Fast-paced format set for latest localised version in Switzerland with a fourth season commission in Japan

Cannes. MIPCOM 2025. Independent international distribution company Lineup Industries has signed a deal to bring compelling documentary format Emergency Call to Switzerland in a local version commissioned and produced by SRF. In Japan, where the show airs on NHK, the series has been recommissioned for season four.

The Emergency Call format was originally created by De chinezen for Belgium broadcaster VRT Eén, the Flemish public channel. Lineup Industries handles global distribution for the series which follows the ups and downs and human stories of an emergency call centre.

The US version of the format, produced by 8 Hours Television and hosted by actor Luke Wilson, also sold to Australia’s Nine Network, New Zealand’s TV3 and Talpa TV in the Netherlands, while local versions of the format have been produced in Belgium (both Flemish and French), Australia, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland and Turkey where it formed part of a governmental public service campaign.

Emergency Call follows the ups and downs of regular shifts in an emergency call centre through the ears and eyes of the people who work there. Featuring paramedics, police and fire brigade services, the compelling documentary format follows the telephone workers who face critical first minutes of an emergency, inane, unexpected and often dangerous situations requiring immediate responses. Whether it’s handling a distressing call about a suspected intruder or an absurd request for the police to deliver food and cigarettes. This is the story of the extraordinary call centre operators at the front line, who expect the unexpected every time they answer the phone.

Ed Louwerse, co-founder of Lineup Industries, said: “There are numerous ‘blue light’ formats but the people who field the initial call must make critical decisions under pressure as well as managing fraught and sometimes bizarre conversations with calmness, clarity and perception. Emergency Call captures the rollercoaster of their everyday work in tense, sometimes humorous, but consistently compelling television that appeals to a broad audience.”