News
Historical series CHARITÉ scores record ratings in Germany
Mar 22nd, 2017
Yesterday evening Germany’s first public TV Channel ARD/Das Erste scored break-out ratings with the first two episodes of CHARITÉ, reaching more than 8.32 million viewers and a sensational quote of 25.9% total market share. For ARD/Das Erste it is the most successful launch of a series in more than 25 years and the best performance by a prime-time series in 13 years.
CHARITÉ is set in Berlin, in 1888. After penniless Ida is operated on as a patient of the Charité, she is forced to pay back her treatment costs by working as a nursing assistant under the bigoted regiment of deaconess Martha. In doing so, Ida discovers her fervor for medicine. In an age in which women hardly have a right to higher education, Ida is able to follow her free and rebellious spirt in its desire to live a self-determined future. Along her journey she meets extraordinary physicians such as Rudolf Virchow, as well as researchers and later Nobel Laureates Robert Koch, Emil von Behring, and Paul Ehrlich, who are all in stiff competition as they shape medical history.
CHARITÉ portrays the world’s most famous hospital as a microcosmic reflection of late 19th century Wilhelmine society. This period represents unprecedented scientific progress in medicine accompanied by radical changes in society and the economic upheavals of industrialization. Director Sönke Wortmann (“The Miracle of Bern”, “The Pope”) has combined this fascinating material with a rich, atmospheric density and an outstanding Alicia von Rittberg in the role of the bold and inquisitive Ida.
The gripping historical series is produced by international Emmy® Award-winner UFA FICTION for ARD/Das Erste. Commissioning Editors are Jana Brandt (MDR) and Johanna Kraus (MDR). It is produced by Benjamin Benedict, Markus Brunnemann, Nico Hofmann and Sebastian Werninger. It stars Alicia von Rittberg, Justus von Dohnányi, Matthias Koeberlin, Christoph Bach among many others.
Global Screen’s Head of TV Sales & Acquisitions Alexandra Heidrich states, “Global Screen is proud to present this extremely successful and gripping series to an international audience. CHARITÉ is a moving depiction of a young woman far ahead of her time and offers fascinating insights to the development of medical research and supply.”
