Die Boland Moorde (The Boland Murders) is a South African crime anthology murder mystery drama series written by Louis Pretorius and Albert Snyman, produced by their company Moebius Films and based on classic British whodunits like Midsomer Murders and Lewis which follows the adventures of The Boland Investigative Unit, a fictitious elite detective unit that investigates murders in the Cape Winelands.
The six-episode series follows warrant officers Shane Williams and André Fourie through the Winelands and discovers a world filled with offbeat characters, humour and mysterious murders.
One would think that they wouldn't have that much to do, but even the beauty of the Boland cannot temper human nature and sometimes passion, anger, jealousy and hatred go just a bit too far. It is then that the two detectives roll up their sleeves and get to work.
They are assisted by a highly skilled technical team but it is their intelligence, logic and knowledge of human nature that usually leads them to the perpetrator.
The roles of the two detectives are played by the well-known actors Stian Bam (André) and Brendon Daniels (Shane). Other members of the team are played by seasoned actors such as Martelize Kolver, Antoinette Kellermann, Vicky Davis, Johan Esterhuizen and Marlo Minnaar.
Apart from the main cast roughly 65 actors were used in the six episodes and include big names such as Anna-Mart van der Merwe, Marko van der Colff, Hannes van Wyk and AJ van der Merwe.
The series also bring many new faces to the screen and even Laudo Liebenberg – lead singer of Aking – makes his TV debut.
What makes this series different is that each episode is an hour and a half and the detectives are faced with a fresh challenge.
They are sucked into the messy worlds of film making and rock music. They meet a broken family on a wine farm and discover a secret society in a private university residence.
They are also dragged into the infighting of the literary world and even get invited to a deadly birthday party.
The screenplays and stories were developed and written by Louis Pretorius (co-writer of Vallei van Sluiers) and Albert Snyman (co-worker on Binneland). The series was directed by well known and lauded theatre director Jaco Bouwer (Verkeer, Smag and Rooiland).
Music for the series was composed by Mr. Cat and the Jackal.
The series was filmed in the winter of 2012 over a period of two months in and around Stellenbosch. A variety of stories meant 30 different locations were used during the shoot.
From a caravan park to a bookshop to a university residence, these locations were used to tell the stories. The series was made in conjunction with the US Drama department and their facilities were used as well some of the students: both as actors and technical personnel.
Die Boland Moorde is a fresh new series full of energy which invites you in, asks you to sit down, relax and to lose yourself in a different puzzle every week, where everybody is a suspect.