Enjoy authentically South African stories? Then add kykNET’s Die Byl to your watchlist. Die Byl follows colonel Piet van der Bijl, a sharp-minded detective dedicated to catching serial killers. (Don’t speak Afrikaans? Don’t stress, there are English subtitles.)
Like so many TV cops (think Luther, Bosch, True Detective), his personal life suffers as he does what it takes to catch the bad guys. KykNET have just announced that Die Byl will be returning for a second season in July 2019.
In the second season, we meet the team five years on. Piet, or “Die Byl” (Waldemar Schultz), and his team face new personal and professional challenges. Each episode will focus on a single case while a broader story arc will carry through the entire season as the team tackles a series of unsettling situations.
The Afrikaans series is inspired by the late Piet Byleveld, known as Piet Byl, who had a 40-year career in the South African Police Service and solved some of the most notorious and brutal crimes imaginable. He passed away in 2017.
While the series is a work of fiction, Piet Byleveld served as technical director on the first season. “The stories and characters in Die Byl are entirely fictional, but thanks to Piet’s input, the end result is frighteningly authentic,” said executive producer Herman Binge.
“We had to place our story in an Afrikaans language environment and invent our own murderers and victims. So although he inspired our scriptwriters, we could not use Piet Byleveld’s real-life cases.” As a tribute to the super sleuth, the central character in the series carries his nickname.
The first season of Die Byl is currently available on Showmax. Die Byl 2 will be available on Showmax from July and will air later in the year on kykNET (DStv 144).
