The series stars Stephen Dillane and Clémence Poésy as British and French police detectives Karl Roebuck and Elise Wassermann.

The killer is nicknamed the "Truth Terrorist" and is on a moral crusade to highlight many social problems, terrorising both countries in the process.

The premieres on both Sky Atlantic and Canal+ received strong ratings for the respective channels, with an initial consolidated figure of almost 900,000 in the UK and 1.3 million in France.

On 16 February 2015, Canal+ and Sky Atlantic announced that a second series would begin production in March,[2] set to air in early 2016, entitled The Tunnel: Sabotage,[3] and consisting of eight episodes.

[6][7] The debut on Sky Atlantic was originally set for 5 April 2016 but was put off until a week later in deference to the Brussels terrorist attacks on 22 March 2016.

Both Dillane and Poésy opted not to view the original Scandinavian series, with the latter stating that it would allow her more freedom in interpreting the character.

[29] Thibault de Montalembert plays Olivier Pujol, who is the head of the Calais police service, and Elise's superior.

Merlin actress Angel Coulby stars as Laura Roebuck, Karl's wife, while Jack Lowden plays Adam, his son.

[38] The series' executive producers are Sky's Anne Mensah; Canal+'s Fabrice De La Patellière; Kudos' Jane Featherstone, Karen Wilson, Manda Levin and Ben Richards; Shine France's Nora Melhli; and Filmlance's Lars Blomgren.

"[39] In developing the storyline of the series Featherstone said that "the team took what was wonderful from [the original] and then forgot about it, in the nicest possible way, and made their own show.

Many aspects of the first episode are virtual copies of the first episode of the Scandinavian series, including: the female lead "stripping unselfconsciously to her underwear in the office", the male lead's relationship with his teenage son, and the "sleazy journalist [being] held captive in his own car with a ticking bomb", the last of which was a sequence Richards wanted to repeat in the remake.

[25] Featherstone also noted there would be plenty of changes, saying that many had "seen both [The Bridge and The Tunnel], who feel that they get satisfaction because the characters go on different journeys and the actors all bring a whole new level of interest in it".

[39] Filming began in February 2013[29] and concluded in August 2013,[41] with location shooting largely taken place in Kent and northern France.

[41][43] An estimated £2.5 million of the budget was spent on, among other services, accommodation, locations, parking and catering, providing a boost for the Kent economy.

[25] The producers spent "months of gentle negotiation" with Eurotunnel, the company that operates the tunnel, for permission to shoot scenes there.

[46] For series three, filming locations in East Kent included Reculver, Botany Bay, Ramsgate Royal Harbour and Port of Dover.

[59] The second series debut on Sky Atlantic was originally set for 5 April 2016 but was put off until a week later in deference to the Brussels terrorist attacks on 22 March 2016.

Alex Fletcher of Digital Spy stated that while remakes are "often underwhelming", The Tunnel was "gripping stuff", and he believed that viewers "should find plenty to enjoy" in the series.

[73] Gerard Gilbert of The Independent was positive in his assessment of the series, stating that "as an avid fan of The Bridge, I am happy to report that The Tunnel works well in its own right – it's intelligently made, well cast and ambitiously cinematic", adding that it had "succeeded in its high-risk strategy of re-working a near-flawless Scandi-drama in our Anglo-French image".

[25] Ellen E Jones, also of The Independent, said that Dillane and Poésy's performances "stuck closely" to the original characterisation of the leads from the Scandinavian version.

"[74] "As a global TV franchise, it's pure gold: there's a US-Mexican version already screening and there are frontiers all over the world with tension and history dotted across the boundary.

In a review posted early in the first season, Gerard O'Donovan of The Daily Telegraph expressed mixed feelings about the series "so far at least", saying: "there was no sense that this was doing much different from other mainstream crime thrillers.

Sticking too close to the original script meant a golden opportunity was missed to dig deeper into the attitudes and history that both connect and divide the UK and France".

[76] Harry Venning of The Stage believed that, plotwise, the collaboration between the British and French police forces and style were "all very effectively done, creepily atmospheric and splendidly gruesome", but also stated that the best thing about the series was "the interplay between Stephen Dillane's easygoing, laddish, rosbif detective inspector and his po-faced, glacial but – wouldn't you know it – extremely sexy Gallic counterpart, played by Clémence Poésy.

Julia Raeside deemed the series a "perfectly cast remake of Swedish-Danish crime hit", and stated that "this confirms Dillane as one of our very finest.

"[80] Having not enjoyed The Bridge, Andrew Anthony called The Tunnel an "attractive proposition", adding that "there's an engaging confidence to the slow revelation of the story.

"[81] Sam Wollaston was more critical of the series, stating that, while the tone was "atmospheric, intriguing, gripping" and there were strong performances from the lead cast members, The Tunnel was "exactly the same as the (recent) original".

However magnificent an engineering feat the Channel tunnel is, it can't compete as a spectacular location with the Øresund Bridge.