The Heavy Water War

The Heavy Water War, originally titled Kampen om tungtvannet and also released internationally as The Saboteurs, is a 2015 Norwegian war drama miniseries directed by Per-Olav Sørensen and written by Petter S. Rosenlund. The series dramatises the Allied efforts to stop Nazi Germany’s heavy water production at Vemork during the Second World War, with particular focus on Norwegian scientist and intelligence officer Leif Tronstad, the saboteurs on the ground, and the German nuclear research programme. Across six episodes, it covers the occupation of Norway, the failed Operation Freshman, the sabotage at Vemork, the bombing of Rjukan and the sinking of the Hydro ferry on Lake Tinn. It is a more expansive version of the story than the earlier films, giving room not only to the military operation but also to the scientists, civilians and political pressures surrounding it.

The series was filmed in Norway and the Czech Republic, with Vemork and Rjukan giving it a direct connection to the real landscape of the heavy water sabotage. The mountain valley, industrial setting and winter terrain around Rjukan are central to the story’s physical identity, because the geography itself was part of what made the wartime operation so dangerous. Czech locations were also used extensively, including Prague, Vysočany, Palác Cukrovarníků, Senovážné Square, the Faculty of Science at Albertov, the National Museum, Benešov Airport and the Konopiště greenhouse. These locations helped recreate parts of the wartime world beyond Telemark, while the real Vemork and Rjukan setting anchors the series in the historical place where the most famous sabotage action took place.