starting in 1972. There were five series altogether, three in the 1970s and two more in the early 1990s. Star Barry Foster, who played Commissaris Simon "Piet" Van der Valk, was the only continuity between all five. The series was most famous for the opening theme song, entitled Eye Level, which went to Number One on the UK charts in 1973. There's a version with lyrics, called "And You Smiled," which also reached the Top 100.
Notably, the original series never aired as part of the Masterpiece brand, or under the Mystery! banner either. It was too contemporary for Masterpiece Theater in the 1970s, and never found its way to the Mystery! one in the 1990s. To this day, most of the original episodes are geo-locked, one cannot even rent it on Amazon Prime in the US, as it's "not available in your location." Most Americans who have seen the originals mostly did so via VHS or DVD.
Luckily for fans, the new version will be a Masterpiece headliner, beginning in September. The three-part first season debuts on Sunday, Sept. 13, 2020.
