Our TV PROGRAMMES
DOCUMENTAIRE
Gipsgeheimen
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In de 4-delige documentaireserie ‘GIPSGEHEIMEN’ gaat Dook van Dijck, acteur en presentator in gesprek met mensen die een gipsfetisj hebben.
Voor hem een onbekend terrein tot hij enige tijd geleden zijn voet breekt en in het gips moet. De in zijn ogen onschuldige foto’s op social media van zijn gipsvoet blijken hem een lustobject voor de gipsfetisj-community te maken.
En dat maakt hem nieuwsgierig! Dook gaat op onderzoek uit.
Gipsgeheimen is naar een idee van Dook van Dijck.
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Afleveringen: 4
Releasedatum: 25 februari 2024
TV Show
Manifest Stenenkoorts
(‘The Property Fever Manifesto’)
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In this four-part documentary series, three young Zwolle-based journalists team up with host Patrick Lodiers to investigate the out-of-control Dutch housing market. ‘Team Zwolle’, as the band of journalists call themselves, challenge Patrick and other members of his generation to take a long, hard look at themselves. Just how ‘caring’ is Dutch society really when put to the test? By doing research, asking thought-provoking questions, adopting a human-interest approach and listening to people’s first-hand accounts, they attempt to find solutions and urge the public to take action.
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Episode count: 4
On-air period: 2022
Photo: Annemieke van der Togt.
DOCUMENTARY SERIES
Kunst achter prikkeldraad
(‘Art Behind Barbed Wire’)
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The Nazi concentration camps were sites of violence, hunger, misery and death. But even amid all that despair, there were prisoners who painted, made music, acted on the stage and wrote poetry. Their works of art are a legacy of hope, resistance and comfort.
In this three-part series, author and journalist Frank Westerman (whose books include De Graanrepubliek) and director Manfred van Eijk travel from West to East, visiting former concentration camps in the Netherlands, Germany, Austria and the Czech Republic and ending at the site of the former Auschwitz-Birkenau camp in Poland.
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Episode count: 3
On-air period: 2022
DOCUMENTARY SERIES
NAAKT!
(‘NAKED!’)
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In this series, Linda de Munck and Arda Kaya explore the sexuality (and sexual shame) of young people in the Netherlands more than 50 years after the sexual revolution. Are young people becoming more puritanical? What is the impact of social media and other cultures on our sexuality and how we choose to display it? Or could it be that our sexual freedom has moved from public spaces to online channels?
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Episode count: 3
On-air period: 2021
TV Show
Wintertijd
(‘Winter Time’)
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“Show me your music collection and I’ll tell you who you are.” In each of the 10 episodes of this series, host and creative producer Harry de Winter invites five celebrity guests to join him for a fascinating conversation about incredible music.
De Winter – a tireless promoter of good music of every genre as well as a talented visual artist – invites Dutch celebrities into his private studio to ask them about their favourite music, ranging from classical and pop to jazz, soul and world music. As they listen to their favourite tunes, they let their guard down and share some of their most personal stories with Harry and the audience.
Almost 23 years since Wintertijd first aired on Dutch TV, Harry de Winter returns for a final season of the show on the Omroep MAX channel. In the final episode, the roles are reversed and Harry tells his own life story to veteran interviewer Jeroen Pauw, complete with the ‘soundtrack of his life’.
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Episode count: 10
On-air peiod: 2020 - 2022
TV Show
De Zorgwaakhond
(‘The Healthcare Watchdog’)
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De Zorgwaakhond sees host Jan Slagter attempting to navigate the intricacies of the Dutch healthcare system. Each episode focuses on two issues indicative of a wider problem that is affecting the healthcare sector in the Netherlands, including red tape and staff shortages – and their ramifications for society. Using a spy camera or audio recordings, Slagter exposes healthcare mismanagement and malpractice, confronting those responsible and attempting to find constructive solutions.
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Episode count: 4
On-air period: 2019
TV Show
Een Hollander in Parijs
(‘A Dutchman in Paris’)
In this six-part series, journalist, author, TV host and former newscaster Philip Freriks explores the Parisian phase of six well-known Dutch painters. We follow them from their arrival in Paris and as they make their first foray into the art world. What were their initial impressions? Who did they meet along the way? Where did they live and learn? How did they spend their time? We get to see, through their eyes, the cultural and political pressure cooker that was nineteenth-century Paris: an epicentre of power – ravenous and ferocious. Yet it was also a time enlivened by parties and beautiful works of art, intriguing stories, and generally bursting with life.
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Episode count: 6
On-air period: 2018
TV Show
Van Dis en de Dalai Lama
(‘Van Dis and the Dalai Lama’)
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When author and TV presenter Adriaan van Dis first met the Dalai Lama way back in 1986, the two men discussed science, religion and other weighty topics. Thirty years later, while preparing for his trip to Dharamsala, India and his second meeting with Tibet’s spiritual leader, van Dis explores the growing interest in Western countries in Buddhism. Is this merely a fad, or something more serious and enduring? Could it be that we tend to project some of our own ideals onto an Eastern philosophy or religion of which we have only superficial knowledge? Van Dis interviews scholars, religious believers, and those in search of spiritual enlightenment.
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Episode count: 3
On-air period: 2018
TV Show
Falen en opstaan
(‘Fail and Rise’)
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Merlijn Kamerling shares his personal story in the KRO-NCRV web series Falen en opstaan (‘Fail and Rise’)
Presenter Merlijn Kamerling investigates why his generation has such a hard time making decisions. Why do they stay on the fence? Glued to their mobile phones and more interested in hitting the gym than hitting the books, Generation Z (‘Zoomers’) defy the rules set by their teachers, parents and employers. While these authority figures may have plenty of wisdom and experience to share, Merlijn and his generational peers believe they are perfectly capable of finding their own way. And you know what? They could very well be right!
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Episode count: 5
On-air period: 2018
TV Show
Hollandse Meesters retour
(‘Welcom Home, Dutch Masters’)
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As the director of a museum with no permanent collection and zero government funding (Amsterdam’s Hermitage Museum, a branch of the eponymous world-famous museum in Moscow), presenter Cathelijne Broers is no stranger to wheeling and dealing – with Russians, potential donors, sponsors, the media and collaborative partners. In the four-part series Hollandse meesters retour, we follow Broers during the year preceding an exhibition of the largest collection ever assembled of paintings by seventeenth-century Dutch artists. After years of requesting, begging, praying and lobbying, she managed to bring these paintings ‘home’ briefly for the first time in 250 years.
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Episode count: 4
On-air period: 2018
Tv Show
De Verdediging
(‘The Defence’)
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Viewers are invited for a rare look behind the scenes at the Amsterdam-based law firm Ficq & Partners Advocaten, whose expert team of criminal barristers have handled some of the most high-profile cases in the Netherlands.
As director Monique Nolte follows them over an eighteen-month period, we discover that the partners and their more junior colleagues at the firm are a close-knit team who take on some of the country’s most notable and complex criminal cases.
A co-production of BNNVARA and Sarphati Media, De Verdediging is directed by Monique Nolte, who previously made the documentaries Het beste voor Kees(‘Only the Best for Our Son’) and Een bitterzoete verleiding (‘A Bittersweet Temptation’). Both these productions were nominated for a Golden Calf at the Netherlands Film Festival, along with other awards.
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Episode count: 4
On-air period: 2017
TV Show
Douwe's Living room
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In Douwe's Living Room, Dutch singer-songwriter Douwe Bob and his guests, singer Danny Vera and alternative rock band De Staat, only want to make sweet music, while their cantankerous studio manager (played by veteran actor Michiel Romeyn) has little respect for ‘the talent’ and is only too determined to show them who’s boss!
The show features popular Dutch band De Staat and singer Danny Vera, as well as performances by Douwe Bob’s own backing band. The irascible studio manager Theo Griffioen, played by Michiel Romeyn – who must contend not only with the musicians’ antics but also with his own share of family drama – often finds himself at odds with the creative talent. This fascinating and mildly absurdist music programme is a winning blend of comedy and first-class musical entertainment.
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On-air period: 2017
TV Show
What The Hague?!
Op 15 maart 2017 vinden de Tweede Kamerverkiezingen
In the run-up to the Dutch parliamentary elections of March 15, 2017, this programme examines the political landscape in the Netherlands after a four-year coalition between the centre-right VVD party and the social-democratic PvdA (Labour) party. Before the country heads to the polls, broadcaster Myrthe Hilkens tries to unlock the most elusive secret in parliamentary politics in the Netherlands and elsewhere: how can political leaders successfully connect with voters?
Hilkens, who served as an MP for the PvdA party from 2011 to 2013, investigates how politicians, press officers, neuromarketers, spin doctors, and communications and PR experts win over voters – and what makes our political brain tick.
Episode count: 4
On-air period: 2017
TV Show
Panorama Pijbes
(‘Pijbes' Panorama’)
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In this eight-part series, art historian Wim Pijbes (former director of the Rijksmuseum and Museum Voorlinden) takes viewers on a tour of Dutch landscapes as observed by artists throughout the centuries. Master storyteller Pijbes brings the beauty of the Dutch scenery to vivid life by showing us landscape paintings in classic and contemporary art, ranging from celebrated works to hidden gems. His thorough and painstaking search takes him across all twelve Dutch provinces: from the Scheveningen Pier to Amsterdam’s Dam Square and from the archives of the Panorama Mesdag Museum to the fields and meadows of Friesland province.
Pijbes not only shows his audience the breathtaking beauty of the scenery, but also makes them look at art in a new and different way. Panorama Pijbes is a fascinating road trip, treating audiences to captivating landscapes and impeccable brush strokes.
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Episode count: 8
On-air period: 2017
TV Show
Op zoek naar de Granaatappel
(‘In search of Pomegranates’)
Nadia Zerouali and Merijn Tol have co-authored numerous cookbooks, for which they have been drawing inspiration across the Arab world for many years.
For Op Zoek Naar De Granaatappel, they revisit this world, where people celebrate the joy of food despite the often harsh realities of life.
Zerouali and Tol cook with all the exotic ingredients and products they can find, while at the same time immersing themselves in the everyday lives of the residents. Many of these fascinating and inspiring people have experienced war and conflict, but even through these rough times they always take time to cook and enjoy meals with their families. Op Zoek Naar De Granaatappel looks not only at the dishes being prepared, but also at the people behind the recipes.
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Episode count: 6
On-air period: 2017
TV Show
Het ei van Midas
(‘Midas's Egg’)
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Can ants help us prevent traffic congestion? Can we use spiderwebs to produce more effective bullet-proof vests? And can naked mole-rats teach us how to grow old without developing all sorts of frightening diseases? In Het Ei van Midas, biologist Midas Dekkers shows us that the answer to all these questions is ‘yes’. The ten-part series is dedicated to the science of biomimetics, the field in which the wisdom of 3.8 billion years of life on Earth is leveraged to solve complex human problems. As well as immersing himself into the world of plants and animals, he also meets experts who have embraced biomimicry as part of everyday life. Did you know that the structure of human bones makes them perfect for building chairs and that polar bears’ fur can be used to design coats? Or that robotic arms inspired by the tentacles of octopi can help surgeons perform operations with greater accuracy? Het Ei van Midas is a scientific journey peppered with astute observations by Dekkers. A glimpse into the future and a number of startling revelations demonstrate that nature really does have all the answers and there’s no need to reinvent the wheel each time.
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Episode count: 10
On-air period: 2016
TV Show
Road to Rio: Pushen voor goud
(‘Road to Rio: Pushing for Gold’)
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When the Dutch national men’s field hockey team lose the final of the 2014 World Cup to Australia with a devastating 6-1, a new coach is hired, the Argentinian-born Max Caldas. This unorthodox coach decides to ramp up training and make his players go for broke. The six-part documentary series Road to Rio: Pushen voor Goud finds the team as they train for the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics. The tension is palpable throughout, as Caldas takes his players through the boot camp-style selection process, in which he has the power to make or break the dreams of his pros (who also have various traumatic experiences to process). Director Johan Zwaan gets up close and personal with both staff and players, from gym to living room, and from Papendal National Sports Centre all the way to Ireland and back. Road to Rio: Pushen voor goud shows us how Max Caldas transforms his ‘boys’ into true athletes by introducing weight training, making them write soul-searching letters, reminding them of the importance of leadership skills, and never letting anyone off the hook – least of all himself.
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Episode count: 6
On-air period: 2016
TV Show
Maskers af
(‘When the Masks Come Off’)
Having been diagnosed with a terminal illness, series host Hansje Bunschoten lives every day to the fullest. With absolutely nothing to lose, she invites TV personalities Mart Smeets (episode 1) and Eva Jinek (episode 2) to join her for a candid discussion about life, love, and her inevitable death. Being, as she puts it, “done with the bullshit” and expecting nothing less than complete honesty from her guests, she is frustrated when her former colleague Mart Smeets turns out to keep a tight lid on his emotions. In contrast, the episode featuring talk-show host Eva Jinek is a revelation, as she shows a completely different side of herself, proving that her ‘ice queen’ persona is nothing more than a veneer.
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Episode count: 2
On-air period: 2016
TV Show
Drie vorstinnen van Oranje
(‘Three Dutch Queens’)
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After the death of King William III, Emma of Waldeck and Pyrmont took over as the Dutch head of state. This event attracted its share of controversy at the time, as some political figures disapproved of the idea of a woman monarch. The first episode of Drie vorstinnen van Oranje details how Emma thrust herself into the spotlight, won the hearts of the Dutch people and singlehandedly raised the popularity of the Dutch royal family. In the three-part series, art historian Paul Rem also explores the strength of both Wilhelmina and Juliana, monarchs who worked tirelessly to promote the Netherlands internationally. Queen Wilhelmina, who ascended to the throne at age eighteen, viewed herself as the fighting-fit ‘Mother of the Netherlands’. The reign of her successor, daughter Juliana, was beset by instability, controversy and even scandal, as she relocated her family to Canada during Word War II and, in the postwar years, faced turmoil surrounding her husband Bernhard. She also drew criticism for what became known as the ‘Greet Hofmans affair’. But there was more to her reign than that: during her tenure, she addressed the US Congress on numerous occasions (60 speeches in all) on the fight against the Nazi regime, and went on to display a strong social commitment as head of state in the postwar Netherlands.
Drie Vorstinnen Van Oranje shows how these three strong women have, each in their own way, shaped the history of the Dutch monarchy.
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Episode count: 3
On-air period: 2015
TV Show
Lekker weertje
(‘Weather Talk’)
In Lekker weertje, presenter Philip Freriks and meteorologist Erwin Kroll set out on a journey across the Netherlands, where they discuss everybody’s favourite subject: the weather. You’d be mistaken in thinking that the Dutch climate is temperate with no real extremities either way, and over the course of two seasons they try to find answers to questions about the vagaries of the climate. They try to uncover the secret of the Enkhuizer Almanac, investigate the impact of the weather on the stock markets and our mood and wellbeing, as well as analyzing what is so special about the dramatic and intense cloudy skies depicted by the Dutch Masters. Inquisitive yet at a laid-back pace, Freriks and Kroll delve into the past, including the thunderstorms that occurred during the Battle of Waterloo. The duo also look towards the future. For example, how concerned should we be that the Earth’s temperature is set to rise by several degrees by the end of this century? Lekker weertje demonstrates that ‘talking about the weather’ can be as fascinating as anything.
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Episode count: 12
On-air period: 2014-2015
TV Show
Seks en de zonde
(‘Sex and the Sin’)
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While Muslim women are often a topic of discussion, they are rarely part of that conversation themselves. This six-part documentary series is an attempt to change that, giving them the opportunity to talk openly on television about the things that matter to them. Created by former political party leader (and current Amsterdam mayor) Femke Halsema, the series explores the role of women in the Islamic world: is there a place for strong, independent women in this culture? She meets with a wide range of interviewees, including Pakistani-born Bollywood actress Veena Mali; a convert to Salafism living in London; a Muslim of Dutch origin; and the Saudi women’s rights activist Souad al Shammary.Addressing various social and political issues, Halsema also places herself at the heart of the discussion. Raised in a non-religious home in the highly secularized and individualized Netherlands, she is perplexed by the phenomenon of enforced religion and the attendant lack of personal freedom. This leads to stimulating and sometimes fierce discussions that shed light on what makes many of these women cling to the beliefs that disadvantage them in so many areas of life.
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Episode count: 6
On-air period: 2014
TV Show
Derksen on the road
Although Johan Derksen is best known in the Netherlands as a TV football (soccer) commentator, his first love has really always been music. Highly particular and vocal about his tastes, he has a music collection which rivals that of the average record shop. Derksen on The Road is a musical road trip across the Netherlands, in which the moustachioed pundit goes in search of his heroes from the past and present. Rather than producing ‘radio-friendly fluff’, as he calls it, they sing and play the blues, country, soul, rock, Cajun and Americana. The Motions, King Of The World, ZZ & De Maskers, Specs Hildebrand and Johnny Kendall are just a few of the artists and performers featured. In the eight-part series, Derksen finds himself travelling the length and breadth of the country and visiting people in a wide range of settings.
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Episode count: 8
On-Air period : 2014
TV Show
Drie Koningen van Oranje
(‘Three Dutch Kings’)
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The bicentennial year of the Kingdom of the Netherlands was a perfect occasion to present three portraits of the founders of the current Dutch monarchy: William I, II and III. How important have they been in the country’s history, and what were they like as people? Art historian Paul Rem takes the viewer on a tour of this history of the Dutch monarchy and interviews the likes of Jeroen Koch, Dik van der Meulen and Jeroen van Zanten, the authors of the biographies of the three monarchs published during the bicentennial year. Over the course of the three-part journey, the programme shows why William I was nicknamed the ‘Merchant King’, why the reign of William II, despite his status as a hero after the Battle of Waterloo, was marred by scandal, and whether the indecisive William III’s nickname ‘Gorilla King’ was justified. Drie Koningen van Oranje, which brings these colourful monarchs to life, was produced with the support of the Prince Bernhard Culture Fund and SNS Reaalfonds.
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Episode count: 3
On-air period: 2013
TV Show
Talkin 'Bout My Generation
Every generation has its own favourite music. But do younger and older fans find any common ground at all? Talking ‘Bout My Generation is a lively talk show in which host Harry de Winter welcomes musicians and fans that span the generations: what is the music that connects them, and where do their tastes diverge?
Guests including Robert ten Brink, Fresku, Huub Stapel, Janne Schra, Claudia de Breij, Rob Stenders, DJ Isis and Blaudzun talk about the role of specific songs in their lives and discuss the meaning this music has held for them. What is the musical connection between rapper Kleine Viezerik and TV stalwart Mart Smeets? Why does Giel Beelen feel moved whenever he hears Toen Ik Je Zag by Hero? What happens to Tijl Beckand when Mike Boddé brings a keyboard into the studio and starts playing The Beatles’ Blackbird?
Talking ‘Bout My Generation answers these questions, with one common denominator: a passionate love of music.
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Episode count: 7
On-air period: 2013
TV Show
5 x 30+
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Having been featured on page 4 of the De Telegraaf newspaper since 2008, the comic strip 5x30+ hits another milestone as it is adapted into an animated TV series. In the ten-episode series, we follow the adventures and misadventures of five Dutch thirty-somethings: Noor, Mees, Lydia, Koot and Ank. In other words: today's overworked, overstretched, and overextended professionals struggle to keep it all together, with women in particular expected to be superhuman! In brief animations, producers Fre Hooft van Huysduynen and Dilys de Jong delight viewers with their sharply observed and comical take on the hapless lives of Dutch thirty-somethings in the twenty-first century. The characters like to daydream at their desks, ignore the advice provided by self-help authors, and scarf down large tubs of chocolate ice cream. To top it off, the stories also feature a fat ginger cat.
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Episode count: 3
On-air period: 2013
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