Arrow Films’ Nordic Noir label will release the Danish drama 1864 on Blu-ray & DVD In June. The release follows the eight-part series’ broadcast in BBC Four’s coveted Saturday night slot (from May 16th), and it’s finale at the Nordicana festival (June 6th/7th) in London, which will feature appearances from the producers and cast. Each episode will be available on iTunes 24-hours after it is broadcast on BBC Four.

Following the huge success of Nordic television exports The Killing, Borgen and The Bridge, 1864 features one of the highest profile Scandinavian casts ever assembled. Reuniting Borgen’s Sidse Babett Knudsen and Pilou Asbaek (Prime Minister Birgitte Nyborg and spin doctor Kasper Jull) on-screen for the first time, alongside Soren Malling (Sarah Lund’s partner Jan Meyer in the first season of The Killing and journalist Torben Friis in Borgen), Lars Mikkelsen (one of Denmark’s best-loved actors, starring in both The Killing and Borgen, he most recently played Francis Underwood’s Political nemesis Petrov in Season 3 of House Of Cards) and four of the hottest young Scandi actors, all tipped for big things on the international stage – Jakob Oftebro (animal rights activist Mads in The Bridge Season 2), Jens Sætter-Lassen, Marie Tourell Søderberg and Sarah-Sofie Boussnina.

Danish Broadcaster DR’s most expansive project to date, 1864 is a truly epic and highly cinematic historical drama depicting some of the bloodiest battles in European history.

Brothers Laust (Oftenbro) and Peter (Sætter-Lassen) grew-up in poor but content in the Danish countryside. They fall deeply in love with Inge (Søderberg), a well-read businessman’s daughter, who lectures the brothers on poetry, philosophy and women’s liberation. Inge loves them both in return – Peter for his sensitivity and intellect, and Laust for his strength and drive.

Buoyed by their victory in the first Schleswig-Holstein War of 1848-50, the leader of the Danish parliament, Monrad, acted against the wishes of Great Britain and Russia and carries a motion that the Schleswig should be annexed. An action that can only result in a second Schleswig-Holstein War. This time, however, Denmark is not facing a small rebel army as it did in 1848, but two German super powers – Prussia and Austria. Peter and Laust’s father was killed by a German bullet in the first war, and the brothers quickly volunteer for the Danish army as a way to avenge his death.

150 years later, in 2014, Claudia (Boussnina) is distraught at the loss of her brother to the war in Afghanistan which tore her family apart. On the verge of a breakdown, she finds work as an aide to a 100-year-old Baron in a historic manor house, situated near to where the brothers and Inge lived. Inside the manor Claudia finds Inge’s forgotten diary…

Through the diary, the story of Peter, Laust and Inge is told. The story of Denmark erupting into one of the bloodiest wars in its history – forged by political hubris and blunders. The story of thousands of young Danish soldiers thrown to the lions when the Prussian army decimated the Danish troops at the Battle of Dybbøl in 1864.

“I read the letters from the soldiers at the front” says 1864 creator Ole Bornedal, “exciting characters whom you immediately felt in the presence of and who brought forth the melancholy of your soul.”

To coincide with 1864’s DVD, Blu-ray & Digital Download release, the final two episodes will premiere at the Nordicana Festival ahead of their transmission on BBC Four. Taking place at The Troxy in East London on Saturday 6th June and Sunday 7th June, Nordicana is a celebration of Nordic film, television and culture. The festival, now in its third year, will feature signings, Q&As and panel discussions with the 1864 cast, as well as playing host to some of the genre’s biggest stars, including Sofie Grabol (The Killing) and Sofia Helin (The Bridge).

1864 will be released on UK Blu-ray, DVD and digital download on 8th June 2015 by Arrow Films as part of their Nordic Noir label.

No extra features have been listed.