‘Babylon Berlin’ Gets Green Light for Fifth and Final Season

The fifth and final season of the global hit series “Babylon Berlin” has received an official green light, and eight new episodes will be shot this fall.

“Babylon Berlin” is produced by X-Filme Creative Pool in co-production with ARD Degeto, SWR, WDR, Radio Bremen and Beta Film. When former producer-distributor Sky Deutschland announced last year that it was pulling out of scripted originals, there was a concern that “Babylon Berlin” could be a casualty of that change. However, Beta Film assured Variety it was talking with partners at German broadcaster ARD’s production company ARD Degeto and X Filme to continue the show, and the groups have found a way to do just that.

Based on Volker Kutscher’s fifth novel, “The March Fallen,” Season 5’s synopsis reads: “Set in the darkest period of German history, the new season dives deep into the dreadful February 1933 and its consequences, the take-over of power of the NSDAP.”

“Babylon Berlin” writing-directing team of Henk Handlogten, Achim von Borries and Tom Tykwer will return for the show’s final season. Actors Volker Bruch and Liv Lisa Fries are also back on board.

In a joint statement, Handloegten, von Borries and Tykwer, said: “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. 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.”

During its run, “Babylon Berlin” sold to more than 140 territories and was watched more than 94 million times on Germany’s ARD Mediathek alone. Among its laundry list of awards, the series won the inaugural European Achievement in Fiction Series Award at the European Film Awards, four German Television Awards, the Grand Prize at the Seoul International Drama Awards, the Austrian Television Award ROMY as “TV Event of the Year,” the Premios Ondas in Spain and the Magnolia Award of the Shanghai TV Festival.

ARD Degeto Film CEO Thomas Schreiber said in a release today: “‘Babylon Berlin’ has set standards and proven: Germany can produce internationally successful series. We at ARD Degeto are pleased that we can deliver on our promise and bring the fans another season – from ARD with SWR, WDR and Radio Bremen, together with our strong partners X Filme and Beta Film. The gripping novel and the terrific cast promise a TV experience that will thrill Babylon Berlin fans once again.”

Beta CEO Jan Mojto 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.”