Interview with Charlene McKenna who plays Leah Liebermann in Vienna Blood on season four

How do you feel to be back with your family for the fourth series?

I feel very, very, very happy to be back with the Liebermann family. It really feels like a family off-screen. We have a little text group and we get very excited to come back together every year. We just pick up where we left off and fill each other in on the year. Oftentimes, the acting gets in the way of the catching up. But it’s just really lovely. We’re very, very blessed.

What’s your favourite Leah escapade?

It’s a toss-up between the auction [series three] and the casino but I think I have to pick the casino [series four]. My lines were so funny and Leah was so over the top with her excitement to be in this casino. To play that was a lot of fun.

Who is prepared to take bigger risks Charlene McKenna or Leah Liebermann?

My instinct is to say ‘me’. But would I in 2023 harbour a fugitive and go undercover at a giant casino? Let alone do that in 1909? I don’t know. It was really not the norm in 1909! Maybe I would have to say ‘Leah’ but then would Leah pursue an acting career because that’s kind of crazy?

How does Leah feel about the dark crimes that Oskar brings into the family home?

Quite mixed, I think. Because the part of her that doesn’t have enough of an outlet for her intelligence and maybe her creativity and need for drama… I think this is very titillating for that side of her and it’s exciting. But the other side of the coin is concern for her brother – will he be okay? I think if Leah were to sit down with a psychologist, there would be pros and cons to unpack.

As an English, Jewish woman would Leah have felt comfortable in Vienna in 1909 (with an openly antisemitic mayor)?

I think the short answer would be ‘no’ with everything that’s mounting. But I also think Leah tends to live in her own world and bubble. I don’t know what newspapers she would be reading. I don’t know how deep she would delve into the darkness that was brewing because, she likes a nice time.

What are the best aspects of working on Vienna Blood?

I think the fact we’re here eleven films later proves just how much we love working on the show. To do eleven films with the same people and come back year after year, just wouldn’t happen if we didn’t really, really enjoy working together on and off the screen. I adore working with Amelia and Conleth and Matthew and Juergen and Luise. There’s such an ease on-set and off-set that it doesn’t feel like work.

It’s such a privilege. They’re such good actors that everyone just kind of switches in and out with such ease. It’s one of the good jobs.

The fourth series of gripping crime drama Vienna Blood (2 x 90’) – written by acclaimed screenwriter Steve Thompson (Sherlock, Prime Target, Deep State,) and based on the bestselling Liebermann novels by Frank Tallis – will air on BBC iPlayer and BBC Two.

Filmed in English and on location in Vienna, series four is directed by Umut Dağ (House of Promises, Breaking Point) with Matthew Beard (The Imitation Game, Dracula, Magpie Murders) and Juergen Maurer (Vorstadtweiber, Tatort) reprising their roles as crime-fighting duo Doctor Max Liebermann and Detective Inspector Oskar Rheinhardt.

The fourth series, unlike the previous three series, features a single story – entitled Mephisto Waltz – told over two mysterious and thrilling episodes.

It’s Vienna, 1909 and the double murder of an arms dealer in police custody and a senior public official has shaken Vienna to its core. Doctor Max Liebermann has only just returned from a lecture tour when Inspector Rheinhardt asks for help in what could be the most dangerous case of their career. Oskar and Max discover a conspiracy that leads to the heart of government. Can the Freudian psychoanalyst and detective do enough to stop a seditious mole known as ‘Mephisto’ from bringing the Austro-Hungarian Empire to destruction? And will their lives ever be the same again?

Sue Deeks, BBC Head of Programme Acquisition, says: “This is such an exciting event – a Vienna Blood case so big it needs to be told over two thrilling episodes. What a treat we have in store!”

Carlo Dusi, Managing Director of Endor Productions, says: “We could not be more proud of this special new season that we have produced with our friends at MR and brings a thrilling new storyline with the highest of stakes to fans of Vienna Blood. There truly could be no better showcase for the combined talents of our wonderful writer Steve Thompson, brilliant director Umut Dag and incredibly talented cast and crew, led as ever by the unique pairing of Matthew Beard and Juergen Maurer. It has been an honour and a pleasure to work again with our partners at ORF, ZDF, BBC, PBS and Red Arrow Studios International in bringing the luminous characters and world originally created in Frank Tallis’s Liebermann Diaries to the screen, and we are sure that audiences will not be disappointed.”

Oliver Auspitz and Andreas Kamm of MR Film add: “We can’t wait to bring this very special season of Vienna Blood to a worldwide audience. Having one case spanning two episodes will push Max and Oskar to limits never seen before. Thanks to our trusted partners Endor Productions, Red Arrow Studios International, ORF and ZDF. With the support of Austria’s rebate system FISAplus, Television Fund Austria and TV-Filmfund Vienna and all the creatives involved we’re delighted to continue this (hi)story!”

Rodrigo Herrera Ibarguengoytia, VP Scripted Acquisitions & Co-Productions, Red Arrow Studios International, comments: “We are thrilled to return to early 1900s Vienna for Max Liebermann and Oskar Rheinhardt’s most ambitious and consequential case yet. Vienna Blood has been a hit around the world, from the UK to the US and from Austria to Australia and we cannot wait to bring this compelling new season to global broadcasters and their audiences.”

The producers of Vienna Blood are Jez Swimer for Endor; Oliver Auspitz, Andreas Kamm and Catrin Strasser for MR Film; commissioning editors are Klaus Lintschinger and Kerstin Bertsch for ORF and Wolfgang Feindt for ZDF; executive producers are Steve Thompson; Carlo Dusi for Endor; Rodrigo Herrera Ibarguengoytia for Red Arrow Studios International and Hilary Bevan Jones.

Other funding partners include FISAplus, Film in Austria (ABA), Televisionfund Austria, TV-Filmfund Vienna and Land Niederösterreich.

Red Arrow Studios International will distribute the series globally.

Season 4 of VIENNA BLOOD arrives Sunday, August 4, on BBC iPlayer & BBC Two at 9pm. The series is set to be distributed globally, and previous seasons are currently available on Acorn TV, Prime Video, and Apple TV+.