Radio Times, 10 June 2014
By Ben Dowell

Packed talent schedules are the curse of good television.

With no confirmation yet on when 'Sherlock' series four will start filming, there is still a glimmer of hope for fans of another hit BBC1 crime drama: RadioTimes.com understands that the fourth series of 'Wallander' will be filmed next year.

For fans of the brilliant Swedish detective played by Kenneth Branagh, the news is mixed, however. The BBC have only developed Henning Mankell’s original books and they have nearly done them all.

This means that after three series of three films, the next run will be the last and looks set to conclude with a one-part adaptation of Mankell's novel 'The White Lioness' and a two-parter based on his final book 'The Troubled Man'.

Sources at the BBC and independent producers Left Bank Pictures confirmed that both parties are confident next year will see the filming begin.

The first series of 'Wallander' aired in 2008 and subsequent films have appeared at sporadic intervals because of the difficulty of securing the services of lead actor Kenneth Branagh and the rest of the cast. These include Tom Hiddleston who played Magnus Martinsson, a member of Wallander’s team of detectives, in the first two series of the drama but did not appear in series three. Sources say they cannot confirm whether he will reappear in the final run.

The second series was filmed from July to October 2009 and was broadcast in January 2010 while the third series was filmed in the summer of 2011 and aired on BBC1 in July 2012.

'Wallander' has won six Baftas including a best drama series award in 2009.

Writer Ronan Bennett, who scripted the Jonny Depp film 'Public Enemies', is slated to pen the final two episodes, but the writer of episode one is yet to be confirmed.