TV drama moves Mikkeli hostage blast to Tampere

Yle reports that a new television drama about Finland’s 1986 Mikkeli hostage crisis was filmed entirely in the Tampere area because recreating the original locations in Mikkeli was too expensive. The first episode of Räjähdyspiste will be released on Saturday, 40 years after the crisis ended in an explosion.

The hostage situation began at a bank in Jakomäki, Helsinki, and ended beside Mikkeli market square. The hijacker and one hostage died in the blast, while two bank employees held captive in the getaway vehicle survived.

The incident was unique in Finland and had a significant effect on police work. For example, police use firearms far less often now than they did in the 1980s.

Räjähdyspiste is based on real events but also includes fictional elements. Written by Hannu Kontturi and directed by Petri Kotwica, the series examines hijacker Jorma Takala’s reasons for robbing the bank and the police response to the crisis.

Although the story is set at the Jakomäki bank and Mikkeli market square, viewers will see locations in Pirkanmaa, including Pyynikki market square in Tampere. The entire series was filmed in the Tampere region.

Kotwica told Yle that the production team had prepared to film in Mikkeli until two months before shooting began. Transporting the full crew and equipment to the city proved too expensive, particularly because several scenes at the market square had to be filmed at night.

“I think we filmed the market scenes for seven nights,” Kotwica said.

Tampere was also attractive because local professionals and equipment were already available there. Other Finnish series and films have been shot in the city, including Kotwica’s 2023 crime drama Piiritys, which was set in other locations but filmed in Tampere.

Kotwica expects this approach to become more common as Tampere and the Pirkanmaa region strengthen their position as filming locations for productions from across Finland.

The city of Tampere has actively invested in attracting film and television productions, spending millions of euros to bring both domestic and international projects to the region.

People in Mikkeli still vividly remember the Friday night of August 8, 1986. Eija Immonen, who lived about two kilometres from the blast, said her windows rattled at around three in the morning.

Anssi Pöntinen followed the events on the radio from a cottage in Luonteri and later helped repair a regional government building damaged by the explosion. Stories about the blast have also been passed on to younger generations.

Some Mikkeli residents said they were interested in the new series but regretted that the real market square was not used as a filming location.