VPRO Tegenlicht: Story, Cast and Series Facts

Story and premise

Tegenlicht, VPRO‘s weekly, 50-minute, Future Affairs- program, balances on the edge of storytelling and journalism. It focuses on our globalized world in which societies, economies and cultures seek a new equilibrium. Backlight aims to grasp the quintessence of prominent trends and developments.

The series shifts between two modes of communication: it provides in-depth analysis of new developments by leading intellectuals, visionaries and mavericks – the architects of change. At the same time, it applies daring cinematic techniques, capturing the effects these changes have on the daily lives of the real world‘s citizens.

Tegenlichtis appreciated by an inspired community that seeks a deeper understanding of worldwide developments and policymakers alike. Backlight targets a worldwide audience. The program has been bought by broadcasters from Canada to Korea and from Finland to Argentina.

Series details

• Title: VPRO Tegenlicht
• Format: Documentary
• Language: Dutch
• Premiere date: 2002-09-08
• Status in TVmaze: Running
• Network listed by TVmaze: NPO 2
• Network country: Netherlands
• Typical episode runtime: 55 minutes
• TVMaze ID: 12723
• IMDb ID: tt0913290
• TVDB ID: 252712

Seasons in the TVmaze catalogue

• Season 1: premiered 2002-09-08; final listed air date 2003-06-29.
• Season 2: premiered 2003-09-07; final listed air date 2004-06-27.
• Season 3: premiered 2004-09-05; final listed air date 2005-07-03.
• Season 4: premiered 2005-09-04; final listed air date 2006-05-21.
• Season 5: premiered 2006-09-04; final listed air date 2007-06-25.
• Season 6: premiered 2007-09-17; final listed air date 2008-06-02.
• Season 7: premiered 2008-09-01; final listed air date 2009-05-18.
• Season 8: premiered 2009-09-14; final listed air date 2010-05-10.
• Season 9: premiered 2010-09-20; final listed air date 2011-05-02.
• Season 10: premiered 2011-09-04; final listed air date 2012-05-07.
• Season 11: premiered 2012-09-10; final listed air date 2013-04-15.
• Season 12: premiered 2013-09-02; final listed air date 2014-04-27.
• Season 13: premiered 2014-09-07; final listed air date 2015-05-10.
• Season 14: premiered 2015-09-13; final listed air date 2016-05-08.
• Season 15: premiered 2016-09-18; final listed air date 2017-04-30.
• Season 16: premiered 2017-09-03; final listed air date 2018-06-03.
• Season 17: premiered 2018-09-16; final listed air date 2019-04-07.
• Season 19: premiered 2020-08-30; final listed air date 2020-09-20.
• Season 20: premiered 2021-09-12; final listed air date 2021-10-17.
• Season 21: premiered 2022-09-12; final listed air date 2022-09-12.

Source and licence

Adapted from VPRO Tegenlicht on TVmaze. The synopsis is reproduced as plain text; catalogue facts, cast and season records are selected and reformatted. This adapted text is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, following the TVmaze API licence. Network and web-channel credits identify the service listed in this source; they do not establish current streaming availability.