Well now the party season is over and we are still stuck indoors at night, it is the perfect time to wade knee-deep into a new Scandi TV series. In a spirit of self-sacrifice, we have spent many hours swathed in knitwear and drinking rum and chocolate in the quest to find you new dramas to watch! Here are our faves…
The Lawyer (Walter Presents, All4)
This Scandi thriller set between Denmark and Sweden is a slick, sharp rollercoaster ride from the creator of The Bridge, providing a stunning visual feast of Nordic elegance and nail-biting tension. What is wonderful about this series is the way your loyalties constantly shift between the protagonists. One minute you are rooting for the lawyer (trying to bring down the man who murdered his parents), and the next filled with empathy and fluffy feelings for the baddie, as he tries to bond with his beloved daughter. Brilliant and gripping (also the lawyer is quite hot, which always helps jolly things along :).
Dicte, Crime Reporter (All4)
Dicte is a journalist, working at a local paper. Investigating local crimes and murders, she lurches from one disaster to another, all the while dealing with her teenage daughter, ex-husband, and the various crises of her beautifully dressed girlfriends. Worth watching as not only does she have a great selection of earrings, the women in this series seem to crack open a bottle of wine at any opportunity, which I find massively reassuring as a working mother.
Farang: Dead Man Running (Walter Presents, All4)
This action-packed Nordic noir is a Swedish thriller about a man on the run and his estranged teenage daughter. The roller-coaster tale brings a Scandinavian flair for great storytelling into an exotic Thai setting, with gangs, motorbikes, beaches and once again, quite a hot actor in a sweaty t-shirt. What’s not to like?
Norskov (Walter Presents, All4)
The mayor of the industrial northern port of Norskov asks his old friend, Superintendent Tom Noack, to return home after 20 years away to clean up the town’s drug culture once and for all. Obviously is nothing is as it seems, and he is swiftly drawn into conflict with family and old friends. Great just to have a look inside the mayor’s kitchen, I can only dream of a view like that when standing at the sink.
The River (Walter Presents, All4)
Set in the unforgiving landscape of northern Scandinavia, this show is a physical and metaphorical journey into the wilderness, where rules are different and time stands still. More of a slow-burner than the others, the main stars are the fabulous Norwegian winter, and the dark brooding forests. Great for those nights you want to snuggle up with a blanket and a hot toddy.
Wisting, (BBC4) Everyone tells me this is a cracker. However I watched Episode 8 instead of Episode 1 by mistake, and am now so confused that I have no idea what is going on. Maybe worth a pop if you do them in the right order 🙂
