This week marks the launch of Murder in Åland, a new audio drama set in the stark and windswept islands of the Åland archipelago — a demilitarised Finnish territory where Swedish is the official language and Russia looms across the Baltic.
The podcast is unusual in being produced in two languages. The English-language version is available now via the BBC, while a Finnish-language release will follow in early 2026 through YLE. Both tell the same story of a seemingly simple murder case that quickly escalates into espionage, betrayal and unlikely romance.
The drama begins when criminal investigator Pekka Jaakkola arrives from Helsinki with brash city methods that alienate the islanders. Forced to team up with Astrid Lindholm — a blind, retired Swedish police officer who now specialises in audio forensics — he uncovers secrets hidden in recordings of storm, wind… and submarines.
A co-production between the UK’s Goldhawk Productions and Finland’s Suomen Podcastmedia, the series was written by Satu Rasila, Mikko Kouki and Akseli Kouki, and directed by Kouki. Blending the conventions of a whodunnit with the atmosphere of a geopolitical thriller, Murder in Åland uses its Baltic setting to heighten the tension of a story with international stakes.
“Murder in Åland shows what happens when a local mystery collides with international forces,” said Patrick Svensk, CEO of PodX Group. “By developing it bilingually, we’re creating a story that can travel immediately across borders.”
New episodes are being released weekly in English, with the Finnish-language version arriving in 2026.
