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Dr Sales has been racking up sales for Danish drama series “Prisoner.”

Starring Sofie Gråbøl, David Dencik, Youssef Wayne Hvidtfeldt and Charlotte Fich, it has been picked up by BBC (U.K. and Ireland), Canal+ Group’s channel Polar+ (France), MHz Choice (U.S.), Sbs (Australia), Npo (Netherlands) and BeTV (French-speaking Belgium).

Revolving around four desperate prison guards, forced to deal with everything from rampant drug trade to their personal problems and imminent closure of the prison, the show was created by Kim Fupz Aakeson.

“‘Prisoner’ is an authentic, complex and compelling portrait of the harsh realities of life in prison, where it isn’t only the inmates who are trapped,” said Sue Deeks, head of program acquisitions at BBC, with Npo’s Evelien Bloemena adding:

“It’s about people with good intentions forced into difficult situations. A series with a great cast and a good fit for us as a public broadcaster.

Everyone is a “Prisoner” in a new Dr Drama series created by Kim Fupz Aakeson, just shown at Canneseries. Not just the inmates crammed inside an old Danish prison, but the people who guard them as well.

“Twenty years ago, I wrote a Dogme film [‘In Your Hands’] that also took place in prison. I became interested in these guards, because who takes on that job? Who walks into such a hostile environment every day, unarmed?!,” he wonders.

The characters – played by “The Killing” star Sofie Gråbøl, David Dencik, Charlotte Fich and Youssef Wayne Hvidtfeldt as Sammi, an ambitious rookie – have to watch their backs. But frustrated criminals are not their biggest problem: it’s the system itself, which leaves them powerless.

“It’s an extremely hard profession, poorly paid. They are constantly understaffed,” observes Gråbøl. Taking on Miriam, who still believes in people even though she can’t trust her own son.