On 27th December, a new drama documentary series, Comtes (Counts), will premiere on local Catalan TV channels and on the Movistar+ service. Directed by Carles Porta and written with Albert Sánchez Piñol, produced by La Xarxa and Antártida Produccions, it covers the earliest Catalan counts bringing together the territory which is now Catalonia and fighting for independence from the Carolingian empire.
The series, which blends fiction and documentary, covers the most significant events of four successive Catalan counts: Guifré I el Pelós (Wilfred the Hairy), Guifré Borrell (Wilfred II or Borrell I), Sunyer I and Borrell II. Comtes will have four episodes of 30 minutes each, introduced by the actress Marta Marco.
The actors in the leading roles of the counts are David Segú (Guifré I), Martí Salvat (Guifré Borrell), Pol Nubiala (Sunyer I as a child), Jordi Rodríguez (Sunyer I as an adult) and Jaume Ulled (Borrell II). They're accompanied by Anna Sabaté as Guineguilda, Guifré I's wife, Miguel Gallardo as bishop Arnust, Albert Triola as Gerbert of Aurillac, later Pope Sylvester II, and Pep Papell as bishop Gotmar.
Collaboration with historians
Each episode will be followed by a special in which six historians will explain the historical context surrounding the action. These will be Francesc Xavier Hernàndez and Laura de Castellet from the University of Barcelona; professor of Mediaeval History at Pompeu Fabra University, Josep Maria Salrach; Stefano Cingolania from the University of Rome; and Dolors Bramon and Carme Muntaner.
The series' producers have referred closely to documentary evidence for the clothing worn during the period, to make the staging as rigorous as possible.
Interactive and radio versions
Comtes, to be broadcast through 30th December, has an official website where the four episodes will be posted for viewing and where users can find interactive content with extra information on the historical context, the characters and the life and customs in Catalonia in the 9th and 10th centuries.
There will also be a radio version of the series to be transmitted on local stations.
La Xarxa's third historical series
This is the third year in a row that La Xarxa has produced a historical series. In 2015 they released Somiar un país, construir un somni, ("Dream of a country, construct a dream") about the Commonwealth of Catalonia at the start of the last century. They followed this in 2016 with 1714, la Guerra de Comarques, ("1714, the War of Counties") with 10 episodes covering the War of the Spanish Succession in different places around Catalonia.