Rita (TV series)

Rita is a Danish comedy-drama television series created by Christian Torpe for TV 2. It premiered in Denmark on 9 February 2012, and concluded on 20 July 2020, with 40 episodes broadcast over five seasons. Produced by SF Studios, the series was filmed in Rødovre, Zealand, and executive-produced by Keld Reinicke, Karoline Leth, Lars Bjørn Hansen, Birdie Bjerregaard, Christian Rank, Jennifer Green, and Torpe, who also served as head writer. All episodes are available internationally on streaming service Netflix, who partnered with TV 2 to produce the later three seasons, becoming a Netflix Original.

Mille Dinesen portrays the lead role of Rita Madsen, a headstrong and unconventional teacher and single mother who protects and helps her students but struggles to manage her own personal life. One of Rita's closest friends is portrayed by Lise Baastrup, the only other actor who appeared in all the episodes besides Dinesen; a spin-off centered on the character, Hjørdis, was broadcast between 18 May and 8 June 2015, consisting of four episodes. In the story, Hjørdis tries to put together a school play about bullying, one of the many social themes discussed throughout Rita.

Upon airing, Rita received generally favorable response from critics.

Premise
Rita Madsen, a compulsive smoker, is an unconventional secondary education teacher who, according to her, chose this profession "to protect students from their parents". While she goes out of her way to advise and help her pupils, Rita's personal and family life seems to need the same kind of assistance. Her youngest son, Jeppe, is discovering his sexuality, while the older ones, Ricco and Molly, are experiencing the mishaps of adulthood. Other main characters include Hjørdis, a naive teacher who becomes Rita's best friend; Rasmus, the school headmaster with whom Rita has an on-again, off-again relationship; Helle, school counselor and former Rita's rival, Uffe, Hjørdis' husband and Jonas, a former school headmaster who is now a rather self-assured teacher at Rita's school.

Main

 * Mille Dinesen as Rita Madsen, an unconventional teacher and single mother. Tessa Hoder portrays a young Rita in season 4
 * Lise Baastrup as Hjørdis, a naive teacher and Rita's best friend.
 * Carsten Bjørnlund as Rasmus (seasons 1–3 and 5), school headmaster in seasons 1-2, and on-again, off-again boyfriend with Rita and Helle
 * Ellen Hillingsø as Helle (seasons 1–3; guest season 5), school counselor in seasons 1-3
 * Nikolaj Groth as Jeppe Madsen (seasons 1–3 and 5, guest season 4), Rita's youngest son
 * Morten Vang Simonsen as Ricco Madsen (seasons 1–2; guest season 3), Rita's oldest son
 * Sara Hjort Ditlevsen as Molly Madsen (seasons 1; guest seasons 2–5), Rita's daughter
 * Kristoffer Fabricius as Uffe (season 3-5, guest season 1-2), Hjørdis' boyfriend and, eventually, husband
 * Charlotte Munck as Lea (season 4), Rita's childhood friend
 * Ari Alexander as Ole (season 5), a farmhand and Jeppe's crush

Recurring

 * Lisbet Lundquist as Lillebeth Schmidt Kronborg (season 1), Rita's mother
 * Lykke Sand Michelsen as Bitten Dyrehave (seasons 1–2), Ricco's wife
 * Carsten Nørgaard as Tom Dyrehave (seasons 1–2), Bitten's father and Rita's ex-boyfriend
 * Lotte Andersen as Jette Dyrehave (seasons 1–2), Bitten's mother
 * Elena Arndt-Jensen as Stine (seasons 1–2), student
 * Lea Maria Høyer Stensnaes as Rosa (season 1), student
 * Ferdinand Glad Bach as David (seasons 1–3), Jeppe's boyfriend
 * Peter Gantzler as Niels Madsen (seasons 1–2, 5), Rita's ex-husband
 * Alexandre Willaume as Jonas Poulsen (seasons 2–3), schoolteacher
 * Tommy Kenter as Erik (season 2), schoolteacher
 * Lasse Fogelstrøm as Mads Klitgaard (season 2), student
 * Zaki Youssef as Said (season 3), Rita's crush
 * Belal Faiz as Karim (season 3), student and Said's brother
 * Frederik Winther Rasmussen as Niklas Verner (season 3), student
 * Charlotte Fich as Alice Verner (season 3), Niklas' mother and city mayor
 * Ole Lemmeke as Bjarne (season 4), headmaster
 * Tessa Hoder as young Rita (season 4)
 * Sofie Juul as young Lea (season 4)
 * Olaf Højgaard as Martin (season 4), Lea's husband
 * Albert Reffelt Dalum as Allan (season 4), Lea and Martin's son
 * Christine Exner as Susanne (season 4), Lea's mother and Rita's teacher in 1985
 * Kurt Ravn as Rostrup (season 4), Rita's teacher in 1985
 * Rosa Sand Michelsen as Kalinka (season 4–5), schoolteacher, mother of Knud, married to Niels
 * Søren Bang Jensen as Niels (season 4–5), schoolteacher, father of Knud, married to Kalinka
 * William Friis Nelausen as Reinulf (seasons 4–5), Hjørdis' and Uffe's son
 * Søs Egelind as Gerd (season 5), Rita's student

Guest

 * Line Kruse as Gitte Nielsen (season 1), Rita's sister
 * Laura Bach as Gitte Nielsen (season 2), Rita's sister
 * Kristian Halken as Flemming (season 2), teacher
 * Nikolaj Dencker Schmidt as Alex (season 5), Jeppe's boyfriend
 * Lisbeth Dahl as Gudrun (season 5), Ole's grandmother

Critical response
Henrik Palle wrote for Politiken that the series "works really well with some characters who actually look like people".

Spin-off
Hjørdis follows the eponymous teacher as she tries to put together a school play about bullying. It was broadcast between 18 May and 8 June 2015, consisting of four episodes.

Adaptations
A US remake was planned with a pilot episode filmed in 2013, starring Anna Gunn, but it was not picked up as a series. In 2019, American premium cable network Showtime commissioned a pilot order for a remake starring Lena Headey. The series was to be a joint production between Showtime Networks and Platform One Media, with Torpe serving as showrunner and writing the pilot episode and Headey also acting as executive producer. This pilot was not picked up for a full series either.

A Dutch remake called Tessa was made, airing in November 2015 on NPO 1, lasting only one season. The lead role was played by Thekla Reuten, following the storyline of Rita Season one, with only a few changes. The series has also been remade in France by TF1 as Sam, starring Mathilde Seigner in the title role for the first season. The second season of Sam entered production in 2017 with Natacha Lindinger replacing Seigner in the title role. The show has aired seven seasons to date.