Spiral is a French television police drama series created by the TV production company Son et Lumière. The first eight episodes series started on Canal+ in France on 13 December 2005. It returned for a second series, partly funded by the BBC, of eight episodes on 12 May 2008, a third series of twelve episodes on 3 May 2010 and a fourth series of twelve episodes on 3 September 2012. A fifth and sixth series have been ordered. Spiral has been a great export success, with sales to broadcasters in some 70 countries, among them Australia, Denmark, Finland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. The series was first shown in the UK on BBC Four during the summer of 2006. It was the channel's first French-language drama series, attracting a modest but loyal audience and firm critical approval. On 13 September 2009, BBC Four started showing the second series, on 2 April 2011 the third series and on 9 February 2013 the fourth series. In Australia, the first series was broadcast in 2008 on SBS One, the second series on SBS Two from September 2009 and the third series on SBS Two from mid-2012. Spiral debuted in North America via Netflix in September 2012; in November 2012, the small public-broadcasting network MHz Worldview began transmitting the series in the US.