State of Happiness

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Drama

When a Norwegian fishing village becomes part of the 70s oil boom, everything changes.

Power, profit and politics. When a small Norwegian fishing village becomes part of the 70s oil boom, everything changes - but how much are the lives of families and friends worth?

Series 1

BBC Four HD

BBC Four

State of Happiness: Dirdal Valley

Anne Regine Ellingsæter

Bart Edwards

Amund Harboe

Malene Wadel

Per Kjerstad

Pia Tjelta

Vegar Hoel

Mette Marit Bolstad

Pal Jackman

Petter Naess

State of Happiness: Series 1: Dirdal Valley

Dirdal Valley

BBC Four - State of Happiness, Series 1, Dirdal Valley

Phillips Petroleum look to build a gigantic tank for oil storage.

Drama series. Phillips Petroleum is looking for a place by the coast to build a gigantic tank for oil storage. One possibility is right next to Anna's family farm.

Phillips Petroleum is looking for a place by the coast to build a gigantic tank for oil storage. Dirdal Valley, where Anna’s family’s farm is situated, is one of the areas they are considering. What Anna learns from her work at the mayor’s office has dire consequences.

In Norwegian with English subtitles.

State of Happiness: Series 1

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Drama set in Stavanger in 1969. What happens next after a final attempt to find oil?

Drama set in Stavanger, Norway, in the summer of 1969, that follows what happens following a last-ditch attempt to strike oil.

Drama set in the summer of 1969 in the small coastal town of Stavanger. International oil companies have been test drilling in Stavanger for years, but nothing has been found and they are now in the process of leaving. 

Phillips Petroleum have been contracted to drill one final hole, but the company is reluctant to throw good money after bad and they send an ambitious young lawyer to Stavanger to wind things up. The town, however, is desperate for one last chance – it lives off fish and the North Sea is emptying out.  

In the end, Phillips finally agrees to try one more hole, and the night before Christmas 1969 the gas flare at the Ocean Viking is lit. The largest sub-sea oil basin in history has just been discovered and everything is about to change.

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