Annika (1984 TV series)

This article is about the 1984 mini-series. For the British crime drama, see Annika (2021 TV series).

Annika is a three-part mini-series written and produced by Colin Nutley and Sven-Gösta Holst and televised in 1984. It tells the story of a romance between Pete, an eighteen year old Isle of Wight deck chair attendant (played by Jesse Birdsall) and a Swedish foreign language student, the titular Annika (played by Christina Rignér).

Annika
Genre	Romantic drama
Written by	Colin Nutley Sven-Gösta Holst
Directed by	Colin Nutley
Starring	Christina Rignér Jesse Birdsall Vas Blackwood Don Henderson
Country of origin	United Kingdom Sweden
Original languages	English Swedish
No. of series	1
No. of episodes	3
Production
Executive producers	Lewis Rudd Ingrid Edstom
Producer	Colin Nutley
Cinematography	Jens Fischer
Running time	3 x 60 minute episodes
Production company	Central Independent Television
Original release
Network	ITV
Release	10 August (1984-08-10) – 24 August 1984 (1984-08-24)

Cast

• Christina Rignér as Annika Sellberg
• Jesse Birdsall as Pete Daniels
• Ann-Charlotte Stålhammar as Pia
• Birger Österberg as Per
• Anders Bongenhielm as Torbjörn
• Vas Blackwood as Alan
• Lia Williams as Karen
• Mark Drewry as Bill Bartender
• Christer Boustedt as Mr. Sellberg
• Don Henderson as Mr. Daniels
• Lena Strömdahl as Mrs. Sellberg

Episodes

No.	Episode	Directed by	Written by	Original release date
1	The Beginning	Colin Nutley	Colin Nutley	10 August 1984 (1984-08-10)
Pete is working another summer as a deck chair attendant in Ryde on the Isle of Wight. His life changes when he meets Annika, a Swedish foreign language student visiting the Island for the summer.
2	The Middle	Colin Nutley	Colin Nutley	17 August 1984 (1984-08-17)
Annika returns home to Stockholm. Pete misses her and decides to follow her to Sweden. He stays with her family but finds some aspects of Swedish culture difficult to adapt to.
3	The End	Colin Nutley	Colin Nutley	24 August 1984 (1984-08-24)
Pete and Annika's relationship is under strain following tragic events. Without anywhere to live Pete eventually decides to return to the United Kingdom.

Production

Background

Swedish foreign language students from companies such as EF have been regular visitors to the Isle of Wight since the 1970s and romances such as the one depicted in this series were not uncommon.^[1]

Filming locations

The series was filmed in and around Ryde, parts of London and in Sweden, Stockholm and the surrounding area. Ryde locations included the head of Ryde Pier (at the start of episode 1) and the Prince Consort bar.

Music

Episode 1 featured scenes in the Prince Consort bar with live music being played by the, then popular, Isle of Wight band The Waltons.^[2]

Home media

A region 2 DVD entitled Annika The Complete Series was released by Network in 2011.^[3]

DVD cover for 2011 Network DVD release