In the UK: Thursdays, 9.30pm, Sky Arts 1
In Israel: Aired 2009
Homeland has been a big hit for both Showtime in the US and Channel 4 in the UK, going great guns in the ratings. In it, POW Damian Lewis returns to the US after eight years in captivity in Iraq. CIA analyst Claire Danes, however, suspects he’s been converted by terrorists and has been released to do something horrific on US soil. Is he or isn’t he? Well, the last episode of the first season has already aired, but I won’t spoil it for you – go watch it, if you haven’t already, since it was the best new drama of the Fall 2011-12 season.
However, as I mentioned at the time, Homeland is not a wholly original show, having been adapted by some of 24‘s creators from an Israeli show, Prisoners of War aka Hatufim. Now Sky Arts 1, which is not only fast becoming a rival to BBC4 as my favourite UK channel but also a haven for quality Israeli TV (just as BBC4 now gets all the good Scandinavian shows), has decided to broadcast the original show on Thursdays in a 10 week run.
Intriguingly, Prisoners of War is both quite a different show to Homeland as well as very similar. After the trailer (which is all in Hebrew, unfortunately, but you can view an English-language promo here) and the jump, I’ll give you a rundown on the differences and look at it as a show in its own right.
