Walter Presents: Channel 4 launches new digital service offering best TV shows from around the world

The new platform will deliver 600 hours of hand-picked foreign language drama and comedy

The platform will be boosted by a joint Channel 4 screening for its opening attraction, Deutschland 83

A Swedish political drama portraying the rise of the extreme right, a comedy set in a restaurant for aid workers in downtown Kabul and a gritty Argentinian psychological thriller – Channel 4 is promising viewers a “binge-watching” feast with the launch line up of a new digital service designed to bring UK viewers the very best global television.

From January, Walter Presents, a free on-demand platform available for box-set viewing via All 4, will deliver 600 hours of hand-picked foreign language drama and comedy to an audience already attuned to Nordic series like The Bridge.

Named for Walter Iuzzolino, curator of the service, the platform will avoid arthouse fare and show the biggest rated programmes sourced from countries including Brazil, Switzerland, Poland and Chile, whose productions are currently less familiar to UK viewers.

Iuzzolino said: “Over the past few years, the world has been producing some truly amazing drama series, but we haven’t been able to watch them - until now. Walter Presents is bringing these must-see smash hits to the UK available to watch whenever you want. A range of compelling, addictive stories which are impossible to put down.”

Channel 4 hopes the offering will divert viewers from rival subscription on-demand services like Netflix and Amazon Prime. Launching on January 3, the platform will be boosted by a joint Channel 4 screening for its opening attraction, Deutschland 83, a Cold War-set series in which a young East German soldier is sent undercover to spy on the West and discover NATO’s military plans.

Although BBC4’s future may be threatened by budget cuts, the channel has also snapped up two new acclaimed European dramas for 2016. Trapped, the channel’s first Icelandic drama, is a ten-part murder-mystery set in a small town engulfed by a blizzard whilst Follow the Money is a Danish economic crime thriller which investigates shady dealings in the energy industry.

Walter Presents…

* Spin: Top-rated French political thriller about the behind-the-scenes machinations which follows the assassination of the French President. The new Borgen but faster-paced and with more sex.

* Heartless: Created by the writer of The Bridge and director of The Killing, a sexy vampire thriller set at an elite boarding school against a backdrop of ancient forests, dark lakes and crumbling country houses.

* Blue Eyes: High adrenaline Swedish political thriller from the creative talent behind Humans – An extreme right-wing party is heading towards its best election result when the chief of staff at the Justice Department disappears without a trace. Racism, immigration and nationalism explored in series praised by New York Times.

* Pure Evil: A huge hit in Argentina, a psychopathic sect leader has decided to make former policeman and expert criminologist Daniel Parodi’s life a living hell. A dark, poetic, sophisticated psychological thriller, littered with literary clues.

* Kabul Kitchen: Award-winning, comedy drama based on the real life story of French journalist Marc Victor who ran a restaurant for NGO expats in Kabul. The highest rating comedy drama in the history of French broadcaster Canal +.

* 10: On New Year’s Eve in Geneva, eight players gather at a secret location for a high-stakes game of poker. Unbeknown to the players, the room has been bugged in Swiss whodunit crafted like a game of chess.

Cenk Batu: Award winning Turkish-German actor Mehmet Kurtulus investigates cases of political corruption, terrorism and industrial espionage in gritty Hamburg-set crime series, which launched in Germany with 7m viewers.