The Bridge, 9PM, Saturday Night, BBC Four.
They’ve given us, to name only a few, the legendary Forbrydelsen (The Killing), Borgen, Bedrag (Follow The Money) – all Danish – and two distinctly different versions of the Swedish Wallander, a character we liked so much that the BBC’s made its own excellent version with Kenneth Branagh.
First aired here in 2012, and quickly acquired a devoted following, just as it had back home.
Two adaptations have since appeared: a Franco-British series, The Tunnel, just about to start its second series, and a recently cancelled version of The Bridge set on the US/Mexican border.
The Bridge’s unique appeal lies in its settings: the city of Malmö in southern Sweden and Denmark’s capital, Copenhagen, linked since 2002 by the Øresund Bridge.
That impressive structure is a constant presence in the show, looming in the distance in misty daytime scenes or viewed from above at night as it carries innumerable travellers to their destinations on either side of the strait that shares its name.
Many of the in-jokes and cultural mix-ups will be missed by foreign audiences, for whom the background to the series isn’t familiar.
The first episode of series three, broadcast in Britain in autumn 2015, seemed to confirm our worst fears. Saga finds herself working with a new Danish partner, Hanne Thomsen, a forthright detective who doesn’t bother to conceal her dislike for her Swedish counterpart. The two women are assigned to investigate the bizarre murder of Helle Anker, a controversial educator responsible for Denmark’s first gender-neutral preschool. Her body – its heart removed – has been arranged in a grisly tableau, seated at a table surrounded by several mannequins posed to resemble a family.
The real question here is whether these two wounded people can find their way back out of the encroaching darkness. They do, and watching that happen is a joy. No sentimentality mars the depiction of their growing bond.
A fourth series in 2018 is all but confirmed. It’s a long wait, which leaves us plenty of time to ponder what might come next for this most memorable of couples. They face an uncertain future, having lost or given up everything that previously defined them, but they have each other.
They’ve given us, to name only a few, the legendary Forbrydelsen (The Killing), Borgen, Bedrag (Follow The Money) – all Danish – and two distinctly different versions of the Swedish Wallander, a character we liked so much that the BBC’s made its own excellent version with Kenneth Branagh.
First aired here in 2012, and quickly acquired a devoted following, just as it had back home.
Two adaptations have since appeared: a Franco-British series, The Tunnel, just about to start its second series, and a recently cancelled version of The Bridge set on the US/Mexican border.
The Bridge’s unique appeal lies in its settings: the city of Malmö in southern Sweden and Denmark’s capital, Copenhagen, linked since 2002 by the Øresund Bridge.
That impressive structure is a constant presence in the show, looming in the distance in misty daytime scenes or viewed from above at night as it carries innumerable travellers to their destinations on either side of the strait that shares its name.
Many of the in-jokes and cultural mix-ups will be missed by foreign audiences, for whom the background to the series isn’t familiar.
The first episode of series three, broadcast in Britain in autumn 2015, seemed to confirm our worst fears. Saga finds herself working with a new Danish partner, Hanne Thomsen, a forthright detective who doesn’t bother to conceal her dislike for her Swedish counterpart. The two women are assigned to investigate the bizarre murder of Helle Anker, a controversial educator responsible for Denmark’s first gender-neutral preschool. Her body – its heart removed – has been arranged in a grisly tableau, seated at a table surrounded by several mannequins posed to resemble a family.
The real question here is whether these two wounded people can find their way back out of the encroaching darkness. They do, and watching that happen is a joy. No sentimentality mars the depiction of their growing bond.
A fourth series in 2018 is all but confirmed. It’s a long wait, which leaves us plenty of time to ponder what might come next for this most memorable of couples. They face an uncertain future, having lost or given up everything that previously defined them, but they have each other.
Comments
Post a Comment