The future of the popular period drama has been the subject of debate since Sky Deutschland pulled out of the original commission, leaving a funding gap for the series that Sky shares with German broadcaster ARD Degeto.
The series was still expected to continue, with producers saying they expected there to be a final season and lead actress Liv Lisa Fries recently talking about plans to shoot the series later in 2024.
Today the news became official: X-Filme Creative Pool is producing season five in co-production with Beta Film and local broadcasters ARD Degeto, SWR, WDR and Radio Bremen.
The new season is set in the darkest period of German history, in February 1933, when the Nazi Party came to power. The director/writer trio Henk Handlogten, Achim von Borries and Tom Tykwer return for the finale, with Volker Bruch and Fries reprising their roles as Gereon Rath and Charlotte Ritter.
Filming for the eight new episodes, which are based on Volker Kutscher's fifth novel The March Fallen, will begin in the fall, subject to the approval of the ARD committees.
Co-producers are Christoph Pellander and Carolin Haasis from ARD Degeto, Manfred Hattendorf and Monika Denisch from SWR and Alexander Bickel and Caren Toennissen-Brand from WDR.
Executive producers for X-Filme are Stefan Arndt, Uwe Schott and Michael Polle and co-producers for Beta Film are Jan Mojto, Dirk Schürhoff and Moritz Herzogenberg.
The series is a local and international hit, sold in 140 territories and Netflix offers the series in the US. MHz Choice recently acquired the rights to the episodes and launched season four last week.
X Filme Creative Pool bosses Stefan Arndt, Uwe Schott and Michael Polle said: “We would like to thank our partners at ARD and Beta Film for having the courage and trust to bring Babylon Berlin to a real conclusion together with us. Over the many years of this production, the historical past and present have repeatedly intertwined in sometimes frightening ways. We are incredibly grateful that we can now end this cycle with 1933 and show what the end of a democracy looked like. We very much hope that the present won’t repeat the new season.”
Thomas Schreiber, CEO of ARD Degeto Film, said the show “has set standards and proven Germany can produce internationally successful series.”
Jan Mojto, CEO at Beta Film, added: “The New York Times recently published the headline, ‘Babylon Berlin, Babylon America,’ coupled with a call for readers to watch the series to understand the country’s developments and the parallels to the Weimar Republic. Babylon Berlin is not only impressively topical, but it also resonates with audiences everywhere in the world – on both sides of the Atlantic and in over 140 territories.
“In the final season of Babylon Berlin, we put February 1933 under the magnifying glass: Rarely has a society been torn apart more radically in such a short period of time than Germany in this chaotic month,” said Handloegten, von Borries and Tykwer in a statement. “Not only Gereon Rath and Charlotte Ritter, but all our protagonists also must realize that they only have a few options left: Subordinate themselves, risk their lives in open opposition, retreat into inner emigration or flee into exile. However, this decisive month also opens the possibility of changing the course of history at the last second.”
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